OVAC All Star Football

The sweltering heat and The Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival signal that is OVAC All Star Football weekend. The 66th annual Rudy Mumley OVAC All-Star Charity Football Classic is a week long spectacle of Queen of Queens beauty, the amazing talents of the OVAC McDonald’s All Star Marching Band, the OVAC All Star Cheerleading squads, ceremonies to honor past and present standouts, scholarship presentations and of course the players and the game itself.

From the annual George Strager Evening With The Stars inside the ballroom at the Wheeling Park White Palace on Wednesday until Sunday afternoon the valley is alive with the celebration. This has to be one the premier events in high school athletics and I hope many fans will brave the heat and humidity and travel to Wheeling Island Stadium to support the game.

A pep rally will be held tonight (July 23) at Bison Field, Bethany College, at 6 p.m. Admission is free. During the rally scholar-athlete scholarships will be announced, and the band, football teams, cheerleaders, and Queen of Queens contestants will be introduced. The band and cheer squads will perform at the rally.

There has been much anticipation and the staff is looking forward to meeting on the sidelines to kickoff the 2011 football season.

Gates open at 5:30 and Sunday's kickoff is 7:15 p.m. Advance tickets for the All Star Football Charity Classic are $7; $10 at the gate. Children under the age of 5 are admitted free.