Joanne Williams
Editor

(Courtesy photo – Did someone say chicken dinner? It’s a popular treat at the annual Olivet Firefighter’s Association Festival, July 25 this year. A great way to mingle with the community and support the Olivet Fire Department at the same time.)

This is the 30th year for the Olivet Firefighter’s Association festival, the biggest city-wide event, born of community festivals of the past.

The event supports the work of the Olivet Fire Department, mostly with equipment needs, but it also has a tendency to bring home family and friends with Olivet roots.

Imagine the last Saturday in July with no such event.

Event planners have, and, earlier in the year, attended a City Council meeting to express their concerns.

“There is a lack of volunteers,” said Scott Piepkow, president of the Association. He said he got a “good response” from the city and suggestions for way to bolster the event.

Other regional festivals, including the Gizzard Festival in Potterville, have faced similar challenges.

As the saying goes, with crises comes opportunity, and the community has come forward to help with the event, always the last Saturday weekend in July, and this year, July 25, with events planned throughout the city from 8 a.m. to fireworks at dusk.

A number of sponsors have stepped up, from SERVPRO hosting a bounce house, to Milligan’s Whitetail Market supporting the chicken dinner, to help from Eaton Community Bank and Oaklawn Medical Group.

And that’s not all. Returning for the first time since 2019, Mud Bog and Dirt Drags begin at 2 p.m. at the Olivet Community Event site at 4243 W. Butterfield Highway.

Piepkow said vehicles from all over the country are showing up. Gates open at 9 a.m., there is a gate fee, with children under the age of 12 admitted free. Piepkow said the local FFA will be volunteering at the event.

The Olivet Lions Club will also be hosting their 26th Annual Classic Car and Truck Show that day, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the University of Olivet square on Main Street.

The pancake breakfast is 8 to 11 a.m. at the Olivet Congregational Church, in the basement, located just off the university square. Games, a tractor show, music, vendors and more follow, with a special raising of the flag ceremony at 10 a.m. at the fire station, 117 East St.

A parade takes over Main Street at 1 p.m. Entrants may contact City Hall for information at 269-749-4961. There are also festival forms on the city’s website: cityofolivet.org.

The dinner is from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the station. There is a cost.

As the skies darken, prizes, the community singing of the National Anthem and the fireworks begin.