Area towns plan busy weekend for Drivin' the Dixie festival

Several cities and villages along the Dixie Highway (Illinois 1) are planning to keep participants in this year's Drivin' the Dixie event, visitors and area residents busy all weekend.

Both Rossville with a concert and Danville by celebrating the Custard Cup's 60 years on the Dixie Highway will kick off the weekend of events surrounding a trek of cars from Danville to Momence. People from the northern part of the state participate by driving south from Blue Island and meeting drivers coming north.

On Friday, Rossville will have a concert by hometown musicians Standard Issue, performing from 7 to 11 p.m. in Christman Park with food available by the Rossville Area firefighters.

The Vermilion County Museum and the Custard Cup, 2507 N. Vermilion St., will present a drive-in screening of the movie "Gnome Mobile" on the Danville Parks Department jumbo screen at 8:30 p.m. Friday.

Rossville is actually cutting back this year.

"We were doing three days of activities, but with only around 50 active members and Sunday being Father's Day, we decided to scale back to two days," said Pam Bell, chairman of Rossville's activities. "Saturday will still have a lot to do both downtown and in Christman Park."

The actual Drivin' the Dixie drive begins with registration between 8:30 a.m. and 10:45 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of the Danville Municipal Building, 17 W. Main St. Participants will be issued passports that must be stamped at several stops on their way north.

Registration is free. Getting the passport stamped at all the necessary check points makes drivers eligible for door prizes. The first 30 registrants will also receive a Dixie dash plaque.

Various stops will be offering the new book "Dixie Highway in Illinois" by James Wright, featuring more than 200 vintage photographs, including 40 from Vermilion County.

The Dixie Highway was created in 1914 as part of a tourism promotion to encourage travel between the Midwest and the Deep South. The Western Branch of the route started in Chicago and followed Illinois 1, the historic Hubbard Trail, south to Danville's original town square, then turned east on U.S. 136 into Indiana, according to Kevin Young of the Rossville Historical Society.

The climax of Rossville's activities is the Dixie Duck Dash at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Hundreds of rubber ducks race down the North Fork of the Vermilion for cash prizes. Ducks will be sold until 3:30 p.m.: $10 for designer ducks, $5 for rental ducks, $4 to re-enter ducks from previous races.

Dash chairwoman Wendy Dunavan said organizers have refined the competition over its five years.

"We're dumping the ducks in a little further downstream to help out our volunteers," she said. "Ducks and people were getting tangled up a little farther upstream."

The ducks go in the water south of the Attica Street bridge and are caught near Christman Park. The committee sets up a V-shaped catch area with fencing that funnels the ducks into a PVC pipe. Each of the first five ducks through the pipes are declared in first through fifth places. The rest are then corralled and retrieved for use the following year, if they are resold or re-entered by owners.

Ducks can be rented or purchased. Dunavan has 48 specialty ducks to choose from including all sports, plus a variety of personality- or profession-appropriate ducks such as shopper and biker or policeman and doctor. The "dead duck" comes with a death certificate.

Dunavan, the self-proclaimed "duckmaster," takes the ducks home after the event, gives them a bath and sets them out to dry on towels all over her house.

"I think my husband thinks I'm crazy," she said with a laugh. "He always says, 'Not again.' But it's a fun event, and we want to be able to reuse the ducks."

Money raised through the sales and rentals goes to the Rossville Community Organization, a group of active residents, that supports a number of activities with the town.

New this year in Danville is the Urban Hike. Tours at 11:30 a.m. and noon will feature the First Presbyterian Church, Masonic Temple, Federal Courthouse and Fischer Theater among other downtown area landmarks. For more information on participating, call Sara Ortiz at 316-4882. Tours are limited to 25 people.

Schedule

DANVILLE

June 19

— 6 to 9 p.m. Summer Sounds Concert Series, Temple Plaza, Terry Lee and the Rockaboogie Band.

— 8:30 p.m. Custard Cup, 2507 N. Vermilion St., drive-in movie, "Gnome Mobile." Free. Watch from cars or bring lawn chairs.

June 20

— 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Farmers' Market in Temple Plaza and Sidewalk Sales on Vermilion Street.

— 8:30 to 10:45 a.m. Registration, if not preregistered from the Vermilion County Museum Web site at www.vermilion countymuseum.org. Receive passport. All ages of cars permitted.

— 11 a.m. Vehicles leave the Danville Municipal Building parking lot, 17 E. Main St.

— 11:15 a.m. Urban Hike of Downtown Danville area registration. Hikes at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., limited to 25 people. History of downtown area buildings and homes.

BISMARCK

June 20

Town rummage sales all day. Maps at the firehouse all day; food available 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Passport stop, Pleasant View Church building, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

ROSSVILLE

June 19

— 7 to 11 p.m. Christman Park, music by Standard Issue, playing classic rock. Bring lawn chairs. Rossville Fire Department serving pork burgers and hot dogs.

June 20

— 7 a.m. until sold out, sausage gravy and biscuit breakfast, Christman Park pavilion.

— 8 a.m. Townwide garage sales.

— 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Art on the Dixie (entry fee $15 for three items) awards at 4 p.m.; gas engine display.

— 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Vendors open, downtown shops open, living history display.

— 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Car show. Registration 10 a.m. to noon. Entry fee: $10 per vehicle. 3 p.m. Awards.

— 10 a.m. until sold out, pork burgers and hot dogs at park pavilion.

— 11 a.m. until sold out, homemade pie and ice cream at park pavilion.

— Noon to 4 p.m. Rossville Historical Society open, West Attica Street.

— 1 p.m. Rossville Fire Department waterball fight, three-person teams. $5 entry fee.

— 4:30 p.m. Dixie Duck Dash down the North Fork River. Rent or buy ducks at Dixie Headquarters Tent on Friday evening or Saturday until 3:30 p.m. $10 per duck new; $4 to re-enter old duck.

HOOPESTON

June 20

— 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. free inflatables and petting zoo.

— 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. flea market.

— 9 a.m. miniature golf tournament.

— 9:30 a.m. fishing derby sign in. 10 to 11 a.m. ages 5 to 13; 11 a.m. to noon ages 4 and younger.

— 9:30 a.m. Dixie Derby (pinewood car race) 9:30 a.m. sign in; 10 to 11 a.m. weigh in; 11 a.m. race.

— 3 p.m. Cowpie bingo, $500 prize.

— 4 to 6 p.m. food vendors all day.

MILFORD

June 20

— Areawide garage sales all day. Passport stop, McCalla Laser Design, after 11 a.m.

— 10 a.m. Parade.

— Craft show, west side of Illinois 1, just north of Milford Grade School.

ST. ANNE

June 20

— Passport stop: Casey's, Illinois 1.

MOMENCE

— End of the event. Meet up with people who drove south to Momence from Blue Island.

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• Two accused of apartment breakin
• Money stolen from event at iHotel
• Man arrested in theft of signs from Native American art project
• Man charged in neighborhood incident
• One injured in two-vehicle crash
• The Wine Rack: Cultivating a taste for affordable wines
• Early morning severe weather has crews scrambling
• Burglars hit St. Joseph yard sheds
• Obituaries

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