Party starts Friday

FREETOWN — The fireworks and Fourth of July festivities may be over, but the good, old-fashioned fun of the Freetown July Festival is just getting ready to begin.

In its second year since being brought back from a nearly 10-year absence, the Freetown July Festival will take place this weekend at the Freetown/Pershing Township Park.

Longtime Freetown resident and festival committee member Phyllis Loper said she is glad to see the community coming together again for the event.

“It just died out like things tend to do,” she said of the original Freetown Fourth of July Festival. “We wanted to bring it back because we just thought it was a good thing for our young people to know about.”

One of the best things about the event is that it gives former residents an opportunity to come back and rekindle old friendships as well as meet new residents, Loper added.

“It has a way of bringing people back together,” Loper said. “People come from all over. It’s just a good thing to bring communities together to pass our heritage down to the kids.”

With three days of live musical performances, family-friendly activities, food and fellowship, event organizers are hoping for bigger crowds than ever before.

“We have twice as many vendors, which is more than we were anticipating, so we are hoping for a huge crowd,” Loper said. “Last year went beyond our expectations and we are hoping the music and activities will bring everybody out again.”

Loper said that with each year, she expects the festival to grow and attract more people.

“When we started planning, the whole idea was for it to get bigger and bigger,” Loper said. “If other communities can do it, we can too.”

The fun kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday with opening ceremonies. The evening’s entertainment will be musical performances by Shirley & Friends at 5:30 p.m., Fresh Cut Grass at 7 p.m. and The White Family at 8:30 p.m. All musical performances will take place on the stage, located in the park.

“There’s no charge for any of the performances, so it’s good, old fashioned free fun for the whole family,” Loper said.

The festival committee was able to buy more picnic tables for the event with grant money from the Seymour Oktoberfest committee. However, because of limited seating, those attending are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, Loper said.

Games, food booths, face painting and other activities will be available all three days. The festival committee will serve food in the Freetown Elementary School cafeteria.

On Saturday, the festival will continue at 9 a.m. with registration for the baby contest, which will take place at 10 a.m. At 11 a.m. there will be a cake walk and registration for the annual parade, which will begin at Freetown Church of Christ.

“This year’s parade is bigger than last year’s with more floats and entries,” Loper said.

The parade will start at 1 p.m. at the church and proceed north on Indiana 135.

Categories in the parade include emergency vehicles, color guards, motorcycles, antique vehicles, classic vehicles floats, marching bands, horse and rider — 17 years and older, horse and wagon or buggy, farm machinery and others.

“We’re going to have all the old cars from the parade on display in the field behind the park, so people can walk around and get a better look at them,” Loper said. “That’s something we haven’t done before.”

The festival committee has chosen former and present Pershing Township Volunteer Fire Department fire chiefs Walter Wilson, Mike Rudolph and Rick Blaker as parade marshals.

“We wanted to honor our volunteer fire fighters because they work so hard for our community,” Loper said. “These three are the only fire chiefs left. The rest have passed away.”

Loper said the committee will also honor Ted Pfeiffer, the last living charter member of the Pershing Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Afternoon activities will include a pedal tractor pull at 2:30 p.m., a performance from the Stars & Stripes Cloggers at 3 p.m., a sack race at 3:30 p.m., a horse shoe pitching contest at 4 p.m., a performance by the Country Kickers Line Dancers at 4 p.m., a performance of the musical “Down By the Creek Bank” by the Freetown Church of Christ Youth at 5 p.m., a performance by Lanny Hattabaugh at 6:30 p.m. and a concert by Don Pedigo and his band at 8 p.m.

Also on Saturday, the Pershing Township Volunteer Fire Department will have a hog roast and fish fry starting at 11 a.m. The annual auction will take place at 6 p.m. at the Freetown Community Center.

On Sunday, activities will begin at 1 p.m. with a performance by the Cornerstone Church Praise Team. Cheryl Stuckwisch will perform at 2 p.m.

Also taking place at 2 p.m. is a frog jumping contest, followed by a performance by Joyce Linn and a bubble gum blowing contest, both at 3 p.m. The Freetown Church of Christ Praise Team will conclude the festival with a performance at 3:30 p.m.

A picture display of Freetown’s past and present and of the Pershing Township Volunteer Fire Department will also be on exhibit throughout the festival in the school cafeteria and communitywide yard sales will be set up at various locations.

Freetown July Festival Parade Marshals

Walter Wilson

Wilson was a fire chief in the mid 1970s. He later moved from the community and is active in the Owen Township Volunteer Fire Department as a fireman first class and is president of that unit. He retired from ISA in Brownstown and presently operates an excavating business along with his son. He lives at Kurtz with his wife, Greta.

Mike Rudolph

Rudolph has held many positions during his 40 years with Pershing Township Volunteer Fire Department. He was fire chief from July 1978 until the fall of 1983. He has also served as secretary and treasurer and as a trustee. He is a master firefighter, master arson investigator and master tactics instructor. He is a former president of Jackson County Fire Chiefs Association. A graduate of Brownstown Central High School and Ball State University, Rudolph is employed at Valeo-Sylvania and Coldwell Banker South Central Realty. He serves on the board of directors of Jackson County Chapter of American Red Cross where he’s also on the disaster team and is a former first aid instructor. He lives at Freetown with his wife, Kathy.

Richard "Rick" Blaker, Sr.

Blaker is the present fire chief and has served in that capacity since 1983. During his 20 years as chief, he has seen many changes and improvements in the department including a medical response team and two new fire trucks. He is a master firefighter and an arson investigator. In addition, he is a certified emergency medical technician and is the team coordinator for Rescue 36. A graduate of Freetown High School, he is retired from Cummins Inc. and works as a reserve officer with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. He lives in Freetown with his wife, Sarah.

Information

For information, or if you are a vendor looking for booth space at the festival, contact Katherine Burnside at 497-3737 or 497-2190, Phyllis Loper at 497-2103 or Sharon Yost at 497-2150 or 497-2298.

If you go

What: Freetown July Festival

When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday; festivities start at 5 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday; the parade is set for 1 p.m. Saturday

Where: Freetown/Pershing Township Park, Freetown