ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996             TAG: 9609200029
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER 

SPONSORS BOOST THIS YEAR'S TRAIL FESTIVAL

The town's annual Wilderness Trail Festival is Saturday, and festival goers will see lots of familiar and welcome sights: vendors and craftspeople, musicians, friendly crowds, food, a children's area, antique and race cars, crafts demonstrations and more.

But something is different this year, something festival goers might not immediately perceive but it's something the organizers are crowing about: The Christiansburg-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, the festival's organizer, asked for sponsors, and community businesses responded with enthusiasm. Ten "gold" sponsors, paying $250 each, are underwriting this year's edition of the festival, as are four $100 "silver" sponsors. The chamber will use the money for advertising and to provide food for its dozens of volunteers.

The response has Kathy Mantz tickled pink. Mantz is the chamber's executive director, who began putting together this year's festival not long after last year's ended.

"It's wonderful. That's been the goal," she said. "It used to be a chamber project. Now businesses are calling us and telling us they want to be part of it. We put [the festival] on for the community, and now it's being done by the community, that's what I like about it."

Said Sam Tollison, president of First National Bank, a gold sponsor: "The festival brings a large number of people in to Christianburg, and we think that has a long-term benefit to the town and the community."

Indeed, big crowds, especially if the sun comes out, are a hallmark of the festival. Thousands of people in years past have crowded downtown. Mantz is hoping Virginia Tech's first home football game of the year, scheduled for noon in Blacksburg, and a flea market in Dublin, will add to the crowds and make the festival especially successful.

The event also has attracted more and more vendors from up and down the East Coast. About 200 crafters from Maine to Florida have signed up, Mantz said.

The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Christiansburg. Free parking is available in designated areas. Downtown businesses will begin the festival Friday with a sidewalk sale.

LENGTH: Short :   50 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Downtown Christiansburg is the place to be Saturday. The
          always-popular Wilderness Trail Festival runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
          color.