By Woodrow polston
Citizens of Farber were joined by friends from far and wide at Sportsman Park last weekend to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Farber.
The activities began on Friday evening with Little Miss and Little Mister contests to kick off the two-day event. After judging the princesses and queens contest, a volunteer award was presented to Harold and Ruth Etta Williams. The plaque read, “Thank you for your years of dedication and hard work. You are greatly appreciated.”
At 7 p.m., the Missouri Farm Pullers tractor pull began as onlookers took to the bleachers. On Saturday, activities started off with the annual baby contest. Lynn Flowers, who announced the winners, has been working this event for quite a while.
“I have been doing the baby contest for about 15 years,” said Flowers. “This is my last one though, and I am not going to be doing them anymore. So, I am going out with a big bang and doing my last one on the Sesquicentennial celebration,” she added.
As the baby contest kept the young parents busy, others at the event were occupied with a game of volleyball. There were also bounce houses, a corn trailer and plenty of vendors for those who wanted to browse and shop. Brandie Gay, who is president of the Fun Fest Board, said that they are holding out to see if Fun Fest will continue next year.
“Those of us on the planning board have been doing this a long time,” said Gay. “Three of us will be stepping away after this year’s event is over. But there may be others who come on board and help with planning future events. We have done a lot of projects over the years with the funds that we have raised from Fun Fest. This year, we are putting all of the money into the ballpark. Updates will include a new concession stand, a new announcer stand, new concrete work and new dirt. Last year, it was the community building. The floor was cracked and in bad shape, so we completely replaced it with new concrete. We estimate that this year’s event may generate between $5,000-$6,000, which can be used for the projects,” she added.
First place winners of the Farm Pullers Tractor Pull were; Don Mutter, class 8,500 12.5 mph; Tim Heitman, class 10,500 12.5 mph; Austin Orth, class 11,000 8 mph; Rick James, class 6,500 10 mph; Ashley Sjostrand, class 7,500 8 mph; Tim Heitman, class 11,000 18 mph; Tim Brammer, class 12,000 8 mph.