Get ready for a weekend of fun with Warsaw Downtown Days, starting Friday.

Downtown Days is the annual celebration of downtown Warsaw and this year Warsaw will celebrate the 125th year of Warsaw being incorporated as a city.

Paula Bowman of Kaleidoscope is the chairman of the Downtown Days celebration and put together the schedule for the three-day event.

The celebration starts at 9 a.m. Friday, beginning with craft sales and the opening of the kiddie area. The food court will be on Buffalo Street, between Center and Market streets.

The kiddie area, sponsored by St. Anne's Episcopal Church and Kiwanis, is bigger and more secure this year and will include rides for children like a moonwalk, bungee run, fast-pitch fast kick and a caterpillar obstacle course. Parents may leave their children in the kiddie area to give them time to explore and look around the festival. Children will not be allowed to leave without their parents' consent.

At 5 p.m., there will be a pie-eating contest and a watermelon feast to be followed by the Weezin' Geezer Three-on-Three Basketball Tournament. This tournament is for people 35 years or older. A $5 fee will be charged for the play at the courthouse at 7 p.m. and The Guitar Woodies, a local acoustic guitar band, will play in Central Park. There will be a swing dance, too, starting at 7 p.m. with dance lessons at 6:30 p.m. taught by Jack and Retha Hicks.

Saturday will be the big day. The day will kick off with registration for the Race Thru Town at 7 a.m. The race will be at 8 a.m., followed by registration for the Big Wheel Race at 8:30 a.m. The rest of the day will consist of the Bill Reneker Three-on-Three Basketball Tournament at 9 a.m., along with the Cub Scouts' Cub Mobile Race. At 10 a.m. will be the Big Wheel Race, followed by the "Years Gone By" Parade at noon.

The parade will feature Audra Orr, the oldest citizen in Warsaw at 104 years old, the county fair queens of this year and last, Mrs. O'Bannon's Millennium Committee, the Trainer's Mini Bike Patrol and various floats. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post will have the colors at the front.

After the parade will be the burying of the time capsule, the Beard Contest, the Oldest Resident Contest and the Mayor Lookalike Contest at 1 p.m.

At 2 p.m. will be the John Dillinger Relay, the Bed Race and waterball. The John Dillinger Relay is new this year, re-enacting the famous 1930s gangster's break-in of the Warsaw jail where he stole guns and bulletproof vests. "We're hoping people will wear their trench coats and black and white stripes," Bowman said. Anyone can join the race in teams of three.

At 3 p.m. will be the Cub Mobile Auction and the Lake City Car Show. Bowman is expecting about 400 cars and the car show is sponsored by Ron Praeter, the president of Warsaw Car Club, the Rock 'n' Roll Cruisers.

The Lake City Skiers are at 4 p.m., Caudill's Taekwando demonstration is at 6 p.m., the musical groups, TRUTH and Scott Krippayne, will perform at 6:30 p.m. in Central Park and the day will end at dusk with moonlight golf, where players will use glow-in-the-dark golf balls.

On Sunday, the fun continues with the Lake City Skiers once again at 3 p.m., a play at the courthouse at 4:30 p.m., the Rubber Ducky Race at 5:30 p.m. and the evening closes with an ice cream social at 6 p.m. and the Vesper Singspiration at 7 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]