This weekend marks the 50th Marshall County Blueberry Festival. Festival Coordinator Sherrie Martin has been to almost all of them. “I was at the very first one when it was celebrating the [Indiana] Sesquicentennial in 1966, which really wasn’t the Blueberry Festival then; it was for the sesquicentennial,” she explains. “And then the next year, in ’67, the festival was started, and my father happened to be the committee chair who took care of the industrial show, which was held out at the National Guard Armory.”
She says the festival has some big plans in store, to help celebrate its 50-year history. “First of all, everybody knows about our fireworks, and this year we were very fortunate that the City of Plymouth decided to sponsor the fireworks for us,” she says. “So we are going to have a large, large display of fireworks extravaganza this year and there will be music set to it and people will be able to turn on their radios and listen to the music if they’re not in the park.”
Martin adds that those who are in Centennial Park will be treated to some extra ground-level displays. This year’s Blueberry Festival fireworks display received a major boost when the Plymouth Common Council voted to contribute an additional $25,000 earlier this year.
Martin adds that in addition to many returning favorites, there will also be some new features at this year’s Blueberry Festival, including a visit from the Big Idaho Potato Truck. “It’s big, and it’s going to be parked over by the soccer field and it will be in the parade,” she says. “Also, we have Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show coming in. And we also have Granpa Cratchet coming in for the younger kids.”
The Marshall County Blueberry Festival runs this Friday through Labor Day. For more details, visit BlueberryFestival.org.
