As the sestercentennial rolls along, the Surry 250 bus tour is preparing to tour the historic sites of Dobson and Northwestern Surry County.
In a newly announced change, Nathan Walls of the county manager’s office advised that the bus fare for the remaining three Surry 250 tours will be waived. A free lunch will still be provided, so the time has never been better to get on the bus and see the sights of Surry County from the cool confines of a tour bus.
“People are watching the dollars right now,” Marion Venable of the Surry County Historical Society said, “so this is wonderful that the county will help cover the cost.”
The date for the next tour is Saturday, May 28 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Arrival is 9:45 a.m. Buses will leave at 10 a.m.
Local historian Venable will be the tour guide for this event, and she advised tour stops for the Dobson and Northwestern Surry County leg of the tour include homes and sites around the historic Dobson downtown as well as the Allison tree.
She said other stops will include the Bartholomew Hodges home that was built in 1805 as well as a stop at Kapp’s Mill for a talk on its history and the loss of the dam.
A stop will be made to see the work being done at Isaac’s Mill before visiting the Edwards-Franklin House and Flat Top Primitive Church. “If time allows,” Venable said there may be some impromptu stops along the way. The tour will make its final stop at the Charlie Tucker house from 1914 which Emma Jean Tucker helped to restore.
All tours are to be provided by Black Tie Bus Charters and each will depart from the Surry County Service Center, 915 East Atkins Street in Dobson.
The sestercentennial celebration marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the county and had been on hold due to COVID-19. Due to rescheduling, it is technically no longer the sestercentennial but that will not stop the festivities.
There are still several events on the docket for the Surry 250 including two more bus tours and three more lecture series events.
Surry’s Natural Heritage – NC Trail Days, will be a presentation made in cooperation with the Elkin Valley Trails Association on Friday, June 3 at 4 p.m. The event will be held at the Elkin Public Library, 111 North Front Street, in Elkin, and is presented by Ken Bridle, ecologist/botanist with the Piedmont Land Conservancy.
Next will be a lecture on Native Americans of the Yadkin Valley to be held on Thursday, June 16 at 6:30 p.m. The Surry County Service Center, 915 East Atkins Street, Dobson will be the location for this lecture series event that is presented by professor Dr. Andrew Gurstelle of Wake Forest University.
Surry 250 will be taking it to the streets again with a bus tour of Elkin sites on Saturday, June 25 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This time the tour guide will be local historian Jason Couch.
Following the jaunt around Elkin, the bus tour will then tour Eastern Surry County historical sites on Saturday, Aug. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Venable will return as the tour guide for this final bus tour of the Surry 250 series.
The 250th anniversary of the founding of the county will wind down on Friday, Nov. 18, at 6:30 p.m. with the last of the lecture series events. Rounding out the lecture series is a presentation by Paul Brown, a musician, producer, radio host, and retired NPR reporter entitled “Surry County’s Traditional Music Legacy” in cooperation with the Surry Arts Council.
Hosting the final event will be the Historic Earle Theatre located at 142 North Main Street, Mount Airy.
More information can be obtained by visiting https://www.facebook.com/surry250.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com