General Pleasonton Days activities set for this weekend

One of the more colorful floats from last year's General Pleasonton Days parade glides down Main Street. (Journal file photo.)

Journal staff report

In a nod to the city’s history, General Pleasonton Days returns to the city of Pleasanton this Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 4–5. The two-day event begins on the city’s Main Street, first with a fundraising breakfast at the Pleasanton Community Center from 8 to 10 a.m., and then a parade down Main beginning at 11 a.m. The parade theme this year is "Back to Our Roots."

All-day activities following the parade include food and craft vendors, face-painting, hair-braiding, hopscotch, train rides and photo stand-ins.

Also following the parade, the celebration moves south a few blocks to Dunlap Park. Registration for the car, truck and tractor show on Park Street begins after the parade ends. The show runs from noon until 4 p.m. and is sponsored by Labette Bank.

Baby contest registration begins at noon, with the contest starting at 12:30 p.m. at the gazebo. The contest is sponsored by Farm Bureau.

Also at noon, sales of spots for the chicken dropping contest begin. Meanwhile fire truck, ambulance and police car demonstrations will take place. Also beginning at noon, a nail driving contest sponsored by Seven Bridges Microgreens will also take place at Dunlap Park.

Throughout the afternoon, from noon to 3 p.m., various Chamber of Commerce businesses will sponsor a variety of kids games, and at 1 p.m. the beard contest sponsored by Cuttin’ Loose Salon gets under way.

At 2 p.m., the chicken drop drops as the cornhole tournament begins (registration for the tourney begins at 1:30 p.m.). At 3 p.m. the tug of war sponsored by Farm Bureau takes place, and teams can register for the event beginning at 2:30 p.m.

Here are more events for the afternoon:

• 3:45 p.m. – Pie eating contest, sponsored by Faith Chapel, in Dunlap Park

• 4 p.m. – Pedal pull sponsored by Craw-Kan on High Street

• 6 to 7:30 p.m. – Open mic and Karaoke on Main Street

• 8 p.m. to midnight – Bounce houses and street dance to the sounds of Two Lane Highway on Main Street. Sponsored by RLC Inc.

On Sunday, at 10:30 a.m. there will be a community church service outside the community center on Main Street. And at noon a potato bar community dinner begins at the community center. Bring a side dish or desert to the potluck dinner. Both events are sponsored by the Pleasanton Ministerial Alliance.

The celebration is sponsored by the city of Pleasanton, the Pleasanton Area Chamber of Commerce, and the General Pleasonton Days Committee.