The 99th Shenandoah Apple Blossom is underway, and for the 5th consecutive year, Randy gets together with longtime area radio voice Barry Lee for our Bloomin’ With Barry segments, brought to you by Winchester Printers and Perry Engineering. Randy and Barry talk about the signs that it’s Apple Blossom time! Enjoy, and Happy Bloom!
(Posted 4-24-26)
Greetings from The Booth and Happy Bloom!
The Booth is festooned this week with pink and green, as we observe the 99th celebration of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. For the unwashed, the “Bloom” is a 10-day party filled with over 50 events, including 2 parades, numerous dances, luncheons, and events, along with fireworks, and a 10k run and Kids’ Mile. The first Apple Blossom Festival was in 1924, with basically a parade and a coronation of Queen Shenandoah. The Festival has, over the years, drawn major celebrities like Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, and, in more recent years Mary Tyler Moore, Wayne Newton, Dan Akroyd, and Chevy Chase. It’s a big deal, folks!
Sports have become a big part of the Bloom. That began in 1966 when the great Sammy Baugh was the Apple Blossom Sports Marshal. Since then, sports celebrities like Billy Kilmer, Terry Bradshaw, Mickey Mantle, and Ryan Zimmerman have graced the Winchester area with their presence during the Bloom. The Festival honchos have also done a great job in spotlighting our local athletes. My first “working Bloom” was 1983, when Martinsburg High School’s own Fulton Walker was one of the sports celebrities, and was months removed from scoring a Super Bowl touchdown for Miami. A few years ago, the Festival honored Nazeeh Johnson, a local product who was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022.
One of the toughest tickets at The Bloom is The Apple Blossom Sports Breakfast, which is a sellout every year. There is now a “Sports Breakfast Hall of Fame,” which inducted it’s inagural class in 2021, and honors local sports giants like Russ Potts, Jimmy Wilkins, Jr., Jimmy Omps, and Rick Kern. The class of 2026 features legendary local wrestling and baseball coach Pepper Martin, and Handley High’s Jimmy Dix.
Believe it or not, I have never attended an Apple Blossom Sports Breakfast. That’s because on Bloom Saturday morning, I was usually at the start line of the Apple Blossom 10k amidst the sea of about 1000 runners. The Apple Blossom 10k is a great race that takes the runners through the festive streets of Winchester, where crowds already gather for the Grand Feature Parade later in the day. I’ve had some good races and races where I was beaten by Christmas and molasses, two of the slower things in life. But one Apple Blossom 10K stands out. In 2014, one of the Festival celebrities was Sean Astin, who of course, played Notre Dame football folk hero Rudy Ruettiger in the movie “Rudy.” As I was huffing and puffing the last mile back toward Handley High, I glanced over to my right and alongside me was “Rudy!” The word was that Astin at the last minute decided to run the AB10K. We exchanged quick greetings, and, inspired by Rudy, I was able to get a second wind and just missed breaking one hour. That race remains one of my favorite Festival memories.
That’s the magic of Apple Blossom…you never know who you’re going to “run” into.
Until the next visit from the Booth…Happy Bloom!
RW
(Randy with Virginia Tech Hall Of Famer and area running legend Mark Stickley at the 2024 AB 10K)
The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival announced the local honorees for this year’s Sports Breakfast including exceptional athletes from each school and two Hall of Fame selections.
In the announcement from Festival President Jeremy Luttrell, Pepper Martin Jr and Jimmy Dix were selected as this year’s Hall of Fame inductees.
Martin served as head baseball and wrestling coach for three decades at Sherando High School before retiring in 2023.
During his coaching career in baseball, he compiled a record of 407-241 and led his teams to 10 district championships, 4 state playoff berths and a State Championship in 2013.
In wrestling, he led his team to a record of 478-123 and earned nine district championships.
He also coached four individual state champions and 55 state place winners.
Jimmy Dix was a 1959 Handley Grad who spent over six decades giving back to the school and supporting their athletic programs.
Dix began volunteering in 1964 and joined the chain crew in 1967, a role he kept until 2020, and helped the basketball team as clock operator, a role he continues today.
During his time on the Judges Athletics Association Board, he was instrumental in establishing the Hunter-Maddex Hall of Fame and later the Edwin Barksdale Wing to honor former Douglas School Athletes.
Dix also volunteered his time with youth baseball and softball programs and served on the Winchester Parks and Recreation Board.
The local athletes that will be honored during the breakfast include:
For more information on the:
For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.
The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival announced Rashard Higgins, former NFL WR and firefighter, as the Firefighters’ Marshal on Wednesday.
During the announcement, Festival President Jeremy Luttrell said, “Rashard’s journey is a powerful example of purpose beyond the game. His commitment to service and community makes him an outstanding choice to serve as Firefighters’ Marshall during our 99th Festival.”
Higgins is a native of Dallas, Texas and played collegiately at Colorado State where he earned All American honors and was a finalist for the Biletnikoff award.
During his 2014 season, he led all of college football in receiving yards and touchdowns.
Higgins was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns where he spent the next six seasons.
His best season came during the Browns 2020 playoff run where he connected with Baker Mayfield for nearly 600 yards and four touchdowns.
During the offseason, he began to pursue firefighter training and in September of 2025 he announced that he had officially joined the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department.
Visitors to the festival will see Higgins leading the Firefighters Parade and appear at events like the Fire Truck Rodeo, Coronation of Queen Shenandoah, the First Responders Recognition Reception, Sports Breakfast, and Grand Feature parade.
For more information on Rashard Higgins Apple Blossom appearance, click here.
For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.
The 99th Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival announced the selection of four young women from the Winchester area to serve as Maids in the Court of Queen Shenandoah.
The Maids for the festival include Sofia Aikens, Emily Hunt, Mary Kimble, and Alexis Potts.
Aikens is a 2025 graduate of James Wood and current student at the Honors College of James Madison University.
Her grandmother Elaine Aikens was the Festival President from 2009-2010.
Hunt is a graduate of Jefferson County High School and current Sophomore at Shepherd University.
She is also a festival volunteer.
Kimble is a current Freshman at JMU and graduate of James Wood.
Her grandmother Kay Bollinger served as Apple Blossom president from 2003-2004.
Potts is a graduate of Handley and current student at University of North Carolina Wilmington.
She studies marine biology and is a sea turtle nest monitor.
The group will participate in the Coronation Ceremony, attend numerous festival functions, and ride in the Grand Feature Parade.
For more information on the selections, click here.
For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.
The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival kicked off the upcoming season on Wednesday with the annual theme announcement hosted by the Festival’s Apple Club at Vibrissa in Winchester.
Festival President Jeremy Luttrell unveiled the theme for the 99th Festival “Keep Blooming Together.”
This theme was chosen to celebrate unity, community and growth and is represented by a puzzle-piece logo in the shape of a blossom.
The logo symbolizes how volunteers, businesses, and residents contribute to the Festival’s enduring spirit.
Erik Zimmerman, Creative Director for the Festival, designed the logo and program.
Like the logo, the program also incorporates puzzle pieces while highlighting past Festival covers and Apple Blossom’s legacy of togetherness.
Handley Regional Library assisted Zimmerman by providing access to over 70 previous programs from their archives to help tie together the previous 98 years of celebrations.
The 99th Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival will officially begin on April 24th.
Tickets to many of the events will go on sale on November 20th at TheBloom.com.
For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.
The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival announced the contestants for the 2026 Miss Apple Blossom Volunteer and Miss Apple Blossom Volunteer Teen Competition.
For the first time, the winner of the annual pageant will go on to compete in the Miss Virginia Volunteer Competition instead of Miss Virginia which then feeds into Miss America.
The event will be held on Saturday, November 8th at Daniel Morgan Middle School.
The winners will serve as hosts for the 99th Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival April 24th-May 3rd, 2026, visit numerous events, and ride in both the Firefighters’ and Grand Feature Parade.
Contestants for Miss Apple Blossom Teen include:
For Miss Apple Blossom Volunteer, the contestants include:
Tickets are still available here.
For more news from across the Shenandoah Valley, click here.
In this week’s Stump The Duke, we’ll see how much Ryan knows about Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival Grand Marshals. Play along, and have a great Bloom!!!
In today’s chat with Barry Lee, we talk about an iconic Apple Blossom Festival event that went away in the 80’s but has returned: the Apple Pie Baking Contest at the beautiful Marker-Miller Orchards in Frederick County. Bloomin’ With Barry is brought to you by Winchester Printers and Perry Engineering.
The Sports Dogs are back together…and howling about the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, The Nats and their Gas Can Gang, The Caps, and this week’s NFL Draft & Commanders wish list…
