The Toughman Contest is fast and furious. Local bad boys and girls find out just how tough they are, going at each other in three one-minute rounds per bout. Photos by Jeff Hanson.

A photo essay on the hour between darkness and light. Photos by M.K. McFarland.

Rascal Flatts and Blake Shelton performed at the Charleston Civic Center October 14, 2005. Stehen Ross caught the country stars in action.

Split Nixon at the Sound Factory. Photos by Stephen Ross.

Crossfade, then Seether rock a rowdy X-Fest crowd at Harris Riverfront Park in Huntington. Photos by Stephen Ross.

Every year on the last Sunday of the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta, Huck Finn's Restaurant and Bar along the Kanawha River near Dunbar unleashes its bubble machine to mark the occasion. This year, on Sept. 4, photographer Stephen Ross captured this bubblepalooza.

Relatively cool temperatures and an earlier starting time made for ideal conditions during the 33rd Charleston Distance Run, held Sept. 3. Charleston Gazette photographer Chip Ellis was there to capture the agonies and ecstacies.

The 2005 Charleston Sternwheel Regatta, Aug. 31 to Sept. 6, filled the downtown city streets with music, parades, carnivals, food and crowds. Photographers Mark Wolfe offers some sights of the Funeral Parade and street carnival, while Stephen Ross gets shots on stage and off of the karioke contest and Loverboy, Patti Loveless and Bret Michaels shows.

First, nobody calls it the Appalachian String Band Festival. It's either 'String Band' or 'Clifftop,' shorthand for an eclectic event that attracts thousands to West Virginia. In its 16 years, Clifftop has drawn devotees from most of the 50 states and dozens of countries. Here's a look at this year's festival the first week of August, 2005. We see it first through the lens of Michael Keller, and then the Photoshopped-perspective of Jeff Pierson, both of the W.Va. Division of Culture and History. NOTE: Click on photos to move forward; use the arrows to move back. For more on Clifftop, see: www.wvculture.org/stringband

Construction of Watt Powell Park in Kanawha City began in 1948. Destruction of Watt Powell will begin as early in fall 2005. The Charleston Alley Cats are now the West Virginia Power and have moved across town to the spanking new minor league stadium Appalachian Power Park. The University of Charleston and Charleston Area Medical Center will knock down the park and build an athletic complex where the park now stands. Generations of local residents have grown up going to Watt Powell games. Here's a photographic look back at the many pleasures of a classic minor league ballpark. Photos by M.K. McFarland, Chip Ellis, Kenny Kemp and others.

The big-selling video and DVD series "Girls Gone Wild," founded by a 32-year-old University of Southern California grad named Joe Francis, makes its buck filming "real" women in real towns, flashing flesh. The series has also made 32-year-old Francis a very wealthy man (See "The Gatecrasher" blog for more on that). Yet when "Girls Gone Wild" buses pulled into Charleston for a July 8 event, they were greeted not only by crowds, but police and controversy. Looks like they won't be back, either, as the city and club come to an agreement after the evening that ensued. (Photos for the Gazette by Stephen Ross.)

As we pass through the streets of Charleston and surrounding area, we often overlook the sights and artisty that exists right before our eyes. Charleston photographer, artist and graphic designer Mark Wolfe provides a glimpse into the seen, yet often unseen, images from the streets, alleyways and cemetaries of the Kanawha Valley. For more of Mark Wolfe's work: www.markwolfedesign.com

Accomplished stage and screen actress and performance artist Ann Magnuson, a Charleston native, was featured at a pre-FestivALL Charleston event on June 23 at the Scottish Rite Buidling downtown that also served as a launch party for The Charleston Gazette’s new web magazine, thegazz.com. Along with members of the “Mountain Stage” band, Magnuson performed offbeat songs about the Mystery Hole and Flatwoods Monster, along with spoken word pieces on Hollywood life and growing up in West Virginia.

FestivALL Charleston made its successful debut from June 24 to 26, with events across Charleston, inside and outside, with more than 50 hours of free music as well as ticketed events featuring George Benson, the Cab Calloway Orchestra, Kathy Mattea and two packed events on the University of Charleston lawn: Beer, Blues and BBQ on Friday and Wine and All that Jazz on Saturday, which were fundraisers for the Fund for the Arts.

Kanawha State Forest, minutes away from downtown Charleston, is noted among naturalists for its diverse wildflower and bird populations. Its 9,300 acres contain more than 25 miles of trails. These photos were taken by Greg Wood, content manager for Charleston Newspapers Interactive, over the past two or three years in the spring, summer and fall. Fresh snow brings an entirely new face to the forest, one that we can explore in a future gallery.

The Ninth Annual West Virginia Pride Celebration took place across Charleston from June 3 to 12, and included the “Miss Pride of West Virginia” contest on June 9 at the Charleston Civic Center Little Theater. It was a colorful evening full of much glitz, glam, makeup and towering headdresses. Photos for The Gazz by Jeff Hanson.

The Kanawha Players’ Briefs and Shorts’ 2004-2005 season concluded May 19 at the Charleston Ballet Building’s new MC Workshop with offbeat performance theater by the garagecow ensemble players. The hour-long show recounted the tale of garagecow with Douglas Eye, Ukulele Girl, The Performer, DJ Smack and Imaginary Paparazzi. Photos by Mark Wolfe (www.markwolfedesign.com), taken live on stage as he was Imaginary Paparrazi.

The annual Vandalia Gathering fills the state Capitol Complex with the traditional arts, crafts, music, costumes and traditions of the region that came to be known as West Virginia. Here is a visit to this year’s Vandalia, full of scenes of much playing, dancing and jamming. Initial 4 photos by Gazette photographer Chip Ellis, rest by Michael Keller, courtesy state Division of Culture and History.