Vanlue pride since 1954

VANLUE — The village of Vanlue will come alive this weekend with the Vanlue Community Organization's annual Vanlue Festival, scheduled Thursday through Saturday at Vanlue Community Park. Since 1954, the park has been transformed into an epicenter of events, including cheerleading, parades, food vendors, tournaments, and live music. "There's more people in Vanlue on those three days than I think any other day in the year," member of the VCO and Wildcat Cafe owner Jeremy Kloepfer said. "It's incredible, the support that we get from not only our Vanlue community, but surrounding communities." A cheerleading competition is set to kick off activities at 7 p.m. on Thursday, following warmups beginning at 5 p.m. Kloepfer said the cheerleading competition is a highlight every year, with local physical education and track coach Mellisa Cole leading the event. "She is doing a phenomenal job of getting cheerleading teams out to the competition for Thursday," Kloepfer said. "It's been phenomenal, she's really got the teams back and it's packed. If you come out there on Thursday, plan on parking a long way away from the park and walking to get to the competition area." The 5K Run, Walk, or Roll is scheduled for 8 p.m. On-site registration is scheduled for 7 p.m., with the Kids Run at 7:45 p.m. Cow Pie Bingo will start at 6 p.m. Inflatable play areas will be available for children from 6 to 9 p.m., with a $5 wristband, and 9-hole miniature golf will be $2 per person from 6 to 9 p.m. Inflatables and miniature golf will also be available from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday and from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday. A $5 wristband on Friday and Saturday will also include train rides. Food and drink vendors will be available on all three days of the festival. Food vendors will begin at 4 p.m. on Thursday, with the food line at the main building open at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. A variety of options will be available, including chicken and noodles, baked steak, milkshakes, funnel cakes, etc. "We got our own VCO run milkshake stand," Kloepfer said. "If you're going to get a milkshake, unfortunately, you may have to wait a little bit because of the mass of orders that we have for those." Friday will kickoff with the Vanlue Fest Parade at 6:30 p.m. following lineup at 5:30 p.m. and judging at 6 p.m. A ceremony to crown the festival's king, queen, prince and princess will immediately follow the parade. The royal crowning is a unique tradition in Vanlue, where judges are not local, but are impartial people from a committee outside of Vanlue. Multiple activities on both Friday and Saturday will be available throughout the evening, including a ticket wheel from 8 to 11 p.m., bingo from 7 to 10 p.m. and horse drawn carriages from 7 to 9 p.m., costing $5 per person. A beer garden will begin at 7 p.m. with DJ Bryan McKee from 7 to 11 p.m. Cornhole will also be available, with registration at 8 p.m. costing $40 a team. The night will conclude with a fireworks display at 10 p.m., presented by American Fireworks. Saturday is packed with a variety of competitive events. A mud volleyball competition will kick off the day at 10 a.m., with registration at 9 a.m., costing $30 a team. "Mud volleyball is usually a pretty big hit," Kloepfer said. "We get anywhere from 25 to 35 teams." New this year is a mixed pickleball tournament, slated for noon. Registration begins at 11 a.m. and costs $50 a team. Also scheduled for Saturday, is a 3-on-3 basketball tournament at 6 p.m. Registration begins at 5 p.m. and costs $40 a team. A chicken BBQ dinner is scheduled in the evening from 4 to 7 p.m., with tickets available for $12, prepared by the Vanlue Fire Department. Saturday night concludes with live music by Dayton's Local Band, "Premonition," at 8 p.m. in the beer garden. Kloepfer said the event wouldn't be possible without its volunteers and sponsors, accrediting longtime supporters Kathy Bird and Jan Phillips in gathering donations and organizing logistics each year. "They are just doing an absolutely phenomenal job going out and getting sponsors, year in and year out, and having things there for the VCO committee to utilize, to bring better, bigger things to our fest," Kloepfer said. Local businesses such as Wildcat Cafe, Marathon, Hendricks Small Engine and Brooks Truck & Trailer Repair also provide financial and in-kind support. Kloepfer hopes that Vanlue Fest will continue to grow and be a place where families and community can come together for a fun-filled weekend. "I hope it's a lot of family fun and enjoying being with each other," Kloepfer said. "Maybe meeting a new neighbor that just moved into town. Hopefully people get to come out and see what Vanlue's really about because it's a great community, a great small town and it's truly a great place to raise a family."