On The Bright Side: Community sets two-day celebration

RICHFIELD SPRINGS _ Spring Park will be hopping this weekend as the Zone Community Center sponsors its second Richfield Springs Pride Days.

The summer carnival in the center of the village will feature two concerts by Skip West, winner of the Parents' Choice Gold Award for children's music, a parade, an ice cream social, a hot-dog-eating contest, a talent show and a Chinese auction, according to organizer Jackie Hinckley.

``Everything is coming together well,'' Hinckley said Tuesday. ``We have a lot of very nice items for the auction, including a flat-screen television, digital cameras and tickets to the Enchanted Forest.''

Proceeds from the two-day event will be used to help complete the Zone Community Center on Ann and Walnut streets _ a $130,000 project that has been in the works for more than two years.

The 40-by-80-foot building is nearly done. Most of the wallboard is up, and on Tuesday, contractor Steve Barringer was working on the heating system.

Last year, the Zone sponsored Richfield Springs' first Pride Days to raise money for the project.

That initial fair, itself, was quite a project, ``but it's a lot easier the second time around,'' said Michele McKnight, a Zone organizer.

ä Saturday, 8 a.m. _ This year's Pride Days will begin with breakfast at the Tally Ho Restaurant, sponsored by the Richfield Springs Rotary Club.

ä 9 a.m. _ After breakfast, attention may turn to bargains available at more than 30 village yard sales.

ä 12:30 p.m. _ A crowd is expected to watch as the area's biggest eaters vie in a hot-dog-eating contest, which will cost $10 to enter.

ä 1 to 4 p.m. _ West will play his first set from 1 to 2 p.m. and his second from 3 to 4 p.m.

ä 5:30 p.m. _ The parade down Main Street (U.S. Route 20) will begin, to be followed by an ice cream social an hour later.

ä 7 to 9 p.m. _ Residents and visitors are invited to dance in the park to the music of DJ Red Hot & Wild.

On Sunday, the rides will open at noon, as will the auction. And at 1 p.m., singers, dancers and others will display their talents in Richfield Springs' ``Idol'' contest.

The Utica Zoomobile will be at Spring Park from noon till 2 p.m., and take-out chicken dinners, prepared by Brooks House of Bar-B-Q's, will be sold at the Church of Christ Uniting.

Discount tickets for the rides are available at Anderson's Hardware, Hinckley noted.

``They're $1 a ticket in advance, and they'll be $1.50 in the park this weekend,'' she said.

Photos

Jackie Hinckley and Michele McKnight of Richfield are helping to organize Richfield Springs Pride Days, a fair to open Saturday in the village.