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 The first draw of the weekend will begin on Thursday night. The
Logan County Arts will host a new art exhibit "Fun" with a reception
held on opening night. By this time, there should be some of the
food vendors and barbecue competitors might be on hand, and the Arts
are hopeful that those folks will join them at the "Fun" show
reception.
The art show will be held at the Lincoln Art Institute on McLean
Street, and will be open throughout the weekend, offering the public
an opportunity to come in out of the sun and enjoy a slightly
quieter moment, enjoying the work of many local artists, and
visiting with the hosts.
One of the larger attractions of the weekend will be the return of
the Oasis Craft and Flea Market in Scully Park and the Oasis Café,
which offers a great selection of food choices. The café will offer
a rib eye sandwich, pork chop sandwich, or bratwurst. There will be
Walking Taco’s, Nachos and Cheese, and a variety of chips offered as
well. Sweets being offered will include Funnel Cake, fried doughnuts
( ½ dozen per order), fried Oreos (three per order) and fried
Twinkies. Beverages offered will include the ever popular special
blend Oasis Lemon Shake Ups and Orange Shake Ups. Other beverages
will include iced tea, soda, water, and coffee and juice will be
offered in the mornings.
 In the Pigs and Swigs event guide, there are approximately 40
vendors listed for the craft and flea market. However, Cara Barr of
the Logan County Alliance said last week that Oasis Executive
Director Dom Dalpoas had reported that the number was up to over 50
since the printing of the booklet.
The craft and flea market will be open starting on Friday and
running through Sunday.
On Sunday, the barbecue competition will be over, and most all of
the competitors will be gone before noon. But that doesn’t mean
there will be vacant space around the downtown square in Lincoln.
On Sunday afternoon, the Railsplitter Antique Auto Club Car Show
will move in and set up on three sides of the square. The show will
be held on Broadway Street between Kickapoo Street and McLean
Street, on two blocks of McLean between Broadway and Clinton Street,
on Pulaski Street between McLean and Kickapoo, and also on South
Kickapoo Street between Pulaski and Clinton.
Barr said the club held its first downtown cruise-in of the season
in May and were excited to have over 60 cars on display, about 20
more than the norm. They are hopeful that the show on Sunday will
bring in a new record number of vehicles. Barr also commented the
club is doing more to grow its shows. They have increased the cash
prizes and the number of trophies given out in the show categories.
Tucked into the heart of the car show will be the Logan Ag Flavors,
a second-year program that last year was offered as a separate event
in downtown Lincoln. The Logan Ag Flavors is sponsored by the Logan
County Farm Bureau and will be set up on the south half of McLean
Street, in front of the Farm Bureau offices.
This show is an opportunity for the public to get an idea of what
goes into food production in Logan County. Vendors on hand will
include Gail’s Pumpkin Patch, Huelskoetter Pork, JAM Sweet Treats,
Sasse’s Apiary, Irwindale Holsteins and Prairie Farms, vendors from
the local Farmer’s Markets, the Heartland Beef Alliance, Logan
County 4-H, Logan County FFA, and the Logan County Goat Producers.
The McLean County Farm Bureau will be bringing in their Mobile Ag
Exhibit, which was a very popular attraction at last year’s event.
Vendors will be offering a variety of free samples, and some will
also be selling their products. While parking in the downtown area
is always limited, with the smaller footprint of the festival this
weekend there will be more options available.
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Streets will be open on all four sides of Scully Park with parking permitted.
The Shay Parking lot between Scully and the Arcade will be available as well as
the City/Library parking lot on Pekin Street. Street side parking will be
available on Broadway on either side of the downtown square and also on North
McLean, north of the square and on North Kickapoo north of the square.
The State Bank of Lincoln is also opening its parking lot to those who are
attending the Craft Beer Events.
Barr is new to the Logan County Alliance, and this is her first year as events
coordinator. She noted last week that she felt like the Pigs and Swigs event was
an ideal place to get her feet wet in festival planning because of all the great
committees that are involved. She said throughout the planning process, members
of each of the committees have met on a regular basis to discuss their component
of the festival, and her role in those meetings has been a pleasant one, because
everyone is well organized and on the same page in their planning.
Andi Hake of the Alliance and Nicole Cox of the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of
Commerce are excited to see how everything turns out this weekend. Expanding the
Art and Balloon Festival into four events has taken a lot of discussions and
work on their part.
The LCA and Chamber along with the Logan County Tourism Bureau are going to be
heavily involved in the first three festivals -- Pigs & Swigs, Art in the Park,
and the Balloon Festival.
The fourth Festival will be this fall. The National Railsplitting Festival is
held in September. That festival will be conducted much as it has been in the
past, but with one added component from the original Art and Balloon Festival.
The 1800’s Craft Fair held at the Postville Courthouse will be going on at the
same time, and will offer visitors an additional look into the days of Abraham
Lincoln in Logan County.
Planning for the Art in the Park is nearly complete, and work is ongoing on the
Balloon Festival. To date, Barr said that the Balloon Festival is going to have
at least 31 balloons with more still signing up.
In June, in addition to Pigs and Swigs, there will also be the Ribs & Rides in
Atlanta and the Route 66 Garage Sales in Lincoln.
In July will be Arts in the Park.
August will begin with the Logan County Fair, and end with the Lincoln Balloon
Festival.
In September will be the Atlanta Fall Festival, the Mount Pulaski Fall Festival,
and the National Railsplitting Festival, Middletown is planning an event, and
the Lincoln Futbol Club Route 66 Soccer Shootout will take place once again.
October will bring the St. John’s United Church of Christ Germanfest and the
Lincoln Christian Church Harvest of Talents.
Going into late fall early winter, November will bring Christmas on Vinegar Hill
in Mount Pulaski and in December the Lincoln Christian University will offer
Christmas in the Chapel.
Looking at the calendar for this summer, it would appear that there is indeed
always something to do, if not in Lincoln, then in Logan County.
[Nila Smith] |
