Orion Fall Festival once again will offer a full weekend of events, ranging from the pie auction on Friday, Sept. 4, to the talent contest on Sunday, Sept. 6.
“We have a schedule,” Fall Festival committee member Byron Carlson said. “It’s 99 percent complete.”
Many events are familiar, such as the parade on Saturday, Sept. 5. The theme will be “Let’s Celebrate.”
Some events have been added in recent years. After last year’s successful debut, “Deal or No Deal” will return on Saturday evening.
Some are brand new. Following the battle of the bands on Saturday afternoon, the winner will open the street dance in the evening on Fourth Street.
Also new is the talent contest, which will feature a wide variety of acts in two age divisions.
After more than three decades of providing Fall Festival leadership, the Orion Lions Club decided to concentrate on its core mission of helping the sight- and hearing-impaired.
Rather than let the festival die, village residents and organizations stepped up to keep it going.
“What we’ve seen this year is more interest in the Fall Festival,” Carlson said.
“People don’t want to see it die,” another committee member, Deb Ford, said.
“I’m so pleased with the public support we get,” committee member Jerry Meyer said.
Organizations taking part in fall festival include Western District Library, which will have an open house and demonstrations; Orion Boy Scout Troop 123, which will erect a monkey bridge and provide trash removal services; and Main Street Orion, which is overseeing the battle of the bands and the talent show.
So valued are the scouts and their leaders, past and present, that they will serve as grand marshalls of the parade.
The festival needs volunteers to help set up tents and wiring on Wednesday, Sept. 2, as well as volunteers to work two- or three-hour shifts in the food tent in Central Park.
Anyone interested should call the festival hotline at 526-8320.
