The Town of Caledonia was abuzz this morning as residents and business owners finished last-minute preparations for the 8th annual Caledonia Day festival, which kicks off tonight at 6 p.m. at Ola J. Pickett Park and continues Saturday with a full roster of events.
This evening’s activities will begin with political stump speeches from 27 local and state candidates, with each candidate speaking for three to three and a half minutes, said Jack Mercer, one of the event organizers.
Vernon, Ala.-based band “Class of ’65” will take the stage from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., performing popular tunes from the 1960s and 1970s. There will be a fireworks show at 9:30 p.m. while the band takes a brief break. Pony rides and concessions will also be available.
Though there has been nighttime entertainment before, organizer Jackie Savage said there’s never been anything quite to this scale, and she’s expecting around 1,000 people — or more.
Last year, an estimated 3,000 people turned out to celebrate what began as a way to commemorate the town’s 100th birthday, and it’s become a much-anticipated event for both residents and former residents, many of whom return to Caledonia just to attend.
“I hear we’ve got a big crowd coming, and I just hope we’re ready,” Savage said this morning. “It all kind of snowballed. It’s just gotten bigger and bigger.”
More than two dozen people have been working on the event since June, and they’ve cooked up a mixture of activities designed to appeal to people of all ages, from Caledonia as well as from surrounding communities.
A new aspect of the festival this year is the cooking contest, which will be judged Saturday at 1 p.m. The theme of the contest is apples, and judges will have a chance to taste everything from habanero apple jelly to apple-cream cheese Bundt cake.
Saturday’s activities begin at 8 a.m. with a 5K run at Ola J. Pickett Park to benefit Relay for Life and an opening ceremony with the Caledonia High School band.
The pet parade, a perennial favorite, will begin at 9 a.m. and will be led by Columbus’ own Mother Goose, along with McGruff the Crime Dog and Sparky the Fire Dog.
Rev. Martin Andrews of Real Life Church will lead a pet blessing at 9:15 a.m., and competitions will be held for the largest pet, smallest pet, most unusual pet and best costume at 9:30 a.m.
Other activities will include a lawnmower race, an antique truck, car and tractor show, musical entertainment and offerings from dozens of food and merchandise vendors. T-shirts will be available and raffle tickets will be sold, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit town beautification.
The event is free and open to the public.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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