Remembering our history and heritage is important, but it can be made even more fun when a community comes together to host an event which honours where they came from.
The Arcola Antique Ag Daze will be hosted on Saturday, June 28, and Sunday, June 29. Last year the first annual Antique Ag Daze was a great success, with fun and excitement had by over 500 people across the southeast.
This year the Arcola Fair and Stampede Board hopes to have another successful showing as they present different aspects of farm life from the early years.
Arcola itself is known as the "Heritage Town" because of its historical brick buildings made with brick created right in Arcola. These historic buildings include the Arcola Town Hall once the Arcola Opera House, the Arcola Court House, a law office building, the land titles building, and the Pharmacy building.
In addition to the brick business, Arcola was heavily involved in agriculture, therefore making the Arcola Antique Ag Daze the perfect venue for celebrating the community.
A parade will be held on the morning of June 28. The Fair Board is currently looking for entries and hope to see anything from antique cars to horses to traditional floats to vehicles with people simply handing out candy.
The day will be followed with a horse hitch demo, antique car show, threshing demo, stationary baler demo, and antique machinery displays. Demonstrations of rope making, shingle making, and blacksmithing will also be featured, while children's activities will be available throughout the day as well.
Another nod to agriculture and history will come with the celebration of the local 4-H Achievement Day.
The Sunday will then be filled with further demonstrations and more children's activities, but will also come with a 4-H horse club's gymkhana at the Fair Grounds and a heavy horse pull.
Both days a beer gardens and concession will be available for people to enjoy.
The weekend will be a comprehensive celebration of the town's past, present, and future as they not only remember where the community has grown from but celebrate where it is heading through the youth in 4-H being featured during the event.
Funds raised from the Arcola Antique Ag Days will continue to go towards the new multipurpose building which will be used for messy classes such as welding or pottery as other facilities are not available for these dirtier activities. The group also hopes to have a cement floor put into the larger room within the two room building, but for now it will be completed with gravel in this area.
The Fair Board is excited for the upcoming events and to finish their multipurpose building which has been a project they have been working towards for a number of years.
