VANCEBURG — The City of Vanceburg is hosting its 31st annual two-day July Jubilee starting Friday, June 30.
City Clerk Greta May said the event will kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday with its yearly July Jubilee parade, though vendors will be set up and open for business at 11 a.m.
Grand Marshalls of the parade this year will be Howard McCann, who was a veteran in the Cold War along with two other veterans from World War II, Otis Wright and Raymond Butler. May said the grand marshalls will ride at the head of the parade with the other veterans. All veterans are invited to ride in the parade.
“Line-up for the parade will be at 6 p.m. at Central School. Then we have Josh Ryster and Nate Stone singing at the Veteran’s Park, Josh will sing from 7-8 p.m. followed by Nate Stone at 8:15 p.m.,” May said.
Vendors and food trucks will be set up and serving throughout the two-day event. According to May, there will be many local favorites there.
“We have Skeeter Shaw and I am not sure what to call him exactly—I just call it Shaw’s Foods, the there’s Phil Day’s Fun and Foods, then Lisa Carver has a Mexican food truck called Tortilla Junction. We also have a new one this year called Rescue Barbeque coming from Germantown,” May said.
May said there will be more than 60 food trucks and vendors at the Jubilee selling baked goods, funnel cakes, barbeque, jewelry, arts and crafts and a lot more.
“The Cruise-In will be in the Merchants parking lot from 4-7 p.m. on Saturday. We are doing a grand prize winner of $500 which is done by random draw. Each person will get a number and it will go in the pot and we will pick the number from there. We are also doing 20 drawings for $25 prizes. We started doing the prizes last year which brought in a lot more people so it has worked out very well,” May said.
There will also be some new attractions and games at the jubilee this year according to May.
“Yes this year we have started something new, it is actually a pretty neat little thing. It is called the Vanceburg 500 Ducky Duck Run. So it is those yellow rubber duck bath toys, we have put numbers on the bottom of them. We have been selling tickets, we have sold 500 tickets for $10 each. On Friday night at 9 p.m. four winners will be pulled,” May said.
May said the numbered ducks each match to a ticket and will be pulled from a big metal galvanized tub. The first duck pulled has a $1,000 prize, the second duck $500 and the third and fourth duck each have a prize of $250 according to May.
“This has been a biggie and I think it has had a really good run. Also, you do not have to be present to win,” May said.
With the many added attractions and traditional favorites such as the Cruise-In, May said they are expecting a big turn-out for the event.
“Then on Saturday, we have a full-day schedule of events starting off with the fishing tournament. Registration is at 6:30 a.m. and then the tournament starts at 7 a.m. and goes to 1 p.m. and there is a certain area on the riverbank they do it at. The winner gets a new rod and reel and maybe $100 prize,” May said.
Another feature May wanted to highlight is the Hammertown bluegrass band that will be playing at the event this year. May said the band is very popular locally and will start playing at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
A few other added attractions are the Epic Mullet contest, a dog show with 10 categories, creating rock art in the park and a special sensory area.
“The mullet contest is something we have also just started this year. There are a couple of different divisions, one is 18 years of age and up and the other is 17 years of age and under. It is $5 to enter, there is a first, second and third place winner. The first wins $50, the second place is $30 and the third place is $10. That is being sponsored by Journey’s Jumpee’s. So we are hoping to have a really good turn-out on the mullet contest, I think it is going to be a lot of fun,” May said.
On Saturday at Scott Park, there will be rock painting which will be turned into a long rock snake, May said this is a new feature for the event this year.
“This year we are also doing three awards for the floats in the parade which is something new. One is for the best overall float, one is for best-decorated side by side and one for best-decorated vehicle,” May said. The awards are ribbon awards.
Also new this year is the sensory area for children and others with special sensory needs which will be in the George Morgan Thomas House (Vanceburg’s visiting center), according to May.
No horns or loud noises should be heard near the sensory center from the George Morgan Thomas House to the H and R block on Main Street according to posts on social media.
At the end of the two-day event, there will be a fireworks show at 10 p.m. down by the riverbank, according to May.
“The same guy has been doing the fireworks for us for probably more than 20 years at least, it is a 30-minute show usually and it is really good. Not tooting my own horn but it is probably the best fireworks,” May said.
Other events on the schedule for the July Jubilee:
-Baby show on Saturday at Veteran’s Park. Registration at 8 a.m. and show at 9 a.m. $20 to enter and $5 per category.
-Cutie Pie show on Saturday at Veteran’s Park. Registration at 8 a.m. and show at 11 a.m. $20 to enter and $5 per category.
-Dog Show, Saturday in Scott Park on Front Street from 3-5 p.m., registry closed on June 23.
-5K Gun Run, registration 7 a.m. at Veteran’s Park with the run starting at 8 a.m.
-Cornhole Tournament at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
-Power wheels race at 2 p.m. in the Merchants parking lot.
-Gospel hour from 1-2 p.m. at Veteran’s Park
-Hunter Jordan sings in Veteran’s Park from 3:15-5 p.m.
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