Roachdale's annual Summerfest to be held this weekend

Thursday, June 23, 2011

ROACHDALE -- The famous Roach Races will return again at the Roachdale Summerfest this weekend. Of course, the festival will hold many other events this Friday and Saturday.

Starting on Friday the vendors will be open at 4 p.m. along with the VFW Fish Fry, and at 7 p.m. the festival will hold the Little Mister and Miss contest on Railroad Street.

The competition will be held in age groups of 3 to 5 and 6 to 8. Those who wish to participate must have a Roachdale address. Sign-up for the contest starts at 6:30 p.m. at the tent. Kay Call is the chairman for the contest.

The parade this year will be held rain or shine and the Friends of the Park, who help organize the event, encourage everyone who would like to be in the parade to show up at the Roachdale Elementary school parking lot between 4 and 5 p.m. Saturday.

The parade will start at 5 p.m. There is no charge to be in the parade. This is a family fun parade and several youth groups and organizations will be in the parade along with businesses and floats. Local candidates for town council and clerk treasurer are welcome to be in the parade as well.

The Roach Races will be on Saturday and will be located on Railroad Street under a white 10x20 canopy. There is a small fee this year of $1 per roach to race, but the fee is waived if participants bring their own roaches. Registration is at 1 p.m. All ages are welcome to race and the winner can ride in parade.

Roachdale Summerfest will also hold a 5K run/walk hosted by Delta Theta Tau on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. Check in for the race is at 7 a.m. by the library. For those who haven't signed up in advance registering for the race will be $20.

On Saturday there will be a car show with registration from 9 a.m. to noon with the show going from noon to 4 p.m. with awards at the end. Registration fees are $10 per vehicle. The car show will be on Meridian Street from the library to the VFW (between Washington and Railroad). 10x10 canopies are welcome for shade behind your car. Cars can also participate in the parade.

Finally, the corn hole tournament will take place Saturday on Railroad Street in the grass in front of the vendor area. Registration is at 12:45 p.m. with a blind draw to determine seeds. The tournament will start at 1 p.m. Cost is $5 per person and the winner will receive 50 percent of the entry fees.

There will also be kids' games, bounce house and bounce slide on Railroad Street. The car show will be on Meridian. All festival events and vendors will be on Railroad Street.

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Roach race..really. How embarrasing for the community.I think its degarding to the town. A summer festival is awesome but come on people. Take some pride.

-- Posted by jakeboy on Thu, Jun 23, 2011, at 9:48 AM
There is a history of the Roach race which the Banner profiled last year, I believe. There was a display at the county museum as well. Many years ago, the Roachdale summer festival was THE place to be. I'm glad there has been a revival in the past few years. Roachdale is a great small town community.

-- Posted by NP parent on Thu, Jun 23, 2011, at 10:02 PM

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