There’s going to be plenty to do during the Carmi Kiwanis Club’s annual Corn Day celebration October 13th and 14th. The club met Thursday at noon to try to finalize plans and make sure all the details were lined out ahead of the festival. With the abrupt cancellation of Thursday’s White County Farm to Table event, organizers were left scrambling to put other plans in place. Brady Amusements will have carnival rides open on Thursday from 5 – 10pm and with no school on Friday, the 13th, hopes are that parents will let kids enjoy the carnival an extra day. Kiwanis President Emily Williams says DJ Doug Hays will be set up at the city’s brand new stage Thursday night and 5th Street Market’s new food truck will be set up at the First Mid Bank parking lot. It’s also possible the 4H will host a Cake Walk, but that determination is still up in the air.
The Corn Day Pageant has 50 contestants. It’s scheduled for 5:30 on the main stage Friday evening. The annual Corn Hole Tournament will take place on the First Mid Bank parking lot. It also starts at 5:30pm Friday. Rounding out Friday night will be the Clean Comedy Collective show from 7pm – 9pm on the Main Stage.
The Guardian Center’s annual Candy Corn Run gets things started on Saturday at 8am. The pet parade will be held at 10am. It’ll be followed at 11 by the Pets @ Risk Corn Dog Pawgeant. Corn Day has 8 Chili Cook Off entries so far. The event is held in Veteran’s Memorial Park on Saturday from 11am – noon. The car show is from 10am – 2pm on Saturday. Vendor chairman Eric Rhalfs says there will be 50 vendors at this year’s celebration; of them 26 are food vendors. The parade gets underway at 4pm on Saturday. Fans of marching bands will be thrilled as chairman Adam Winkleman says there are a total of 8 marching bands scheduled to perform throughout the parade. Parade chairwoman Katelyne Wolff reports just under 100 entries already in this year’s procession throughout Carmi. Main stage entertainment will be highlighted this year by a free concert by The Cadillac Three. They’ll get their set underway at 8pm.
In recognition of the club’s 100 years in existence, State Representative Dave Severin was on hand and presented the club with an award.
“We have something called Illinois House Certificates made from the house floor for when people or organizations go above and beyond in accomplishment or recognition. The State of Illinois 103rd General Assembly recognizes the Carmi Kiwanis Club in recognition of 100 years serving Carmi and surrounding areas and joins in the commemoration of the effort, dedication, and hard work that led to success and further expresses it’s best wishes for personal happiness and professional achievement.”
