The posts we have done for several years now that highlighted the activities at our annual East Perry Community Fair have been well-received. I think local folks who attended the fair like to see if they get included in the photos that are displayed, and folks that cannot attend the fair get a little taste of the fair even if they did not get to experience it personally.

Today, I will be showing pictures covering what the fairground looks like on the day before the event actually takes place, along with plenty of photos taken during the Friday parade.

I took a stroll around the fairgrounds on Thursday morning shortly after sunup. I am going to caption some of the photos, but not all of them. The thumbnails for photos in this post can be clicked to enlarge them.

On the Thursday evening before the fair, people show up at the fairground to bring their entries to be judged at various buildings. Also, the hamburger stand and a beer stand are open for the locals to enjoy some fair food and fellowship prior to the onslaught of thousands of fair goers.

Each year’s festivities kick off with a parade. The line-up for this event takes place at Immanuel Lutheran Church on the west end of Altenburg. For that last few years, I have volunteered to be part of the crew organizing the line-up for the parade. I took some photos that I am sharing here. They display floats, dignitaries, bands, and students.

After several hours of mostly meeting and sharing stories with the parade participants and organizers, the time came for the parade to head through town, and off they went.

I had some help getting photos that others took along the parade route. The second photo in this gallery shows this year’s grand marshals, Ken and Rhonda Buchheit. The third photo shows a TV personality, Max Armstrong.

Once the parade concluded, the large crowd followed the parade down to the fairgrounds to enjoy the rest of the day. I plan to share more photos tomorrow.