Winchester Va | one_local

We locals call it ‘The Bloom’. Winchesters Annual Apple Blossom Festival. Celebrating our 99th this year!

A week chock full of events, parades, pageants, crowning of the Apple Blossom queen, midway, music, luncheons, etc., etc. Truly something for everyone. Our whole city is involved in one way or another. Streets, homes, businesses and area folk are all cheerfully dressed in pink and green. It truly is an event our fair city loves having!

The Prayer Brunch is a popular event. So big is the response that only two churches can manage the crowd of about 500 attendees. One of those two is the church my husband and I attend. Fellowship Bible Church. The other is Winchester Church of God. Years of hosting are alternated between the two.

This year was our year, and I volunteered. I do every year. To help make the tables, with food, gifts, and flowers, beautiful for those attending is satisfying. Who does not enjoy a well-set, thoughtful brunch?

The smiling, happy faces of the guests is infectious, and I absolutely LOVE the creative ways folk dress for this special occasion. So much pink and green!

I believe you may just want to visit Winchester during Apple Blossom and join in the fun of The Bloom with us!

*Our church and only one other is large enough for the attendees.*

*Bomb dogs pass through before event starts.*

*So many smiles dressed in pink and green*.

*So festive, pretty and joyful. A welcome relief from news of today.*

*Standing for Pledge of Allegiance.* *Beautiful was the sound of all those voices.*

Here is the website: the bloom.com

One of our favorite times of the year for my daughter and me is the Virginia Garden Tours every April. Gorgeous homes all over Virginia are open for these tours. Waiting to see which ones will be on tour are an exciting part of the Spring season for us. Though it would be great fun to visit all the homes around Virginia, we visit our town, Winchester, VA.

Area garden clubs choose homes, and should the owners agree, a fabulous showcase is put on for we guests. These tours are never disappointing. The homes are historic, beautifully appointed, and have amazing history attached to them. The flowers the ladies put all around each room are absolutely stunning. The garden club ladies give the tours of the homes. Owners are found sometimes out in their gardens. A chat with them adds all the more to the tours.

Photographs are not allowed inside the homes, only the grounds and gardens. You are invited to take a stroll with us around these lovely homes of our town.

These are privately owned homes, not opened to the public. As one of my friends said about one of the them on this particular tour, “I have been waiting thirty years to see the inside of this home!” It was well worth the wait. She told me of one of the homeowners who began last year in preparing her gardens for this tour!

Seeing the gardens and homes give fun, fresh ideas for decorating our own spaces. Visiting these historic places adds to our appreciation of our town and folks that live and work here, past and present.