The Dennison Railroad Festival kicks off June 2

The Dennison Railroad Festival will kick off June 2 in the Historic Center Street District with the princess contest at 5:30 p.m. on the gazebo stage and the midway opening at 6 p.m. The festival will run through Saturday, June 5.

The princess contest is for age 10-12. A queen contest will not be held this year due to the uncertainty of the pandemic’s effect on the scheduling of other festivals. The queen contest will return in the future, along with the parade, which was unable to be scheduled this year due to the restrictions in place at the time the committee was planning the event.

There is much to look forward to as the event will mark a step back for the Twin Cities to normal summer activities. With a festival committee made up of mostly new members, the future of the Dennison Railroad Festival is bright.

“I personally got involved with the festival because I hated to see it go away,” said Beth DiDonato, who is co-chairing the festival along with Diana Smith. “With Clay Week no longer in existence, I wanted to see something fun and family-oriented continue for the communities of Dennison and Uhrichsville.”

DiDonato had been involved in helping with the festival off and on over the years before she became a member of the committee.

The committee is made up of 10 members. Three are previous members: John Rypien, Derek Kohler and Mary Dunfee. The new members, in addition to DiDonato and Smith, are Michael Brindley, Celiste Golec, Michelle Markley, George Flanagan and Dawn Flanagan.

“Although not an official committee member, Greg DiDonato (former Dennison Railroad Festival chair and current Dennison mayor) has been invaluable in assisting and doing a lot of things that the rest of us didn’t think to do or know to do,” DiDonato said.

The committee worked diligently to organize a 2021 festival amid the pandemic health orders.

“The hardest part of putting the festival together has been working around the uncertainty of the COVID restrictions,” DiDonato said. “When we were putting things in place and firming up contracts, et cetera, only 10 people could congregate, even outside, and parades were pretty much not allowed.”

Some of the things the committee had originally planned had to be altered or suspended to meet regulations.

“We scaled it down and adjusted things to ensure that the health plan we were to submit would be acceptable,” DiDonato said. “Putting the rest of it together has been much easier thanks to John, Derek, Mary and Greg. Their experience and knowledge would be difficult to replace.”

Providing a fun family activity for the community is a satisfying end goal.

“I am most looking forward to seeing the people and watching the kids,” DiDonato said.

Everyone can look forward to this year’s festival being much like previous festivals. Rides will be provided by the McGinnis Amusements Inc.

Many food stands will be available. Festival-goers can look forward to sausage sandwiches, French fries, lemonade shake-ups, shaved ice, pizza, funnel cakes and ice cream.

New this year is a craft show. Crafters will be at the festival Wednesday through Saturday in the parking lot of MHS Hardware.

Back this year is the photography contest. Photos will be on display at the Dennison Public Library June 1-7. The contest is sponsored by the Dennison Rotary.

The Dennison Railroad Festival’s 5-mile run and Bob Dyson 1.5 Mile Memorial Walk/Run are scheduled Saturday, June 5. Sign-in will start at 8 a.m. with races starting at 9 a.m. The Mini “Jock around the Block” will be held at 10 a.m. at the finish line.

A car show also will be held Saturday at noon. Registration will begin at 10 a.m. with judging starting at 12:30 p.m.

Also on Saturday, the Dennison Fire Department will hold its annual chicken barbecue. Dinners cost $10 and include a half chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, a dinner roll and a soft drink or water. During the festival they will serve hot-dog meals for only $2, which includes a drink and a bag of chips. Stop by to enjoy their water balloon toss with four water balloons available for only $1.

Look for more fun from the festival committee in the future.

“Since this new committee was formed, our goal has been to keep the festival going for the communities and to provide local entertainment and family-oriented activities and events,” DiDonato said.

Other events for the Dennison Railroad Days Festival are as follows:

On Thursday, June 3, the midway will open at 5:30 p.m., and the Claymont High School band also will play at 5:30 p.m. on the gazebo stage. At 6:15 p.m. there will be a karate demonstration by Karam’s Kidz on the gazebo stage. At 7 p.m. the Park Christian Church Worship Team will be on the gazebo stage.

On Friday, June 4, the midway will open at 5 p.m., and System Rewind will be on the railcar stage at 5 p.m. New Towne Cloggers will be on the gazebo stage at 5:30 p.m. There will be a coloring contest winner announced on the gazebo stage at 6:30 p.m. Ron Retzer Trio will be on the gazebo stage at 7 p.m., and Saxy Rob will be on the railcar stage at 8 p.m.

On Saturday, June 5, the midway will open at noon. At noon the Claymont cheerleaders will be on the gazebo stage. At 1 p.m. American Blue Collar Canine Service will have a dog demonstration on the gazebo stage. At 2 p.m. Kiersten Clark will be on the gazebo stage. At 6 p.m. Big Daddy and the Hurricanes will be on the gazebo stage, and at 6:30 p.m. Moonlyterz will be on the railcar stage.

Sponsors for the event include First National Bank of Dennison, Dover-Phila Federal Credit Union, Ember Home Care and the Village of Dennison, Platinum; Bridges Excavating Inc., Clapp & Haney Brazed Tool Co., Trinity Hospital Twin City, Truck Sales & Service Inc. and Wood Electric, Gold; and Claymont Health Center, Pangrazio’s Pizza & Spaghetti House, Smith Ambulance, Twin City Chamber of Commerce, and Conley, Hillyer and Ong, Silver.