by Bill Bush
SEDGWICK—Get ready Sedgwick, Fall Festival is only days away.
This year’s event is on Sep. 18-19 and offers a lot of new options to go with the old favorites.
Rebecca Whistler, the owner of Sodality Place, is running two events on Saturday. A mechanical bull will be set up on Fifth Street just south of her building at 501 N. Commercial from 10 a.m. Until 8 p.m. Rides are $5 (in addition to the wristbands).
Sedgwick Connect President Randi Tolin said that Whistler is donating the proceeds back to Sedgwick Connect to help pay for the Community Christmas programs.
Whistler is also hosting Bingo inside of Sodality Place starting at 3 p.m. Saturday. The doors will open at 2:30 and seating will be limited to 50 people.
Also new this year is a pickle-eating contest, which will be limited to ten contestants.
“So they have to pre-register if they want in,” Tolin said. “We’ll do a pickle eating contest and then right after that they’re going to do a crazy hair contest as well. So who knows what that’s going to bring.”
Tolin said sign-up for the pickle eating contest will be at the gazebo on Saturday, where Carla from Power 93.5 FM will be broadcasting.
This will be the first year Sedgwick Connect gets to use the pocket park on Main Street for Fall Festival activities. Tolin said the Meeting House and Sodality Place are setting up standalone games for people to play at their leisure.
“It’s a nice shady spot for them to go and relax,” Tolin said.
Assuming no unplanned emergencies come up, the Newton police department is going to bring their drug dog down and do a little demonstration by the water tower at 1:45.
Not entirely new but expanded is the Keeping Sedgwick Safe event.
Healthy Harvey Coalition will once again provide bicycle safety assistance by discussing bike and helmet safety.
The Sedgwick police department will host the kid ID program, where you can fingerprint your kids and have little identification cards made. The registration cards can be filled out that day or taken home to fill out later and then send off.
Also as part of Keeping Sedgwick Safe, the city will have sign-ups for the Everbridge Emergency Alert System. The system is new for Sedgwick. By providing an e-mail address, residents can receive a link they can follow to sign up for what types of emergency alerts they would like to receive.
The Sedgwick Fire Department will be selling raffle tickets for prizes they’ve collected as a part of a fundraiser so they can purchase new equipment for their department. The proceeds will benefit both Fall Festival Sedgwick Connect and the Sedgwick Fire Department.
Other new events that Tolin highlighted are the Historical Museum’s walking tour of downtown Sedgwick at 1 p.m., a sand sculpture contest at the volleyball pit at 4 p.m., and the Sedgwick Junior football game at 6:30 p.m.
Of course, the weekend is full of returning events like the parade, the dance, community church service, and the cornhole and volleyball tournaments on Sunday.
Wristbands for the weekend are just $5 and can be purchased at City Hall, Legacy Bank, The Spah, the Meeting House, Jump Start, the Senior Center, and the American Legion. The wristbands will also be available during the weekend at the concession stand at Sedgwick Park. That is the only place they can be purchased using a card or Paypal.
Purchase of a wristband includes a barbecue lunch on Sunday.
Flyers with a complete schedule of events are available at a variety of locations around town.
