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Annual Southern W.Va. auto fair charity event undergoing a few tweaks in 2019

BEAVER, W.Va. — Attendees of the annual Friends of Coal Auto Fair in Raleigh County will notice one significant change, this year: a new name for the event.

Hospice of Southern West Virginia Director of Public Relations Tim Carrico, who serves on the Auto Fair’s steering committee, said the festival will be known as the “Friends of Charity Auto Fair,” when the car show and charity fundraiser gets underway in July.

“The West Virginia Coal Association and Friends of Coal have contributed to the enormous success of the Auto Fair,” he said. “But we, as a committee, felt the Auto Fair’s name change should reflect the mission of this show.  The Friends of Charity Auto Fair will benefit local nonprofits, whose mission is to benefit people in need in our communities.”

The two-day event has taken place on the grounds of the Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beckley, for the past several years, and typically features hundreds of customs, classics, muscle cars, motorcycles, tuners, and trucks from various model years.  There are also arts and crafts vendors, local business representatives, food vendors, fireworks, and a free concert.

The 2019 Friends of Charity Auto Fair will be held July 12-13.  The event normally occurs during the third weekend in July but has been moved up by one week, this year, to accommodate the annual the International Scout Jamboree, whose participants will be utilizing the airport July 19-21.

Proceeds from this year’s fair will benefit Hospice of Southern West Virginia, which serves terminally ill patients in Raleigh, Fayette, Summers and Wyoming counties.