Summer Vibes make Elk Avenue fun on First Friday

ELIZABETHTON — There was a lot of activity and a lot of fun in downtown Elizabethton with First Friday keeping businesses open until 8 p.m. and lots of music and fun going on in the streets and alleyways. Children seem to be especially enjoying the evening, as this First Friday was designated "Summer Vibes" and most children associate summer with school being out for two whole months. Armed Forces Drive between East Elk Avenue and East E Street is closed to traffic during First Friday so that it can become Play Yard, with inflatable, mini golf, hula hoops and other fun activities for the children to do. Just like Lawrence Welk used to have bubbles with his champaign music, the Dean Creel, Amelia Creel, Penelope Sheppard and William Sheppard played with hula hoops in the Play Yard while a portable bubble machine from the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library blew bubbles all around them. Adults seem to appreciate the late shopping, special dining, and other activities going on. There were 37 businesses open late on Friday, and some of them were open well past 8 p.m. There were also talented musicians and artists on most blocks. Everything from children dancing a lively jig in front of the Appalachian Irish Dance Co., on one side of Elk Avenue, and Blue Morrow on the opposite side of the street, playing several instruments. The talented Murrow teaches people of all ages to play. After the First Friday, the late evening also provided something memorable for young and old. As it got dark enough, the lights on the new marquee on the Bonnie Kate Theater were first illuminated for the public. It was indeed an illuminating First Friday.