Fremont festival to be held Saturday
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on March 23, 2005 1:59 PM
FREMONT -- The Band of Oz will return Saturday for the 19th annual Daffodil Festival in downtown Fremont.
The band will perform from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the second stage near East Main and Sycamore streets. The group is returning after a year's absence.
A new group, Day One, will follow the Band of Oz from 3:30 until 5 p.m. at Stage No.1 near East Main and Goldsboro streets, according to festival organizers.
The Daffodil Festival, though, is much more than music. Pretty girls, arts and crafts, good food, games and rides and, of course, flowers will be in abundance.
The festival will begin at 10 a.m. with an opening ceremony featuring Mayor Devone Jones and the reigning queens of the festival.
Laura Evans, a freshman at Wayne Community College, is the newest Miss Daffodil. The daughter of Steve and Tammy Evans of Fremont, she was crowned March 13 at Fremont United Methodist Church.
Jessie Stewart, a fifth-grader at Fremont STARS, won the Little Miss Daffodil pageant. The daughter of Hank and Shari Stewart of Pikeville, she was crowned March 19 at the school.
Organizers also keeping an eye on the weather because it is always a question mark.
"We're watching the weather and are hoping for a good day," said Brenda Paul, who is co-chairman of the event, along with Jean Thorne.
If it rains, the festival will be moved to Fremont STARS school, where it has been held three times.
If the sun shines, arts and crafts will be displayed for sale all day along Main Street.
The Fremont Stars will perform first at 10:15 a.m. and will be followed by the Charles B. Aycock High School jazz ensemble at 11 a.m. Then Water Bound will perform at noon.
For those with hunger pangs, the Fremont Rotary Club will serve barbecued pork lunches and the Fremont Volunteer Fire Department will serve barbecued chicken lunches starting at 11 a.m. near the railroad.
Other groups also will sell drinks and snacks.
Horse-drawn trolley rides will be offered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The children's alley on Sycamore Street will have a petting zoo, rides, games, a rock-climbing wall and remote-controlled car races. Jingles the Clown will entertain all day.
A school art show and a daffodil exhibit will be held in Fremont United Methodist Church.
Historical items from Fremont and northern Wayne County will be displayed all day at the Heritage Museum on East Main Street.