ABOUT US
Since 1994 the Oak Grove Pavilion has been a summer entertainment venue. The Pavilion events take place most Saturday evenings on the outdoor stage in the beautiful oak grove behind historic Zion Lutheran Church. The season typically runs from early June to late August. Past events have included musical concerts of classical, Cajun, gospel, bluegrass, blues, Irish-Celtic, jazz, New Age, folk, and rock and roll, and theatrical productions of drama, satire, musicals, and comedy. Admission to the all events is free, but a donation is collected at intermission and distributed to local charities at the end of the season. Over the years, these charities have included Angels in the Attic, Floyd County Rescue Squad and Volunteer Fire department, New River Community Action, Women’s Resource Center, Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley, Floyd Free Clinic, Reading is Fundamental, and others. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has supplemented the donation dollars and increasing the contributions. Over the past 15 seasons nearly $50,000 has been given out. All Pavilion events are drug and alcohol free.
Originally Zion Lutheran Church covered the cost the performers, but in 2003 the Oak Grove Pavilion was separated from the church budget and the Oak Grove Pavilion Endowment Fund was started with funds earned from various fundraisers. Since that time the Pavilion has “stood on its own.” In 2005 local businesses began to sponsor some of the Pavilion events by donating the funds to cover the cost of specific performances. This allowed for 100% of all funds collected at the intermissions to be donated to the charities.
Upkeep on the Pavilion, event scheduling and set-up is primarily done by a team of volunteers who are members of Zion Lutheran Church with some assistance from Floyd’s RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program). RSVP has been an active partner in the Oak Grove Pavilion mission. The purpose of RSVP is to help adults aged 55 and older find volunteer opportunities to help strengthen communities. RSVP is a program of New River Community Action (NRCA). The mission of New River Community Action (NRCA) is to promote through cooperative partnerships, the self-reliance of individuals, families and communities. NRCA is a private non-profit 501 (c) (3) tax exempt organization.
For more information about the Oak Grove Pavilion events go to www.oakgrovepavilion.org or call 540-745-2096 or e-mail inquiries to zionstmk@swva.net. For more information about RSVP go to www.swva.net/nrca/pages/RSVP.HTML or call 540-745-2105.