In front, Kirsten Hartnell
(center) and her woolly worm, Kelly, won the $1,000 prize
at the annual Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk on Saturday.
Also pictured are, from left, are Barry Sutton, president
of the Avery County Chamber of Commerce; Tommy Burleson,
referee of the final race; Woolly Worm mascot Merry Weather,
and emcee Roy Krege. Photo
by Bruce Morrison
Yes, there was a Woolly
Worm contest between McCain and Obama. The winner? Nobody
knows. They both finished out of the running. Ryan Smith,
center, raced for Obama, while Jennifer Campbell of Morganton
raced for McCain. Only the first and second place worms
scored in the events. There was a winner, though, and
that woolly worm was named “Queen.” It’s
not known if that worm was named for Sen. Joe Sam Queen.
On the left, holding up the Woolly Worm Gazette with caricatures
of Obama and McCain is Roy Krege, “Mr. Woolly Worm.”
Photo by Bruce
Morrison
You might want to throw a few extra logs on the stack of firewood
this winter if Kelly’s forecast is accurate.
Kelly was the champion worm at the 31st annual Woolly Worm Festival,
held in Banner Elk over the weekend. About 20,000 people attended
the festival, which was capped off by Kelly’s victory Sunday.
Kelly’s owner and trainer, Kirstin Hartnell of Ansonville,
won $1,000 by outpacing about 1,400 other worms in a series of
elimination heats.
While many people collect and train their own worms, Hartnell
hand picked a homegrown worm from one of the woolly worm vendors.
She attended the event with her grandparents.
The annual woolly worm winner is touted as having an 87-percent
accuracy of nearly or mostly predicting the winter weather, based
on the previous 30 years of festival history. According to Appalachian
folk tradition, the black bands predict cold weather while brown
stripes predict milder or warmer weather. The 13 stripes on the
woolly worm are said to correspond to the 13 weeks of winter.
Kelly is mostly black, which means cold and snowy weather is ahead,
while its brown stripes were darker than usual, which is usually
considered to indicate colder-than-usual weather. Light-brown
segments indicate mild weather.
Proceeds from the festival support children’s charities and
service projects in Avery County. It is organized by the Avery/Banner
Elk Chamber of Commerce.
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