Heritage Days Weekend in Du Quoin
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Willpower is driving the certain success of the two-day Heritage Festival in downtown Du Quoin this weekend.
Main Street Program director Pam Pereira has given the two-day festival the green light based on forecasts of cloudy skies and only a slight chance of rain.
And, help is truly just around the corner if things don't turn out like she planned.
Bill and Anita Duff, owners of the "Time Out Sports Bar", have offered to quickly help move Friday night's planned 8 p.m. street concert and dance inside their new facility across the street from where the outdoor dance and beer garden are planned.
City employees and Main Street volunteers will begin setting up for the the event Friday afternoon, which will require that the intersection of East Main and Mulberry Streets be closed. Traffic will be allowed in all other parts of the downtown area Friday night. The street closure will spread on Saturday morning as the complete schedule of events, craft and food fair, the pie bakeoff and pizza eating competition (courtesy Rolando's Pizza) begin.
The complete schedule of events appear in Tuesday's Du Quoin Evening Call and again in a Heritage Days advertisement inside today's edition.
The Du Quoin Evening Call has added four Holiday World tickets valued at $160 to Saturday's drawing for six bicycles. Those drawings all begin at 4 p.m. and will continue between music performances at the main state.
The large Egyptian Shows carnival opens at 5 p.m. Friday and again at 12 noon Saturday. It has been moved from Keyes City Park to downtown Du Quoin. Just look for the large, lighted swing ride in the middle of East Main Street across from Toler's Do-It-Best store.
The thinking behind moving Heritage Days to downtown Du Quoin is to both involve downtown merchants and to open downtown to Heritage Days shopping on Saturday.
The beer garden opens at 7 p.m. with a "spin to win" event for a new television and other prizes sponsored by Pepsi at 7:30 p.m. on the main stage.
"Mystery Train" will begin performing at 8 p.m. and will include an 8:30 p.m. live auction for season tickets to Indian football and a Nick Hill football.
Saturday's schedule begins with the 9 a.m. "Love Thy Neighbor" 5k run co-sponsored by Liberty Church. The run will be held at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. The Du Quoin Farmers Market will open in Keyes City Park, and citywide "rummage o'rama" yard sales are being set up throughout the city. You can start registering for the 3 on 3 basketball tournament starting at 9 a.m. A kids downtown "chalk fest" begins at 9 a.m., as well. The basketball tournament begins at 10 a.m. in Keyes Park.
Verizon is sponsoring "Guitar Hero" and spin to win giveaways at the main stage from 12 noon until 4 p.m.
Covered wagon rides will be available throughout the afternoon.
Downtown Du Quoin will be the site of a large car show on Saturday and judging will begin at 1 p.m.
The 2 p.m. pizza eating contact will be followed by the 3 p.m. pie bake-off contest. Entries are still needed.
Saturday afternoon's music schedule on the main stage includes Amelia Eisenhauer at 4 p.m.; the First Baptist Church drama group at 4:30 p.m., the girl scouts at 5 p.m., Kevin Wright at 5:30 p.m., The Nehrkorns and the Glorylanders from 6-8 p.m. and a 50-50 raffle drawing at 8:30 p.m.
A great deal of work has gone into the planning of Heritage Days, a high quality family-oriented weekend with something for everyone. Your participation will show your support for Du Quoin, and for the city's downtown merchants.