Tama's famed Lincoln Highway bridge. News-Herald/John Speer

TAMA NEWS-HERALD (SPECIAL) -Plans for the 30th Annual Lincoln Highway Bridge Festival are underway with the celebration taking place this year on Friday and Saturday, May 15 and 16. A full slate of events is being planned, that ensures something for everybody!

Friday

On Friday we will welcome back the carnival (which begins its run on Wednesday) and food vendors to the Tama Civic Center area. Be sure and stop by the Ice Cream Social that will be held in the Tama Civic Center from 5 to 7 p.m. put on by the Living Faith United Methodist Church Women. You can also enjoy free entertainment in the ambulance bay all evening with the Tama County Band performing from 6 to 7 p.m., the Harding Street Singers at 7 p.m., The Tama Citizen of the Year award at approx 7:30 p.m. followed by the STC Jazz Band at 8 and the popular local band Stanwood Charlie at approximately 9 p.m.

Saturday

Saturday’s events kick off with a pancake breakfast put on by the Tama Fire Department. Pancakes will be served from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and the cost is a free will donation. After breakfast you can participate in the 5 K run that starts at McClellan and Third. The run starts at 8 a.m. and the contact person is Amy Ridout. Call her at 641-484-3984 to pre-register, or you can pick up a registration form at Willett and Rathjen’s office, downtown Tama.

A children’s fun run is also planned for Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. There is no application or fee for the children’s run, the contact person is John Willett and he can be reached at 641-484-5211 for more information.

The Carnival and food vendors will be in place all day on Saturday for everyone’s enjoyment. And don’t forget the annual parade that will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday running the same route it has for the past several years. Bands, Shriner’s and local businesses come out in force to provide this excellent parade for the community. If you would like to be involved in the parade, Byron Witt is the parade chair and he can be reached at 641-751-4830. There will be a change to one of the annual events this year in that the BBQ lunch that will be available will be sponsored by the Tama County Cattlemen.

The Cattlemen will be serving a delicious steak sandwich meal that will be available from 11 AM to 1PM in the fire station bay. This year’s meal will be $5. Free entertainment will run through out the day on Saturday on the lawn in front of the Tama Civic Center. There is a great line up of entertainment this year for ages one to 100. Kicking off the free stage entertainment this year will be the comedy magic of Rick Eugene. Rick has performed all over the United States and specializes in family style entertainment. Rick will perform from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Following Rick will be Juggler Dean Franzen. Dean is from Cedar Falls and performs a unique blend of comedy and juggling. Be sure and catch Dean’s act from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m.

Next in the line up is Ragtime Entertainer Marty Mincer. Marty will perform from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. and has performed his Ragtime act through out the country. You may have seen him at Pioneer Hall at the Iowa State Fair. From 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. be entertained by Gary McCurdy, Iowa’s “Tubador”. Gary is from Washington, Iowa, and is a self contained entertainment package! Gary plays a repertoire of popular and jazz standards on his vintage 100 year old tuba. Don’t miss this performance! Wrapping up the free stage for the day will be the ensemble “Too Many Strings” from Grinnell. “Too many strings” will take the stage from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. and will provide their unique style of music and entertainment.

If you want to take a break from the entertainment stage you can stroll over to 3rd street at about 1 p.m. to take part or just observe the gurney races that are returning to the festival this year. The races will be sponsored by the Tama EMS and if you would like to register a team or get more information contact Kenny McAdoo at 641-751-8907

In addition to the free entertainment lineup, there are tons of free activities for the kids this year. Tom Terrific, a balloon artist from Oskaloosa will be strolling the grounds around the parade route and Civic Center from 9 a.m. to Noon, making his balloon creations available. Barb Jacobs, a Caricature artist from Cedar Rapids will be on the Civic Center grounds from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. drawing caricatures for you to take home and enjoy. Mel Shivvers from Des Moines will provide Children’s Creative Activities from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.Mel has been at the festival in the past and provides various building materials for children to construct and take home any project they can imagine.

Face painter Coylie Ries from Marshalltown will also be on hand from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the Civic Center grounds to provide her face painting artistry. In addition there will be a petting zoo on 3rd street from noon to 3 p.m. The full day of entertainment will be wrapped up with the Sandhill nickel scramble at 4:30 p.m.

If you have any questions, comments or would like to be a part of the entertainment please contact Sue Carnahan at 641-484-4620.

In addition to the entertainment, there will also be some flea market vendors offering their products during the day on Saturday. Look for them in the 3rd street area near the carnival.

The Tama Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce appreciates the Tama/ Toledo community for supporting the festival for the past 30 years, and would like to ask for its continued support in the future. The Chamber works very hard to provide this festival for the community and to keep most of it free of charge.