64th Annual Shad Planking

Sponsored by the Wakefield Ruritan Club - "The Spring Rite of Virginia Politics!"

The Shad Planking traces its origin to the early 1930s when a group of friends gathered together at Wrenn’s Mill in Isle Of Wight County during the spring running of the shad in the James River.

They planked the shad after the tradition of native Virginia Indians and they talked politics after the tradition of their fathers before them.

As the tradition grew, the Wakefield Ruritan Club assumed sponsorship of the event in 1949. Generations of Virginia politicians have attended and addressed the Shad Planking gathering.

The gathering is truly a unique assembly of the many and varying views of the people and politics of Virginia. It has come to be an important event in the political life of the Commonwealth.

All of the funds raised from the event are invested within the Wakefield Community and support community organizations.