Paynesville's Town and Country Days will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year on June 12-16. The theme for this year's festivities is "Memory Lane."
Inside today's Paynesville Press is a special picture section marking the 50th anniversary of Town and Country DaysTo commemorate the anniversary, the Paynesville Chamber of Commerce is selling t-shirts with a 1948 picture of Washburne Avenue (see photo at right). The t-shirts are selling for $12 each and range in sizes from childrens to adult XXL. The t-shirts can be purchased at the Corner Drug, Corner Floral, Community First National Bank, Assembly Grounds, Paynesville Office of the Melrose Credit Union, and at Koronis Hills Golf Course.
A full schedule of activities has been planned for the anniversary.
Saturday, June 12
On Saturday, June 12, a 5K, 10K, and two-mile walk/run will start at 9 a.m. with runners starting at the Regional Park on the south side of Lake Koronis and finishing up at Veteran's Memorial Park on the north side.
Registration will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the Veteran's Memorial Park. As race time nears, the runners will be transported to the Regional Park. There are five age group divisions. Trophies will be awarded to the top five in each age group, in addition a trophy will go to the overall winner, a prize for first one up half-way hill on Northwest Koronis Road and first Paynesville address runner.
Anyone interested can contact Jay Thompson, 320-243-3887. Registration fees are $5 per person in advance, and $10 on race day.
The Paynesville Area Center will be hosting a flea market/rummage sale on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. at the center on the west edge of Paynesville. Anyone interested in setting up a booth should contact Janell at the center, 320-243-4799. They will also be offering coffee, rolls, sweets, pop, and hotdogs.
The wrestling program that had been scheduled for Saturday night was cancelled due to low advance ticket sales.
Sunday, June 13
On Sunday, June 13, the 12th Annual Peeper's Family Picnic will be held at noon at the Gazebo Park in conjunction with an Antique Car Show. The cost of the picnic is an item for the food shelf. During the afternoon, kid's games, horse and wagon rides, balloons, clowns, and more will be at the park.
Gates open at 8 a.m. for the car show exhibitors. There are 11 classes ranging from 1889 to 1931 stock cars to motorcycles. Dash plaques will be presented to the first 50 entrants. Medals will be presented to the top three vehicles in each class, and trophies to those coming the longest distance, and to the club with the most participation.
At 3 p.m. Sunday, the Little Miss Dairy Queen and Dennis the Menace Look-a-Like pageant will be held at the Gazebo Park. This event is sponsored by the Dairy Queen.
Monday, June 14
On Monday, June 14, the annual queen pageant to select "Miss Paynesville 1999-2000," will be held at 7 p.m. in the Paynesville Area High School (note change of location). Six girls are vying for the honor of Miss Paynesville. They are Allison Thompson, Heather Fenske, Amanda Granzow, Melissa Reiter, Amanda McCool, and Trishia Miller.
On hand to crown their successors will be Miss Paynesville Mackenzie Merrill, and princesses Angie Lahr and Melissa Schneider.
Tuesday, June 15
Tuesday morning, June 15, at 10 a.m., the annual Pet Show will be held on the lawn of the Good Samaritan Care Center. Pet owners are requested to have all dogs on a leash and carriers available for smaller pets. At 2:30 p.m., the annual Kiddie Parade will line up at the Good Samaritan Care Center. The parade will get under way at 3 p.m. and head down Washburne Avenue to the Gazebo Park.
The Merriam Midway will open at noon Tuesday in downtown Paynesville on James Street and will run through Wednesday night.
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Games Night will get under way on downtown streets. The pedal tractor pull, sponsored by the Paynesville Area Jaycees, will take place at 7 p.m. Registration starts at 6:30 p.m. The tractor pull is open to youth ages 4 to 11. Other games taking place are a coin hunt, chalk drawings on the street, basketball, and ring toss, to name a few.
At 8 p.m., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Town and Country Days, free ice cream will be handed out downtown on Washburne Avenue. The Paynesville Volunteer Fire Department members will be handing out the ice cream. The ice cream is being donated by AMPI.
Following games night and the ice cream give away, Maggie James and the Paynesville Lutheran Worship Band will perform for a street dance on James Street near the Farmers and Merchants State Bank. In the event of rain, the dance will be moved to the Paynesville Civic Arena.
Another new event this year is mini-golf which will be open Monday through Wednesday. It will be open each day until dark. Sponsored by the Paynesville Area Jaycees, the golf course will be set up in the Community First National Bank parking lot.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Crow River Trail Guards will be selling root beer floats near the public restrooms, the Nordland Lutheran Church youth will be selling brats in front of Jack and Jill, the Rebekahs and Odd Fellows Lodge will be selling pie and ice cream near the corner of Washburne and James Street, the Paynesville Lion's Club will be selling hamburgers both days between the Community First National Bank and the post office. The Paynesville Area Transit will be having a concession of FET Kuchen (fry bread) by H.F. Paul Insurance from 2 to 11 p.m.
Wednesday, June 16
The grand parade will be held Wednesday, June 16, at 7 p.m., with seven bands committed and more than 100 parade entries. Parade grand marshals are Bill and Sue Drager. Among the bands are: Paynesville, Sartell Middle School, Princeton, Melrose, Albany, Buffalo, and Sauk Rapids/Rice.
The parade route will start at the Industrial Park and head south on Washburne Avenue, turn west at Mill Street by the elementary school and then turn south on Maple Street and end at the St. Louis Catholic Church. The awards ceremony will take place on the front steps of the Catholic church.
A four-team baseball tournament will be held Thursday through Saturday, June 24-26, with Roscoe, Lake Henry, Paynesville, and New London competing against each other. The Thursday and Friday games will be played at 8 p.m., with the Roscoe Rangers facing off against the Paynesville Pirates on Thursday and the Lake Henry Lakers and the New London-Spicer Twins are playing Friday. On Saturday, the losers will face-off at 5 p.m. and the winners of the first two games will play at 7:30 p.m.