Thanks for making Schweizer Fest a success

It's over. Two years of planning and hard work by numerous committees and organizations have come to an end.

This year's 50th annual Schweizer Fest and sesquicentennial are sure to be talked about even 50 years from now for the city's 200th birthday, just as the events of 1958 are still talked about today. When the centennial celebration came to an end 50 years ago, Schweizer Fest was born and each year afterward, the city has been reminded of what makes Tell City the place it is today. This year was no exception with numerous events dedicated to its founding.

The parade was a fanfare of more than 150 businesses, organizations, clubs, church groups and many more who took time to make floats and costumes or perform music to make the parade a huge success. In the Schweizer Fest musical, the actors and actresses in 1776 took the public back in time to our country's beginnings.

From trolley, train and boat rides to Kids' Day and more, a lot of work was put into the events by Schweizer Fest Inc., the Tell City Sesquicentennial Committee and numerous other organizations and volunteers. Tickets for the trolley, train and boat rides were mostly sold before the celebration even started, showing that there was interest in these events before the big week even arrived.

Hundreds of children participated in Kids' Day events, learning about police and fire departments, birds of prey and having a chance to paint on the floodwall.

Regular Schweizer Fest favorites like the diaper derby and street-car parade saw numerous children participate. The street-car event saw record numbers of child-sized entries traveling from Seventh Street to City Hall Park.

The participation of the public in annual Schweizer Fest sporting events like the Old Timers Baseball Game, road run and tennis tourney were outstanding, with athletes young and old competing in nice weather last week.

Entertainment was in high supply with several musical groups keeping City Hall Park the place to be for dancing and more with food booths, rides, games and places to purchase items from sesquicentennial merchandise to homemade goods.

A crowd gathered in the park for the talent show Thursday evening to listen and watch three age groups perform.

But while all of this wouldn't have been possible without the dedication of all of the committees and volunteers, in reality, without you, the public, none of this would have gone as well as it did. Without you participating in new, as well as traditional events, their work would have been for nothing.

So thank you for helping make this celebration one that will, hopefully, be talked about for the next 50 years.

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