Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Forest Festival is this weekend

By Jeremy Langley

Gurdon Times

The Gurdon Forest Festival is this weekend, Saturday, Oct. 27, and event coordinators say there will be plenty for the entire family all day.

The day long festival takes place in downtown Gurdon.

Festivities will begin bright and early with the Gurdon Rotary Clubs annual pancake breakfast which begins at 7 a.m. The breakfast is held at the Gurdon Senior Adult Center on Main Street. Tickets to the breakfast can be purchased from any Gurdon Rotarian.

Registration for the third annual Clark County Cattlemens Association chili cook-off will also begin at 7 a.m. in the drive-thru of US Bank. All chili must be cooked on site, and cash prizes will be awarded.

Arts and craft booths along with food vendors and many other activities will open at 8 a.m. The vendors will be located throughout downtown.

Registration for the antique car show begins at 8 a.m. at the First State Bank parking lot, and pie baking contest registrations will be taken at Kuhns Hardware. The pie baking contest will be sponsored by the Red Springs Home Extension Club.

At 9 a.m. a log loader competition will take place in the vacant lot beside Kuhns Hardware. The Clark County Farm Bureau Women will also be holding a Jack-o-lantern decorating contest at a booth on Main Street.

The official kick-off for the festival is the annual parade which will travel through downtown at 10 a.m. All entries should begin lining up at the old middle school on Fifth Street at 9 a.m.

Other events happening at 10 a.m. include the opening of the 4-H free petting zoo next to the former Majestic Cleaners building. The chili contest judging will also take place.

The Main Street bandstand will be the focus of several activities beginning at 10:30 a.m. The Jack-o-lantern contest winners will be posted and the Hartman Family will begin a Bluegrass show that will run through noon.

The third annual Double Dog Dare hotdog eating contest will take place at a booth in front of Sonic at 11:30 a.m.

The Forest Festival grand opening will be held at noon on the Main Street bandstand. The event will include a welcome by Gurdon Mayor Clayton Franklin, the national anthem by Van Williams, several announcements and speeches, the introduction of the festival royalty and Hoo-Hoo International guests.

The Groovin Gurdon Jumpers will be on the bandstand at 12:30 p.m. followed by the Eastern Star Baptist Church choir. Winnie Clark will perform at 1:30 p.m. followed by Messengers from the Heart and Bryan Clark, each performing for 30 minutes.

The annual Eric Griffin Memorial Run will take place at 2 p.m. at the Gurdon High School track, and a horseshow tournament will take place next to Quick Tax #3 as a fund raiser for the Beirne Fire Department.

At 3 p.m. the Gurdon Chamber of Commerce will hold a kids Halloween costume contest for children age infant to eight. The contest will be at the Main Street bandstand. This will be followed by a canine costume contest.

There will be a Gurdon alumni get together at Faith Mission from 1-3 p.m.

The CD&E Club, the sponsoring organization for the Forest Festival, will hold its annual auction on the Main Street bandstand at 4 p.m. Items to be donated for the auction can be dropped off at Billys Main Street Florist.

The fun wont stop when the sun goes down, according to Gurdon Recorder/Treasurer Tambra Childres. Ronnie Bear, an up-and-coming country music artist will perform a free concert on the stage at E. Walnut and Third streets from 6-8 p.m. Another band, Exit 123, will play from 8:30-10:30 p.m. on the same stage.

Childres encouraged everyone to bring their lawn chairs out and enjoy the concerts.