If readers have never attended the Shad Planking, be sure to attend. It is worth the drive and is always a very pleasant afternoon (even when it rains).

Hint: Drink the beer, skip the fish, sample the shad roe.

The Shad Planking is a unique Virginia tradition that was once restricted to just the Men, and NO speeches were allowed. It was a place where folks from all of our political parties took an afternoon off and enjoyed drinking and eating out in the woods together.

It is still a place where you can see a U.S. Senator pumping beer for gathered citizens while wannabe future office holders wander from one group to another sharing good times with everyone, without worrying about if there is a D or R after their names.

I generally volunteer to serve beer at the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ wagon. The SCV serves Virginia’s own, Legends beer. Come by and say howdy. I’ll be the one wearing a tie.

Keep in mind that the beer and other goodies are free. The admission for the Shad Planking is just a donation to the Wakefield Ruritan Club. The Ruritans put on the event each year and cook that boney, smelly shad on planks of wood, I
suspect, just to see if anyone will eat that stuff; some even claim to like it, although I suspect such claims are more evidence of inebriation than an honest assessment.