Ashmont’s 34th annual Heritage Days celebration is come up fast, and is set to take place this weekend, complete with a ball tournament, bench show, horseshoe tournament, kids’ games and the always-popular parade.
Paul Lawton will be organizing this year’s parade, and says organizers are willing to accept any and all parade entries. There are a number of categories to enter, and ribbons available to winners of those categories.
Lawton says there is always a good crowd of people who attend the parade, so organizers always hope to have an entertaining parade to watch. He anticipates a variety of parade entries will participate.
Parade assembly will begin at 10 a.m. on the north side of Ashmont, with the parade expected to start at about 11:30 a.m. The parade will go along Ashmont’s main street, past the school, and then toward the Ashmont Agriplex.
This year’s parade theme was chosen in honour of the County of St. Paul’s 50th anniversary, says Lawton.
Also taking place over the weekend will be a family-oriented slo-pitch tournament. Cleve Murray is helping organize the tournament and says the cut-off for teams to register for the tournament is today.
“It’s just for fun,” says Murray of the tournament. He adds that families are encouraged to have players of all ages on their teams. If enough teams are registered, the tournament will take place over two days, ending on Sunday.
All games take place near the Ashmont Agriplex.
Also taking place on Aug. 11 will be a bench show, open for public viewing at the Agriplex. Entries will be collected on Friday evening and Saturday morning with viewing taking place from 1 to 3 p.m.
A variety of categories are available for bench show entries.
“The bench show is always well attended,” said Garry Himschoot, president of the Ashmont Ag Society.
Other events taking place over the weekend include a Saturday-morning pancake breakfast, hamburger fry, beer gardens, adult and kids’ games and a horseshoe tournament. A concession will also be available throughout the day.
For more information on the parade, contact Lawton at (780) 726-2143, or for information on the ball tournament contact Murray at (780) 726-2019. For information on the bench show contact Melinda at (780) 726-3878.
