EudoraFest will return with some new aspects this year, including a local band, a cake walk and military vehicles at the car show.
Festivities will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and go until 4 p.m. Dani Tompkins will kick things off with the national anthem at 9 a.m., followed by the presentation of the flags.
Vendors with arts and crafts will be on the 800 block of Main Street all day. Z&M Twisted Vines will be in attendance for wine tastings as well.
Rex Burkhardt, who runs the car show, has some new vehicles in the works this year. There will be several military vehicles, like a truck that holds troops, a motorcycle, jeep and trailer. He expects about 50 cars to attend the car show, which will begin at 9 a.m.
Cars can still register for a $10 fee. This year the show will have T-shirts for purchase, instead of those usually made for the 5k and 10k. Car show awards will be given out at 3 p.m. on Ninth and Main Street.
This is the first year for Eudora’s own MoonShroom to perform in the CPA Park gazebo at 11 a.m. The Gary and Dani Show will also perform at 9:05 a.m.
There will be two cake walks, one at 10 a.m. and one at 1:30 p.m.
The annual garden tractor pull weigh-in will start at 11 a.m. with the games beginning at noon on 10th and Fir Street.
Rich Johnson After Midnight will also perform at noon on Eighth and Main Street.
The Methodist church will also have apple dumplings for sale. This year they prepared 900 dumplings for the event.
Kids will also be able to participate in the pass-to-pizza again this year. They will have to find six vendors, including the fire and police department. If they can find five out of the six vendors, they will have until the end of the month to claim a free personal pizza from Gambino’s.
Rob Wiley, committee treasurer, has been helping plan the event since 2005. His favorite part remains the same.
“I would say probably just seeing the the kids light up, just out and about having fun. Mom and Dad chases them up and down Main Street, you know. Just just seeing the smile on their faces,” he said.
In the past, around 3,000 people have attended the event, Wiley said.
Committee President Barbara Tuttle said her favorite part is when she can sit back and see her hard work paying off.
“We can sit back and say, ‘Hey, we did this. We got this together,’” Tuttle said.
This year, volunteer numbers inhibited the small-but-mighty committee from doing everything they wanted, but they said next year is going to bring a lot of new additions and announcements.
To register for the car show, to become a vendor or for more information call Barbara Tuttle at 785-542-1751, or Rex Burkhardt at 785-393-7850.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]
