A wedding, parade, 5K run, grudge-match softball game, and plenty of entertainment take the forefront for First Town Days Festival

  • By Jennifer Kneuss
  • June 23, 2011
  • 298
A wedding, parade, 5K run, grudge-match softball game, and plenty of entertainment take the forefront for First Town Days Festival
                        
Summary: The Fourth of July weekend sparkles with plenty of activities and entertainment as the thirty fourth annual First Town Days comes to life June 30 through July 4 at New Philadelphia’s Tuscora Park. There’s going to be a wedding! For the first time in several years, love will be celebrated at the park amphitheater as a young couple recites their vows as part of the First Town Days festivities at Tuscora Park. “We have a very nice young couple getting married on the Friday night of the festival,” noted Barbara Schwartz, a festival volunteer who is coordinating the wedding of Todd Fillman and Wendy Myer, both of Port Washington. Myer is employed at the Tuscarawas YMCA and Fillman works at Buckeye Cheese in Wilmot, and in exchange for a simple $100 dollar donation to the festival, they will have a wonderful wedding celebration. “We decorate the amphitheatre for them, Colwell Flowers does the flowers, and Litty’s does the wedding cake and cookies for the reception. The music is provided by Sam Hitchcock, and he plays whatever music they choose,” said Schwartz. “For a couple of years, we have not had a wedding couple, but this year we do,” commented Hitchcock, who is a part of the RTY staff that operates the park. “The music starts at 3:30, and the wedding is at 4:00 on Friday afternoon. New Philadelphia mayor Mike Taylor will do the ceremony. We also make sure we have a good wedding couple, because it does represent First Town Days. Their reception is hosted by the First Town Days committee, and they will have their wedding pictures taken on the carousel and around the park. The newlyweds also ride in the parade at 6:30 pm that same day, and are listed on the program.” “I’m not aware of any other festival in Ohio who does something like this,” added Hitchcock. Each year, the Grand Parade features a parade marshal, and this year the festival committee has chosen Raymond “Skeets” Botdorf. Botdorf, who is 93 years old, has contributed his musical talents to the community for many years, including as one of the earliest members of the former Elks’ Band. He has ridden in the parade in recent years on the restored Elks’ bandwagon, an ornate gold and red tribute to the area’s musical past, faithfully playing his trumpet as he has done for decades. Another memorable event for the 2011 festival is the return of a popular band, but with an unusual twist. “We’ve got the KISS tribute band, Mr. Speed, returning. They are very, very popular, and usually come on Saturday, which is our fireworks night. This year we switched them to Friday night, and before they perform, they will be in the parade on a float done just for them, decorated in their theme, with the band members in full getup,” Hitchcock said, excitement evident in his voice. He is confident that the parade appearance will be a big hit. “They are popular with all age groups, especially with the kids.” There is also some friendly competition continuing on the festival grounds. Each year, there are two softball teams that take the field. One is composed of Tuscarawas County officials, and the other is composed of New Philadelphia City officials. “We have been holding this softball game for fourteen years now,” commented the RTY park employee. “The competition is fierce. The county officials are the current reigning title holders, so the city team is really out to get them this year. They will play on Saturday morning at 9 am, up on field two.” Other highlights of the five day festival will include the Queen’s pageant, plate auction, bocce tournament, 5K run, Junior Superstars, baby, men’s legs, and pie eating contests, talent show, classic car show, fishing derby, frog and turtle races and other Family Day activities on the fourth, and entertainment from local dance studios and popular area bands, including Half Fast Band, Mr. Speed, Direct Energy, The Polen Band, La Flavour, and Phil-N-The-Blanks. A full festival schedule of events can be found at www.firsttowndays.com.


Loading next article...

End of content

No more pages to load