Putnam County Fair Parade ready to help kick off Fair Week 2017

Monday, July 10, 2017

The annual Putnam County Fair Parade is set for Friday, July 21. The theme this year is “Blue Ribbon Memories.”

The Parade Committee encourages everyone to come out to help kick off the 2017 Putnam County Fair.

The route is similar to previous years, starting at Wood and Washington streets at 6:30 p.m. From there, the parade will head down Washington Street to the square. From the square, parade participants will either continue west on Washington Street to U.S. 231 North and on to the fairgrounds or turn right on Indiana Street heading to Franklin Street to return to their staging areas.

Participants will sign in and register at the Greencastle High School (GHS) parking lot entrance located on Percy L. Julian Drive. Participants will then be directed to one of the designated staging areas: GHS/GMS parking lots, Gardenside Drive, Robe-Ann Park, Washington Street or other allotted areas. The staging area assignment will be determined by the Fair Parade Committee.

Competitive parade floats are always welcomed and encouraged. Floats will be judged at the GHS parking lot at 5 p.m. Entries need to be lined up and ready for judging no later than 4:45 p.m. First, second and third place will be awarded in two divisions: Adult and Youth. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the winners.

This year’s judges will be Mackensy Asbell of Moore’s Bar and Grill, Laurie Heeke Monnett of First Financial Bank and Eric Wolfe, broker and owner of Prime Real Estate Group.

Ken Torr will marshal the parade this year. Torr has given a lifetime of service to Putnam County 4-H’ers in too many ways to list, and is an excellent representation of community involvement that the Parade Committee believes embodies the spirit of this year’s fair theme. The Chandler Family will escort Torr through the parade with their horse and carriage.

Residents in the affected neighborhoods (Anderson, Seminary, Wood, Gardenside, Washington and Stadium) will have limited access to their homes after 5 p.m., Fair Parade Committee members remind. Roads will be blocked for the parade at 5 p.m. The committee apologizes for any inconvenience. This is an annual event the committee enjoys hosting and it thanks everyone for their patience.

Several details have been finalized, however, the entry window isn’t closed. The Parade Committee encourages anyone and everyone to be involved in this year’s fair parade. This can be through entering your float or display in the parade or volunteering.

“Regardless of what club, company, organization you belong to, we want you to join us,” Fair Parade Committee member Nancy Michael said. “Be creative and have fun.”

Another member, Tyler Brammer, says, “We are striving to make this parade the biggest one yet. We’re hoping to see many new faces this year.”

If you want to be one of these new faces there are several ways to be one: Go to the parade’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/putnamcountyfairparade like the page to make sure you don’t miss out on emergency updates or next year’s parade info). You will find a link to the registration form there. You could also go to www.putcofair.org. The registration form can be found there as well.

Persons can also contact Nancy Michael 720-1974/ nmichael04@yahoo.com, Tyler Brammer tylerbrammer_2017@depauw.edu, or Shea Mahoney Sutherland sheams@gmail.com for registration or volunteer questions.

The committee asks that observers set up their chairs and blankets to enjoy the festivities and “to be safe and cautious during the parade,” Michael noted. “We encourage people to help up out by cleaning up their areas to keep lawns and our roadways clean. We will have a group of volunteers that have generously agreed to help with our clean-up.”

Special thanks goes to: Greencastle Civic League, James Coy and employees and Putnam County Comprehensive Services, just to name a few for their service.

This year’s parade is made possible by community volunteers. The parade committee includes: Tyler Brammer, Gordon and Lynette Williams, Ken Heeke, Perry and Rose Wainman, John Jackman, Don Mundy, Shea Mahoney Sutherland, Katie Douglas and Nancy Michael.

The Parade Committee also would like to thank all City of Greencastle Departments that make the parade possible, without them there would be no parade.

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