Blessed with great weather the Harlan Days Festival enjoyed another profitable year. The arena was again filled to capacity for the Saturday night main event Demo Derby Soccer Match. Coordinated by park volunteers Neil Koch and Alex Zurbrugg, the crowd was enthralled as the ‘#77 Racing Car’ stole the show. Come early in 2019 if you’d like to watch this very fun event. And for the first time in anyone’s recollection a new carnival company graced the grasses of our fair park. The Huesman Amusement Company did not disappoint, bringing with them a wonderful assortment kiddie and teen rides. They too will be back in 2019. And if locals weren’t partaking in arena events, sporting tourneys, or carnival thrill rides, they were likely sampling food from one of the fifteen food trucks, or perhaps a home cooked meal served by the good folks of Ekklesia.
The exact festival profits are not in just yet, but we can safely say it will be a 3rd consecutive record breaking year. There were many generous sponsors who made financial contributions and the largest local donors were: Dr Adam Hertig and Dr Jeffrey Shambaugh of the Shambaugh Dental Group, Springfield Restoration and Remodeling, Klopfenstein Repair and Dutch Made Custom Cabinetry. As valuable as dollars donated are the hours of labor given freely by locals. It takes a couple hundred people volunteering a thousand plus hours to make this annual party happen, thank you all. And of special note: Harlan United Methodists for the delicious donuts, Harlan Lions Club for their tasty chicken and hamburgers, HCYC and Pathway Christian Church for their continued support of children activities. And we cannot forget all the unnamed who empty trash, wash dishes and clean restrooms.
As a whole, the Harlan Community is on the rise. With an influx of young families, the large neighborhoods ‘Lakes of Harlan’ and ‘Harlan Gardens’ are teeming with active youngsters. Being located equal distance between Woodlan and Leo, Harlan parents can, and do, use ‘school choice’ to their advantage. With large and local employers, full-time child care and private K-12 options, a new grocery market plus talk of an incoming ice cream shop, and all this just a five minute drive to Chapel Ridge and 469, it is easy to see why Harlan is fast becoming that small, friendly hometown many long for. And God willing, we have brighter days to come.
