We are part of The Trust Project.
VERGAS — The Vergas Community Club is gearing up to host the community's annual end-of-summer festival, Looney Days, on Aug. 11-14.
More than 40 events are planned for the four-day festival, including water fights, pickleball demonstrations, a puppy plunge, street dance and parade.
Thursday, Aug. 11 starts off with an all-day, pick-your-own bouquet event at True Blue Flower Company , which continues on Friday and Saturday as well. Then, starting at 5 p.m. Thursday, Otter Coffee and Ice Cream will be offering live music until 7 p.m.
On Friday, Aug. 12, the fun starts early with area-wide rummage sales, continuing throughout the day; a map of sale locations will be available outside the Vergas Community Center, and a list of sales will be posted on the Vergas Community Club Facebook page as well as at the Vergas city web page, cityofvergas.com .
Also on Friday, aspiring artists can create their own sidewalk chalk art outside Natalie's Serendipity between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., or head on over to the new Vergas Pickleball courts for a live demonstration from 10-11 a.m. (a second demonstration takes place at the same time on Saturday). The United Methodist Church will be selling brats and beans in the parking lot from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
After lunch, you can head over to the Vergas City Cemetery for a Voices of the Past Cemetery Tour, between 2-3 p.m.
The remaining Friday activities will all take place at Loon Park, with a kids' fishing contest starting at 3:30 p.m., food trucks on site from 4 to 9 p.m., a water ski show on the beach from 5 to 5:30 p.m. and a free Church of Cash musical tribute show from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Saturday's schedule is jam packed, starting with a 5K run/walk that gets underway at 8 a.m. in Loon Park (registration starts at 7 a.m.). The Vergas Lions will be serving up "Breakfast on a Bun" from 8 to 11 a.m. inside the Vergas Event Center. There will be a street fair on Main Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and wiener dog racing returns to the baseball field starting at 9 a.m. The Perham Area Boys & Girls Club will be hosting family games at the baseball field from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., and there will be inflatable games set up there as well, until 3 p.m.
Vergas Fire and Rescue will host an open house at the fire hall from 10 a.m. to noon, and the Trowbridge Creek Zoo will be hosting a petting zoo from 9 a.m. to noon at Summers Construction.
An Ice Cream Stroll takes place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Vergas Assisted Living, and the beer garden opens at noon on Railway Avenue, which is also where the bean bag tournament gets underway at 3 p.m. (registration at 2 p.m.).
Loon Park is the setting for the Little Miss and Mister Vergas Pageant, which starts at noon Saturday; the Loon Calling Contest, which starts at 1 p.m.; the Puppy Plunge at 3 p.m.; and a second water ski show at 4:30 p.m. The Looney Days Road Rally also embarks from Loon Park at noon.
The day's festivities end with a street dance, featuring live music by the Mall Rats, which starts at 8 p.m. on Railway Avenue and continues until midnight.
The festival comes to an end on Sunday, Aug. 14, starting with a classic car show on Main Street from 9 a.m. to noon, and a 10 a.m. community church service at the baseball field. True Blue Flower Company will host a Yoga Among the Blooms session at 9:30 a.m. as well.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sunday afternoon starts with the Grand Looney Days Parade 2 p.m., followed by water fights on Main Street and TIP Bingo at Billy's. Skal will be hosting live music from 4 to 10 p.m., including Damien Anderson (4-6 p.m.), Seth Moore (6-8 p.m.) and Shelly and Dave (8-10 p.m.). The festival concludes with an 8 p.m. TIP raffle drawing at Billy's.
For event updates, visit the Vergas Community Club Facebook page as well as the Vergas city web page, cityofvergas.com.
