By Staff
My favorite time of year – and my favorite festival – are upon us.
The Four Flags Area Apple Festival opens officially on Thursday, Sept. 28, and continues through Sunday, Oct. 1.
However, many events take place before that lead the way to the festival itself on that last weekend of September.
The Apple Festival Youth Parade is Saturday, Sept. 23, and is always a joy to witness. Hundreds of precious, costumed children will gather at Eastside Park at noon and begin their own parade down 17th Street to the Apple Festival site. This year's parade is being underwritten by Lakeland Regional Health Systems, the parent company of Lakeland Hospital, Niles.
When the youngsters get to the Apple Festival site, they will enjoy a magic show and games and refreshments, all presented free of charge by the Niles Service League, McDonald's Restaurant of Niles and the Greater Niles Community Federal Credit Union.
Also next Saturday is another perennial Apple Festival favorite event – the Trike and Big Wheel contest, which will be held at 10 a.m. at Ring Lardner Middle School parking lot, sponsored by Hardee's Family Restaurant of Niles.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m.
However, maybe the most anticipated event of every Apple Festival begins at 6:30 p.m. with opening ceremonies on Thursday, Sept. 21. That's the night that 25 young ladies will vie for the title of Miss Apple Festival Queen and 26 young ladies will compete for the Junior Miss Apple Festival crown.
Interest in these coveted titles continues to grow each year. In fact, if you count participation as an indicator, Miss Apple Festival really has become the pre-eminent pageant and the Apple Festival queen is the title that truly represents the Niles and Brandywine communities.
We'll introduce you to each Miss Apple Festival and Junior Miss Apple Festival contestant in the coming days in our newspaper and you'll see that the young ladies come from each area school district and from all walks of life and represent a variety of talents and interests.
New this year are scholarships for winners, beginning with $500 for the Queen.
Admission is $8 and tickets are available from any contestant and at the door while they last. My suggestion is that you get your ticket early. Make certain to watch our newspaper next week for our profiles on all of the contestants.
Of course, my favorite part of Apple Festival begins Saturday, Sept. 30, at 1:30 p.m. and that's the Apple Festival Grande Parade, this year sponsored by Chemical Bank Shoreline. The Apple Festival parade is one of the biggest and best around and is a family and community event.
While Riverfest is a tremendous amount of fun and also is growing each and every year, it's really a festival geared more toward adults. Apple Festival is truly a time for families and offers something for every age group and interest.
None of this would happen without the hard work and dedication of Apple Festival volunteers, who work all year long to produce our annual Apple Festival. Many thanks to these community-minded citizens.
See you at this year's event.
On another note…
"There's a magic in the sound of her name: Here come the Irish of Notre Dame." Go Irish!