Medina gears up for its annual Fall Festival

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It’s nearly fall and that means the second largest city in Stutsman County will experience a temporary population boom with its annual fall festival. The Medina Fall Festival kicks off today and runs through Sunday.

“It’s a long tradition with the community and it is a harvest celebration,” said Karl Limvere, member of the Fall Festival planning group. Limvere called the event a community-wide Thanksgiving.

The first event is exhibit registration and judging for crafts and vegetables is going from 3 to 6:30 p.m. at the Legion Hall.

At 8 p.m. there will be the Fall Festival Variety Show featuring many acts including the Dakota Keys Accordion Club of Bismarck-Mandan. Admission is a Fall Festival button.

Events continue on Saturday with rolls, pies and coffee from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and in the Legion Hall.

There will be a parade Saturday morning on Main Street with the line up starting at 9:30 a.m. and the parade starting at 10:30 a.m. Limvere said there are usually between 60 and 70 units in the parade.

A noon beef feed is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. and the city auditorium. The cost is $6 for adults, $4 for ages 6-12 and free for 5 and under.

Perhaps the biggest draw starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday with the Fall Festival Tractor & Truck Pull on the track south of Medina School. The admission is $8 or $3 with a Fall Festival button.

“Medina has become one the significant tractor and truck pulls across the state,” Limvere said.

There will also be activities for children at the same time with creative sustainability activities set for 1 p.m. at the north shelter in the city park. This is for grades K-6.

Messy Bessy and kids games are set for 1 p.m. in the city park.

A pedal pull is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the city park tennis courts for ages 3-12.

Bingo will be at 7:30 in the Legion Hall and there will be a street dance featuring the band Gravity at 9 p.m.

Sunday wraps up the Fall Festival with Medina Community Ecumenical Worship Service at 10:30 a.m. in the Medina School Auditorium. It will be conducted by the Medina-Streeter Area Ministerial Association.

On Saturday and Sunday the Medina Heritage Center will be open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Limvere is also in the Medina Lions, one of the many organizations sponsoring the festival or specific events.

“It’s an inter-organizational event that really brings the community together,” he said.

Sun reporter Ben Rodgers can be reached at 701-952-8455 or by e-mail at brodgers@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, in the area, community, news, medina, fall, festival