FESTIVAL PLANNERS — Preparing for the 40th-annual Wellsburg Applefest are, from left, Carol Lynn, Robin Snyder, chairman Ernie Jack, Frank Johnson, Jim Hartzer, Jerry Fluharty, Shirlie Rogers, Alex Weld and Greg Cheeks. The festival will return Oct. 5-7 with a painting contest for all ages, a market for youth to sell items, live entertainment on the town square and a variety of food and craft vendors along Charles Street. -- Warren Scott

WELLSBURG — Over the years the Wellsburg Applefest has offered a mix of the familiar and new, with contests and other activities and entertainers added yearly to the annual festival on Charles Street and the city’s town square.

And it will be no different when it returns Oct. 5-7 for its 40th year, which will include a live painting contest for all ages, the addition of a children’s category to the All Things Apple baking contest and an assortment of live entertainment and food and craft vendors as well as carnival and pony rides.

Ernie Jack, chairman of the Wellsburg Applefest Committee, said last year’s addition of a marketplace where youth 15 and under may sell a variety of items, from hand-made crafts to old toys, was quite popular and will be back beginning at 9 a.m. on Oct. 6 on the square.

Adults may help the youth set up at 8 a.m. but should leave the booths after 9 a.m., he said, adding school and other youth related groups are welcome.

Applications for the market can be found at the Wellsburg Applefest’s Facebook page or the Brooke County Public Library.

The committee and library have teamed in the past, working together on a pumpkin decorating contest. Open to children in preschool through eighth grade, it will be held at 5 p.m. Oct. 5 at the library.

Parents or guardians should call (304) 737-1551 to register their children for the contest.

And this year the Paint Wellsburg contest, benefiting the library foundation, has been added. Participants will be challenged to create art inspired by the city while anywhere within the city limits on Oct. 6. The artists will gather at the library at 8:30 a.m. and will have from 9 a.m. until noon, when their creations will be judged on the town square.

There is a $20 registration fee for adults and teens, with cash prizes of $100, $50 and $30 awarded to those who place first, second and third place. There is no registration fee for youth ages 8 to 12, who also may win prizes.

The entries may be sold on the square, with 30 percent of proceeds going to the library foundation. Those not sold will be displayed at the library for a month.

The deadline to register for the contest is Monday. To register or for details, call (304) 737-7295.

The contest is the brainchild of Jim Brockman, director of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Museum and Educational Center, who has participated in similar contests.

Coordinated by Jerry Fluharty, the Apple Everything baking contest will be held at 2 p.m. Oct. 7, with registration at 1 p.m. on the square. In addition to two categories for apple pies and other apple based food, there will be a category for apple based food made by children, ages 9-16. For information, call (304) 737-4702.

Also on the Applefest schedule are a pet show open to a variety of animals, with 18 trophies to be awarded, at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 6 at Sixth and Charles streets; the crowning of the Applefest Pageant winners at noon Oct. 6 on the square; and a pumpkin carving contest at 2 p.m. Oct. 6.

Following a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. Oct. 5 by kindergarteners from Brooke Primary South, the Applefest’s entertainment lineup will include Marvin Whiteman at 2 p.m., Lily Corathers at 4 p.m.; and Roz and Lynn, 6 p.m., on Oct. 5; Beech Bottom Apostolic Church at 10 a.m., the Brooke-Hancock Senior Dancers at 1 p.m., Elvis tribute artist Robert Dale at 2 p.m. , the Studio B dance team at 4 p.m., Toni Gray at 5 p.m. and The Phoenix band at 6 p.m. on Oct. 6: and Kaleigh Patterson at noon, 40 Plus at 2 p.m. and Chelsea Matta Householder and Margi Kellar at 4 p.m. on Oct. 7.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)