Haunted wagon rides open Friday at Young’s Dairy for October, along with the 44th Pumpkin Festival taking place Saturday and Sunday.
The Pumpkin Festival is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days with a full line of activities.
Attendees can take photos with Humongus Gus, the farm’s giant pumpkin; purchase freshly made pumpkin cinnamon sugar donut holes; tour the cheese-making facility; and watch cow milking. This year of pumpkin bowling has also been added to the lineup.
Cowvin’s Corny Maze will be open during the regular hours, along with the Human-Powered Pumpkin Launcher. Cow-milking demonstrations will be hourly starting at 1 p.m. and pumpkin painting will be from 12 to 5 p.m. each afternoon. Free Farmstead Cheese production tours take place at 12:30 p.m., 2, 3:30 and 5.
The wagon rides will be offered every Friday and Saturday night from 7:30 to 10 p.m. during October. The rides, although spooky, are family friendly and child friendly. Children under 11 must ride accompanied by an adult.
Rides cost $14 per person 6 years and older, and children 5 and under cost $6.
Parking is available in the field on the property.
For more information, visit https://youngsdairy.com/.
“Your Story” Exhibit Opening Night
“Your Story” is an art exhibition inspired by the pandemic in which Springfield photographer Ty Fischer photographed 49 Springfield citizens from all walks of life with and without masks and captured their pandemic journeys, using key words from their stories with the photos.
The exhibition has its grand opening during downtown Springfield’s First Friday activities. Ninety-nine pieces ranging from 3-by-4-foot to as large as 10-by-25-foot banners will cover the walls and poles from Mother Stewart’s Brewing Co. and Hatch Artist Studios up Fountain Avenue, appearing on the parking garage and City Hall up to Courtyard by Marriott and COhatch and spots between.
Audio-visual presentations celebrating the opening will be on the third floor of the Hatch Artist Studios, 105 N. Center St., starting at 6:30 p.m., and on City Hall Plaza from 7 to 9 p.m.
Cards with guides for the exhibition will be available at local downtown businesses. For more information on the “Your Story” exhibition, go to www.facebook.com/yourstoryexhibit.
New Carlisle Heritage of Flight Festival
The Heritage of Flight is packed with activities from 2 p.m. Friday afternoon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
One of the largest classic car shows in the state will fill Main Street on Friday evening. In the past there have been as many as 800 cars. A new event, a Wright Brothers and Sister lookalike contest for kids 12 and under is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the 5K Walk Run starts off Saturday morning.
New Carlisle’s famous Airplane Parade begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday with at least 30 airplanes, and The Pageant immediately follows. At 2 p.m. motorcycles take off on a Toy Run across two counties and end up in a giant motorcycle show Saturday afternoon. Fireworks begin at 10 p.m. that night, and The Blessing of the Badges is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday.
The schedule can be found online at HeritageofFlight.com and printed out at numerous places downtown.
Springfield/Urbana Walk to End Alzheimer’s
Saturday, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s returns to the area in-person, to continue to raise awareness of the disease, and build a community of support for those directly affected by it.
The venue opens at 8 a.m. with the Promise Garden Ceremony starting at 9 at Wittenberg University.
The Springfield/Urbana Walk is a fundraiser for research and for the Alzheimer’s Association to provide free care and support services to families. The goal is to raise $60,000.
An option to “Walk From Home” as an individual or in teams in neighborhoods is also available during registration online. Those who choose to walk from home can still engage in many walk-day experiences through the Walk to End Alzheimer’s mobile app that can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching “Walk to End Alzheimer’s.”
Maps and the walk route will be emailed to those who register to participate.
To register, visit https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2021/OH-MiamiValley?fr_id=14705&pg=entry.
“What’s Wellness?” Youth Health Program
The first “What’s Wellness?” will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at various locations in downtown Springfield. The free family-friendly event is presented by Bringing Awareness to Students (BATS) and Wittenberg University’s Youth Advocacy Class.
The idea for the program came through BATS member Dina Rulli-Heaphey, who was inspired by a state wellness experience, confident it could work at a local level.
All workshops last approximately 45 minutes and include topics on meditation, art, exercise, nutrition, social media and more.
Children under 12 should be accompanied by a parent or guardian and certain workshops are only open to those older than 12. Workshop openings are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis and require signing up online.
Those attending indoor sessions are requested to wear masks or a free N95 masked will be given. Attendees will receive giveaways relating to each class at the end of each session.
To sign up for a class or for more information, go to www.facebook.com/BringingAwarenessToStudents/.
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