Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
CLAYPOOL - Avis Gunter will serve as grand marshal of the Claypool Festival parade on Saturday.
Coined as "Claypool's famous resident," Gunter was named Kosciusko County Woman of the Year for 1997.
Parade registration and formation begins at 10 a.m. in the school parking lot, with starting time set for 11 a.m.
Awards will be presented to the five top choices; more than 25 entries are expected, including a marching band and cutie king and queen contestants.
The festival, in its fourth year, differs this year, in that it was moved from September to August and is no longer a "fall" festival.
Festivities get under way at 6 p.m. Friday with music provided by the Claypool United Methodist Church youth bands, "Apple Road" and "North Star," on the Lions' lawn. The Claypool Centennial Video will be showing during their performances.
At dark, free movies will be shown at the same location as a way of bringing back family activities from the past. Donna Morris, a festival organizer, explained that in the 1950s, families would come into town and the children would watch short movies while the adults visited with one another.
Among the movies to be shown are "How To Eat Fried Worms," "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" and one of the movies from the "Wishbone" series.
During these events, the Claypool Elementary PTC will operate a concessions stand, offering sandwiches as well as traditional concession fare.
On Saturday, townwide garage sales will begin at 8 a.m.
After the parade, there will be 3-on-3 basketball for boys and girls ages 10 and up. The rims and backboards to be used in the games were purchased with proceeds from last year's fund-raising activities, including the Teen Queen and King Contest and the Baby Photo Contest, which will take place again this year.
The contest winners will be determined by penny-a-vote judging. Voting cans can be found at First National Bank and other locations in town.
Also on Saturday, FNB is sponsoring a kiddie tractor pull at 1 p.m., and the firemen will play a softball game at the town park, located on the south end of town.
The Boot Scooters will perform at 2 p.m., followed by an "Off Roads" concert at 2:30 p.m. An auction will be held at 4 p.m., with the drawing of raffle ticket winners afterwards. These events will be held on Main Street.
At 3 p.m. on the Lions' lawn, a variety of contests - including a greased pole, peanut spit, water balloon toss and potato peeling - will be offered. Various age groups will compete.
There will be carnival games, a moon walk and concessions throughout the day.
