2-state fest draws 300+ BLUE GRASS - More than 300 attended a Ridge Top Fest at the Blue Grass Ruritan Building last Saturday. The event was a fund-raiser sponsored by Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County and Highlanders for Responsible Development to support efforts to protect ridgelines in Pendleton and Highland from industrial wind development.
The fest raised more than $10,000 - $6,500 of which stemmed from a silent and live auction during the evening.
 | | Music was provided throughout the festival from folks like Browning Boggs (above) in addition to Doug Hepler with Patti Reum and Tom Brody; Elana Brody; Back Door Friends (Jennifer Taylor Ide and Nan Goland); and Karen and Stephen Gallager. |
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"We were going to be happy to have 200 people and ended up with over 300 - it was pretty much an equal number from each community as well as interested people from all over both Virginia and West Virginia, so we were excited and felt it was very successful," said Blue Grass resident Debora Ellington, one of the organizers. "We had just enough food and could not have fed 10 more people. Nancy Bowers from Pendleton, who ran the kitchen operation, did an excellent job and knew to be prepared for more, and was, thank goodness. A lot of dedicated people from both communities worked hard to make the Ridge Top Festival a success and it paid off."
 | | Auction tables lined the room stocked with everything from electronics to art. The silent and live auctions garnered about ,500 toward the two grassroots groups' efforts to resist ridgeline development from commercial wind energy companies. |
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Despite a hot day, folks crowded the building and its outdoor areas from 2-9 p.m. "It took awhile to get through the food line but everyone knew it was a good thing - there were so many people and for a good cause," Ellington said.
Later in the evening, Pendleton attorney Jeff McNeeley, a consultant for FOBPC, spoke to those gathered about the recent dismissal of Liberty Gap, LLC's application for a 100-megawatt wind energy facility atop Jack Mountain. Ellington said, "He told us that it is the community and the people that make things happen and that we need to be vigilant in fighting to protect what is important to us. And, that it is important for Highland and Pendleton to come together and work on protecting our common interests, such as our ridges, that know no state line or boundaries and that viewshed has to be considered within a region and include surrounding communities and states."
- Anne Adams
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