The Mullens Dogwood Festival is returning to its roots and tradition after a year away.
The small, Southern West Virginia town will host its 41st annual dogwood tree-planting ceremony this weekend, and organizers expect the in-person event will bring renewed hope and life to the town after the pandemic kept the event from happening last year.
In springtime, as people drive into Mullens, West Virginia on Route 54, the dogwood trees stand as welcome visitors, lining the hillsides in the woods, front yards, and even along the railroad tracks.
“They’re all over town,” observes Dogwood Festival treasurer Sara Lou Frank, who has lived in Mullens her whole life and helps with the festival each year. She says many of the white and pink trees you see as you enter town were planted as part of the annual event.