The Grundy County Friends of the Arts, in cooperation with the city of Trenton, will kick-off its 2011-2012 performance season with a fun-filled event located in downtown Trenton.
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The Art in the Park festival will be in and around Sesquicentennial Park and will be held on Saturday, Aug. 27.
Beginning at 10 a.m., local downtown merchants will be sponsoring sidewalk sales. Area artists and crafters will open their booths at 10 a.m. and will sell their wares along Main Street. Crocheted flip flops, fairy princess halos, beaded earrings and necklaces, candles and soaps, children’s clothes, pendants, bottle cap jewelry, handmade dolls, and handmade decorative journals and albums are but a few of the items that will be available for purchase.
Also at that time, the Grundy County Museum will open. The Trenton Art Guild will have their art on display and for sale in the museum’s annex building, as well as a quilt display in the former Smith’s Clothing building on Main Street, sponsored by the Scrappy Quilter’s Guild.
Food vendors will also be set up along Main Street and by noon will be ready to serve their tasty items. A variety of food items has been promised, such as tenderloins, hamburgers and hot dogs, nachos and chips, walking tacos and barbecue brisket, snow cones, ice cream and kettle corn.
At 2 p.m., Friends of the Arts season ticket sales will go on sale in the gazebo located in Sesquicentennial Park and live entertainment will begin on the stage at Five Points.
Facepainting and children’s activities will begin at 2 p.m. in the park. A petting zoo provided by members of the Trenton FFA will be set up across from Trenton City Hall.
Participants in the Bed Races will display their beds for public viewing at 4 p.m. along Main Street. Also at that time, the Trenton Brass will entertain with a selection of music from the 1920’s and 1930’s and some ragtime thrown in the mix.
By 5 p.m., area teams will begin competing in the infamous bed races. Trophies will be awarded for first, second and third place and one trophy will be given for “Best Team Spirit/Theme.” The trophies are provided by Century 21 Smith & Associates.
Evening entertainment begins at 7 o’clock, provided by Soca Jukebox. This band has established itself as one of the Midwest’s most sought-after groups with a standout act featuring unique instrumentation, colorful arrangements of great musical selections, and a danceable, high-energy presentation. Taking their name from a popular Caribbean music style (soca is slang for “Soul Calypso”), the group performs traditional island music as well as more familiar contemporary hits. They give every song a unique Latin or Reggae twist, the very element that keeps audiences throughout the Midwest on their feet and coming back for more.
Each member of Soca Jukebox is a multi-instrumentalist with percussion, vocal and string backgrounds. Clay Johnston, 1993 Trenton High School graduate, (Lead Vocal, Double Seconds; Jay Albright (Lead Pan); Ben Leimkuhler (Bass); Dave Jarman (Drum Set); and Jason Riley (Guitar) make up this remarkable quintet.
This is a free event and is made possible through generous donations from the corporate co-sponsors, which include, the city of Trenton, Hy-Vee Food Store, North Central Missouri College, PAR Broadcast Group, memorial gifts in memory of Susan Provance, the Trenton Republican-Times, Trenton Rotary Club, Trenton Cinema and US Bancorp Foundation. Additional financial support is provided by businesses and individuals in the community as well as the Missouri Arts council, a state agency.
For those who need assistance, golf-cart transportation will be provided to the festival area and back. Persons attending are asked that they bring a lawnchair for seating.
In case of inclement weather, this event will be moved to the area in and around the Ketcham Community Center.