Gauley Fest 2002It almost goes without saying that this year’s AW Gauley Festival was a tremendous success. With the help of over 250 volunteers and the dedicated efforts of the AW Board of Directors and Staff over 5,200 people enjoyed a fantastic gathering of the whitewater community. The festivities included some activities that will certainly be repeated and others that will not. However, it does appear that festivalgoers have a special place in their hearts for pork and pork derived products.Rounding out this year’s festival was a fantastic entertainment package that included the world famous IR Big Gun Show and the music of STRUT. Strut’s ability to deliver a spectrum of live music carried attendees into the wee hours of the morning. A big thank you goes out to Project 7 and Strut for delivering some awesome festival tunes. When all was said and done AW signed up over 100 new members, had hundreds of petitions signed asking government officials to purchase property critical to the long-term access of the Gauley River, and helped paddlers to find some of the finest whitewater products on the planet.We hope that everyone who helped or simply enjoyed this year’s AW Gauley Fest will return in 2003 to continue the Gauley tradition.A final note is to thank two people who without their help the Gauley Festival would not happen. THANK YOU JOE GREINER AND NANCY GILBERT.