At the Ronceverte Monday night city council meeting, council member Gail White said she is seeking a few younger and stronger volunteers to help with the preparations for the Ronceverte River Festival,  held the second weekend in June.

“We’re getting too old to do everything ourselves anymore,” she said. With only eight people on her team, she is asking community members to step up and volunteer to take on tasks like erecting vendor tents, selling rubber duck tickets and to help with hauling the ducks to the river during the festival. Interested parties can contact White at 304-647-5455.

This year the festival will not be joined by a carnival, said Mayor David Smith. He hopes to have other kid-friendly entertainment in place by June to satisfy the youngsters in the community.

In other business:

• Smith announced that the State Fair of West Virginia and the Lewisburg Rotary Club are hosting the first ever West Virginia Craft Brew Festival on Saturday, Apr. 29, at the State Fairgrounds. The event is set for 2-10 p.m. and will feature West Virginia’s finest craft breweries, an assortment of food trucks and all-day music featuring Tyler Childers, Larry Keel, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, The Jon Stickley Trio and Black King Coal.

Patrons for the Brew Festival will also have access to special workshops on beer and food pairings and the importance of agriculture in the brewing process. Tickets for the WV Craft Brew Fest can by purchased by visiting www.statefairofwv.com or by calling 1-800-514-3849.

Proceeds for this event will go toward the scholarship and endowment funds for the State Fair of West Virginia and Lewisburg Rotary Club.

• The Ronceverte Volunteer Fire Department received approval to hold bucket drives during both Memorial Day weekend and the week of the West Virginia State Fair. The bucket drives will run on Friday and Saturday only from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Saturday, Apr. 8, is the opening day for Little League season throughout the state, and Island Park’s ball fields will be operating full force with youngsters everywhere, said the mayor. Since the chain-link fence that surrounds the fields, destroyed by floods last year, is still not in place, he advises the public to keep an eye out for children at the park.
• The Polar Bear Plunge, held on Mar. 11, was extolled by Smith as a success. Eighty plungers braved the frigid Greenbrier River waters in supporting the Child and Youth Advocacy Center (CYAC), the non-profit recipient of the event. The crowd was ample, and Smith said reports from several attendees affirmed that the Ronceverte location afforded easy access and traffic was not a problem, a big plus and motivation for having the event in Ronceverte again next year.
• The city council will lay the levy on Tuesday, Apr. 18, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, according to City Administrator Reba Mohler.
• A new officer has been hired by Police Chief R.J. Byer to serve on the city’s police force.
• The city council offered up a big “thank-you” to those Ronceverte residents who helped to clean up their neighborhoods throughout the town on the annual Make It Shine weekend.