100,000 expected at Old Shawnee Days |
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| Written by Jessica Marshall | |||
| Tuesday, 02 June 2009 23:00 | |||
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Old Shawnee Days, which celebrates the city's heritage through living history re-enactors, craftsmen, entertainment, games and old-fashioned fun for people of all ages, takes place Thursday, June 4, through Sunday, June 7, at Shawnee Town, an authentically reproduced frontier community at 11600 Johnson Drive between Cody and King streets. According to the Old Shawnee Days Society, nearly 100,000 people are expected to attend the four-day celebration, which features about 100 craft, commercial and concession vendor booths. All events are free, except for carnival rides, food and souvenirs. The carnival starts Thursday with a pay-one-price night for rides. Festival hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Show times are 6 p.m. Friday; 12:30, 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. Saturday; and 12:30, 2 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the special events stage. New this year will be a petting zoo, as well as a pie and baked desserts contest that will replace the Better Baby Contest on Sunday afternoon. Registration for baking contest entries begins at noon at the Town Hall entrance. Forms are available at www.old
Also, the festival is going high tech this year. Old Shawnee Days has launched Twitter and Facebook pages, in addition to a MySpace page. Between the three social networking sites, the festival is connected to more than 1,500 people. According to Ben Smith, publicity chair, Old Shawnee Days is using the sites to promote bands and entertainers and highlight new events. Live updates will be posted on Facebook and Twitter throughout the festival, including announcements about concerts and entertainment, weather information, and behind-the-scenes photos. Visitors will be able to post questions and have them answered in real time. "This type of interaction between the festival organizers and visitors would just not be possible without the use of social media," Smith said. "With the headline band Night Ranger, in addition to the traditional meet and greet, we are working on a virtual ‘tweet and greet,' allowing fans in the audience to interact with the band before they take the stage." PARADE The Old Shawnee Days Parade, featuring floats, cars and marching bands from around the area, is at 10 a.m. Saturday. The parade will travel north on Nieman Road from Shawnee Mission Parkway to Johnson Drive and then west to Cody. Awards will be given in several categories from best marching band to best commercial float. Longtime Shawnee resident Ben Zarda has been selected as the 2009 Old Shawnee Days Parade Grand Marshal. Zarda was nominated in recognition of his dedication to the community through leadership with church and local schools, Shawnee Chamber of Commerce, Planning Commission, local foundations and community organizations, and business development. Also invited to ride in the parade is Junior Pioneer Scholarship winner Morgan Rainey, a recent graduate of Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. Morgan, who plans to attend the University of Kansas, won $1,000 for a 500-word essay she wrote about a special memory growing up in Shawnee. Prior to the parade, the Shawnee Town Museum hosts a fundraiser, the annual Tomato Roll, at 9:30 a.m. at Johnson Drive and Nieman Road. Winning "tomatoes" - red rubber balls - are eligible for prizes. MUSIC Headlining this year's festival is the popular 1980s rock group Night Ranger on the main stage at 9 p.m. Saturday. Hailing from the San Francisco Bay area, the band's popular power ballads have been packing concert venues for more than two decades. The band's top 40 hits include "Sister Christian," "Don't Tell Me You Love Me," "(You Can Still) Rock In America" and "When You Close Your Eyes." Opening for Night Ranger at 7:30 p.m. Saturday are The Shanks, playing hits from Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones to Foo Fighters and Radiohead. Taking to the stage at 7 p.m. Thursday is On The Fly, a party band playing covers from the '80s, '90s and today. Change of Heart, a Heart cover band, performs at 7 p.m. Friday, followed by Silver Bullet, a Bob Seger tribute band, and Edge of Forever, a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute. Performing at 1:30 p.m. Sunday is MAW, an old-time band from Lawrence, followed by the Midday Ramblers playing original bluegrass music. Bandstand performances: Friday - Nallia School of Dance, 6 p.m.; Doghouse Daddies, blues, 7 p.m. Saturday - American Legion Band, 11:30 a.m.; Academy of the Arts, 12:15 p.m.; Funky Mama, children's music, 1 p.m.; 3 Trails West, country and western, 2:30 p.m.; Island Oasis, calypso and reggae, 5 p.m.; Relentless featuring Tim Spargue, country, 7 p.m. Sunday - Cross Points Church, noon; The Brad Votava Trio, jazz, 2 p.m.; The Missouri River Rats, dixieland jazz, 4 p.m.; Shawnee Concert Band, 5 p.m. FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
OLD SHAWNEE DAYS ONLINE www.oldshawneedays.org
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Shawnee kicks off summer with one of Johnson County's largest festivals - the 43rd annual Old Shawnee Days festival.
Returning to Old Shawnee Days after five years are The Lumberjills, a world champion team of ax-wielding women. The shows include power "hot" saw race, ax throwing, Jill & Jill cross cut sawing, underhand chopping, chainsaw carving and log rolling. Tina Scheer, also known as Timber Tina, has been featured on the Stihl Timbersports Series on ESPN and the CBS reality show "Survivor: Panama."
Categories for youth and adults include: fruit pies, double crust only; and baker's favorite - brownies, bars, cakes, cookies and single-crust pies. Non-baked desserts and those requiring refrigeration will not be accepted. All desserts will be sold following the contest with proceeds going to the Shawnee Rotary Foundation.
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