The 50th Annual Marshall County Blueberry Festival in Plymouth over the Labor Day holiday weekend was better than expected.
With nearly ideal weather all four days, festival committee members say they had record crowds each of the four days. Festival goers were able to enjoy free entertainment on three stages and wander the grounds of Centennial Park in search of that perfect item to purchase from the craft vendors or commercial vendors. There were over 100 food vendors to temp the taste buds of everyone and of course, the carnival was a hit with kids of all ages.
On Monday, with the crowds many vendors ran out of the products and craft items to sell.
Among this year’s highlights was the annual Blueberry Festival Parade on Monday. While the parade was filled with many bands, floats and politicians the highlight of the day was the Culver Academies entries, specifically placed a unit number 50 in the parade. The Black Horse Troop color guard lead the way with 6 Friesian horses followed by the Culver Girls Academy Equestriennes including Jordan Blackburne from Plymouth. The Culver Girls Academy Drill Team was included in the parade along with the Culver Rifles Honor Guard, the Culver Military Academy Band and their artillery vehicles.
Winners from the 50th Annual Blueberry Festival Parade are: the Corvette Club for the Auto/Truck category and Hershey Yockey’s 1957 Case 312 was the Antique Tractor winner.
The bond, non-high school winner was the Suzuki Music School of Granger while
the color guard winner was the Sons of the American Revolution. The tumbling/cheer unit was Ancilla College and
Daphne’s Dolls took the Baton award.
Float winner was Giggles & Scribbles Daycare while the
Academy’s Horse Troop was the armature winner and Midnight Rider’s of Starke County took the individual or drawn horse unit.
The commercial winner was the Zone and the Theme Award, given to the entry that best portrays the parade theme, “Another Picnic in the Park” went to the Marshall County 4-H Dog Club.
The Judge’s Award, given to one of the most outstanding entries in the parade went to the float from the Four Flag’s Area Apple Festival and the
President’s Award, given to an entry for its merits, presentation and overall excellence went to Grandma and Grandpa Build A Float.
