KINGWOOD – With the Buckwheat Festival looming nearer, down town Kingwood businesses are preparing for the crowds and the increased business.
The 78th Preston County Buckwheat Festival will be Sept. 26-29.
Bruce Wiley, owner of the Price Street Barber Shop, said he has been a part of the Buckwheat Festival since 1964.
“We have a car in the parade. It’s the one the general chairman rides in,” Wiley said. He also sells tickets for the Kingwood Volunteer Fire Department on the $10,000 cash giveaway and Big Bucks Bingo tickets at his shop. Wiley and his staff will be helping out at the hot dog stand Friday evening and selling tickets for the Buckwheat cake and sausage breakfast Saturday morning of the festival.
Wiley said the Price Street Barbershop will be closed because he and the staff will be working at the festival. He hired an additional barber for pre-festival cuts. Wiley said his shop will close at noon the week of the festival and reopen 8 a.m. Oct. 1.
“The Down Home Diner gets about a 30 percent increase in customers during the Buckwheat Festival,” owner Sarah Davis said.
Davis said it will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the festival. She said along with their regular menu the diner will be offering all you can eat buckwheat cakes and sausage meals.
Dee and Terry Hartman, owners of Creations by Dee, said it will be open noon until 6 p.m. during the festival. “I get about 60 percent more business during the Buckwheat Festival,” Dee Hartman said.
Dee Hartman said original art, handmade teddy bears and CBD products. She said she also does alterations, sewing, vinyl designs or shirts and custom embroidery.
Jimmy Maier, owner of Monroe’s Restaurant, said it will be open Monday thru Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. festival week. He said Monroe’s will be serving its regular menu and specials during the festival.
“We are looking forward to seeing old friends,” he said. Bob and Robin Riffle, owners of Incredible Creations said their shop will not be open during the festival. B
ob Riffle said they will have a booth on their lawn on Brown Avenue, across from the fairgrounds. “A third of my business is done during the Buckwheat Festival and the street fair,” Bob Riffle said.
Riffle said they will be offering holiday and custom ceramics for sale. The couple’s mini-doughnut shop will also be open at the same site. Riffle said they would reopen their shop on Price Street 11 a.m. the Monday after the festival. Since Sept. 4
The Preston County Inn has been open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. serving buckwheat cakes, according to owner Jean-Manuel Guillot.
“All of our rooms are booked and we get four times the business we get in a regular week,” Guillot said. He said along with the buckwheat cakes. The Inn is offering biscuits and gravy, eggs and sausage bought from the high school. Guillot said the buckwheat cakes will be served with applesauce.
A brunch will be served from 1 to 3 p.m. on the Sunday of the festival. Regular hours will resume after the festival, but the restaurant will, “still be serving buckwheat cakes until the demand stops.”
Debra Kelley, owner of Loved Again Consignment, said hours will be extended until 7 p.m. during the festival to accommodate the influx of patrons. Kelley said she will have ponchos, umbrellas, and fall and winter apparel in stock. This will be her first festival since buying the business earlier this year.
