By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Festival season in Adams County continues this weekend as the village of Bentonville will be hosting their annual Harvest Festival. The festival will be Saturday, September 7 and Sunday, September 8, with the majority of activities packed into a busy Saturday.
This year’s theme has been chosen- “Honoring Our Grand Marshals Past, Present and Future.” The first Harvest Festival was held in 1976 and the first Grand Marshal was selected in 1995 (Verna Naylor) and the organizers of this year’s festival are hoping to have all 26 past Grand Marshals return to participate in the parade, that kicks off Saturday at 2 p.m., with lineup beginning at the Burning Heart Campground at 1 p.m.
The Harvest Festival Committee has chosen as this year’s Grand Marshals, Reverend Luther Jolly and his wife Susan. Luther is the son of the late Clay and Elizabeth Jolly, while Susan is the daughter of the late Reverend Robert and Glenna McCartney.
Saturday at the Bentonville Harvest Festival will offer numerous activities, many of those unique to this festival alone. The opening ceremonies will take place at 9 a.m. with colors presented by the Adams County Honor Guard for the National Anthem performed by the talented Mark Tolle. At 10 a.m., the Baby Show/Pageants will begin, followed by a visit from “The King” himself, Elvis impersonator Bryce Thompson (be prepared to get “All Shook Up”).
Unique to Bentonville are the Women’s Hair Contest at 12:30 p.m., which should keep salons in the area busy on Friday, and the Men’s Bears/Whiskers Contest at 1 p.m.
The Car Show will be judged at 11:30 a.m (winners announced 90 minutes later). while the arrival of the Air Evac copter is set for 11 a.m. Food booths and vendors will be open all day and after the Grand Parade an auction will be held on stage to raise funds for new Christmas decorations for the village.
The “Fun on 41” closes on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. with a combined church service at the Bentonville Church of Christ in Christian Union.
(See the entire festival schedule on Page A10 of today’s issue.)
