Update: Cole Fired to perform at Parker Days celebration on Saturday

Entries in the Parker Days parade in 2023 included the Thunderbirds 4-H club and the Prairie View Marching Band. (Journal file photo)

Update: Parker Day organizers have announced that Cole Fired, a classic rock band led by , Cole Holler, will perform on Saturday evening instead of a DJ. The band has already perfomed a La Cygne's Blast in the Park and the Linn County Fair as well as other venues this yea.

PARKER – “Sweet Freedom” is the theme for Parker Days 2024, which runs this weekend from Friday evening through Sunday morning. 

The event kicks off on Friday evening with a fish fry at the Mason’s lodge just east of town on Woodward St.

Saturday, Sept. 21, is the main day of the celebration that includes a parade, a quilt show, kids games, rides, inflatables, a community dinner, a raffle drawing and a DJ entertainment.

One of the rides and a slide are set up for Parker Day on Saturday, Sept. 21. (Roger Sims / Linn County Journal)

Here is the schedule of Saturday’s events:

• 8 – 10 a.m. – Vendor set-up

• 11 a.m. – Main Parade, register at Parker Elementary School by 10:15 a.m. to be eligible for judging.

• Noon – Baby contest, 0 to 24 months, register at Heritage Park shelter house by 11:45 a.m.

• Noon to 4 p.m. – Quilt show at the Parker Historical Society Museum

• Noon to 4 p.m. – Free rides and inflatables open

• 1 p.m. – Horseshoe pitching tournament

• 2 p.m. – Kids games

• 3 p.m. – Frozen t-shirt contest at shelter house

• 5 p.m. – Community dinner (free-will donation)

• 6 p.m. – Dinner entertainment

• 7:15 p.m. – Parker Days Royalty, grand prize and Parker Days quilt drawing

• 8 to 10 p.m. – Cole Fired band

Tickets for the raffle are $1 each or six for $5. The first grand prize is $500; second prize is $250; third prize is $100; and fourth prize is the Parker Days quilt.

Sign up for the parade begins at 9 a.m., and to eligible for prizes, entries must be registered by 10:15 a.m.

Cole Holler, lead guitarist and vocalist for Cole Fired, will take the stage on Saturday night at Parker Days. (Journal file photo)

Best overall entry receives $50; best float, $25 for first place and $20 for second place; best band, $25 for first place and $20 for second place; best motorized entry, $25 for first, $20 for second; and best animal, $25 for first and $20 for second; and finally an honorable mention receives $25.

The final event of the weekend is the Kids Fishing Derby on Sunday, Sept. 22, at Parker Lake. That event runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m.