RUSSELLVILLE - The 175th anniversary celebration of when the town of Russellville was first surveyed will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and continue through Sunday afternoon.
The western-themed Miss Teen Russellville and Little Mr. and Miss Russellville pageants will be joined by the new baby show beginning at 6 p.m. Friday at the City Park.
Blue Stem, an acoustic music group from Kansas, will perform its bluegrass, Gospel, rock and humor show following the pageants. The traveling group was once the house band for National Public Radio's "The Good Time Radio Review."
The Battle of the Bases 12U Softball Tournament also begins Friday evening and continues Saturday.
Food vendors will be open 6-8 p.m. Friday evening and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, serving frog legs, hot dogs, polish sausage, burgers, chips, nachos, funnel cakes and more.
Breakfast will be served 7-10:30 a.m. Saturday at City Park by the Boy Scouts. And City Hall will hold a reception 8-11 a.m.
The quilt show and temporary history museum will be open 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and noon-3 p.m. Sunday in the Cole County R-I Elementary School gymnasium.
The commemorative Russellville Pictorial Stamp Cancellation will be available 6-9 p.m. Friday at City Park, 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday at the school, and noon-3 p.m. at the school.
With the theme "Celebrating 175 Years," the parade will begin at 9:30 a.m.
Immediately following the parade uptown, an opening ceremony for the Railroad Park will include a ribbon cutting and a portrayal of Pres. Abraham Lincoln - which will be repeated at 11:30 a.m. at the elementary school with a question and answer session.
The band 24/7 will perform at 11 a.m. Saturday at City Park. The chainsaw and the two-man cross-cut saw competitions will begin at 2 p.m., followed by the pedal pull at 2:30 p.m.
Bids will be taken on silent auction items 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
The live auction, including a red-white-and-blue quilt stitched by local quilters, will begin at 2 p.m.
Robby Bax will perform, following the live auction.
Craft and product vendors will be set up 9 a.m.-4 p.m., as well as a car cruise-in, engine and tractor displays, blacksmithing demonstrations and Missouri Highway Patrol exhibits.
A kids area will include a bounce house, pony rides and games.
A dance will be held 8-11 p.m. Saturday at the Cole County R-I High School parking lot to benefit Project Graduation 2014.
Then, at dusk, fireworks will commence from Lion's Club Field.
Festivities resume at 11 a.m. Sunday with a traditional, community-wide worship service.
A brunch to benefit the Central Missouri Food Bank's local Buddy Pack program will be served immediately following.
The afternoon will be filled with live Gospel music from Apostle's Creek and Potter's Wheel.
Mike Gorman, Holts Summit, is the singer and songwriter for the acoustic Apostle's Creek. His work has been showcased in Nashville, Tenn., and Branson.
Potter's Wheel from Lebanon has performed in Branson seven of the 13 years since it was formed with the motto "Preaching the Gospel, One Song at a Time."
A limited number of festival souvenirs, including T-shirts, cups, backpacks, suncatchers/ornaments and a booklet on the Railroad - will be for sale or may be purchased in advance.
Call 782-4772 or e-mail [email protected] for more information.
www.russellvillemo.com