FREDERICKTOWN – With Labor Day in the rearview mirror, all eyes turn to Fredericktown this week for the 42nd annual Fredericktown Tomato Show, which will take place Wednesday through Saturday.

The Tomato Show will feature four days of pedal tractor pulls, vegetable sales and live entertainment downtown. There will be musical performances each night – the Fredericktown United Methodist Church Worship Team on Wednesday, Hailey Davis on Thursday, The Shuman Band and Six Miles to Nellie on Friday, and Nashville Crush on Saturday.

The Main Street Free Press Museum, which highlights Fredericktown’s long-standing journalistic history, will be open during select times on all four days for tours and demonstrations. There will be kids pedal tractor pulls each evening for different age groups, as well as other unique challenges, such as the Lip Sync Contest, the Little Miss Tomato Contest, the Baby Crawling Contest, the Bathtub Races and more.

Other than the selection of bands picked to play at this year’s show, Tomato Show Board President Chris Well said that not much is new in 2018.

The highlight of this year’s festival may be on Saturday night, when there will be a special presentation to honor the 85th anniversary of the Fredericktown FFA jacket. In 1933, Dr. Gus Lintner, an agriculture teacher at Fredericktown High School, designed the jacket for the Fredericktown FFA chapter’s band because they were going to play at that year’s national convention. The jacket was navy blue and had the FFA emblem centered on the back.

The National FFA Organization was so impressed by the jacket that it adopted it after the 1933 convention, and the jacket remains a symbol of national FFA unity to this day.

Well said that around 50 special guests are coming to Saturday’s dedication ceremony, including two who were on the original 1933 Fredericktown band.

A historical marker for the jacket will be unveiled and limited edition commemorative plates will be auctioned off during the ceremony.

Well, who has been involved with the Tomato Show all 42 years, is looking forward to another year of festivities. She believes that the Tomato Show is more than just another summer festival.

“I think it’s a community event. It’s family-oriented and people of all ages participate in exhibits or contests or whatever,” Well said. “There are usually a number of class reunions around this time. It’s just more like a homecoming, it’s not just a street fair.”

Well encouraged those who attend to bring water, as temperatures will likely stay hot and humid throughout the week.

Here is the full schedule of events for this year’s Tomato Show, according to its website:

Wednesday:

  • 1 p.m.-6 p.m. – Enter fresh vegetables, canned goods, baked goods, tomatoes and tomato products at tent behind the Senior Citizens’ building (Fredericktown School District residents only)
  • 5 p.m. – Register for Kids Pedal Tractor Pull at First-Knox National Bank (4 and 5-year-olds)
  • 5:30 p.m. – Kids Pedal Tractor Pull at Main Stage area
  • 6 p.m.-10 p.m. – Main Street Free Press Museum (tours and demonstration)
  • 6:15 p.m. – Judging of baked goods, canned goods and tomato products
  • 6:30 p.m. – Official opening with the Fredericktown Marching Scarlet and Grey at Main Stage area
  • 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. – Musical entertainment by Fredericktown United Methodist Church Worship Team on Second Stage
  • 7 p.m. – Little Miss Tomato Contest on Main Stage
  • 7:30 p.m. – Kids prize drawing at Hospitality Tent
  • 9 p.m. – Cash drawing at Hospitality Tent

Thursday:

  • 10 a.m.-1 p.m. – Enter flowers at Masonic Lodge
  • 1 p.m. – Judging of vegetables and tomato classes
  • 2 p.m. – Flower judging
  • 5 p.m. – Register for Kids Pedal Tractor Pull at First-Knox National Bank (6 and 7-year-olds)
  • 5:15 p.m.-5:45 p.m. – Register for Kids and Critters Parade at Second Stage area
  • 5:30 p.m. – Kids Pedal Tractor Pull at Main Stage area
  • 5:45 p.m. – Judging for Kids and Critters Parade at Second Stage area
  • 6 p.m.-7 p.m. – Main Street Free Press Museum (tours and demonstration)
  • 6:30 p.m. – Kids and Critters Parade, starting at Second Stage then down Main Street to Main Stage area
  • 6:30 p.m. – Register for Lip Sync Contest at First-Knox National Bank
  • 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. – Musical entertainment by Hailey Davis on Second Stage
  • 7 p.m. – Lip Sync Contest on Main Stage
  • 7:15 p.m.-8:30 p.m. – Main Street Free Press Museum Program at First Baptist Church
  • 7:30 p.m. – Kids prize drawing at Hospitality Tent
  • 8:30 p.m.-10 p.m. – Main Street Free Press Museum (tours and demonstration)
  • 9 p.m. – Cash drawing at Hospitality Tent

Friday:

  • 11 a.m.-9 p.m. – Arts, Crafts, Antiques and Collectibles Sale on the square
  • 5 p.m. – Register for Kids Pedal Tractor Pull at First-Knox National Bank (8 and 9-year-olds)
  • 5:30 p.m. – Kids Pedal Tractor Pull at Main Stage area
  • 5:30 p.m. – Register for Baby Crawl at First-Knox National Bank
  • 6 p.m. – Baby Crawling Contest at Main Stage area
  • 6 p.m.-10 p.m. – Main Street Free Press Museum (tours and demonstration)
  • 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. – Musical entertainment by The Shuman Band on Second Stage
  • 7:30 p.m. – Entertainment by Buckeye Country Cloggers on Main Stage
  • 7:30 p.m. – Kids prize drawing at Hospitality Tent
  • 8:30 p.m. – Musical entertainment by Six Miles to Nellie on Main Stage
  • 10 p.m. – Cash drawing at Hospitality Tent

Saturday:

  • 7:30 a.m. – Register for 5k run at Fredericktown School Board Office
  • 9 a.m. – 5k run (starts at Fredericktown School Board Office area)
  • 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. – Fredericktown Chevrolet’s Parade judging at 182 South Main Street/Fredericktown Recreation District
  • 11 a.m.-9 p.m. – Arts, Crafts, Antiques and Collectibles Sale on the square
  • 12:30 p.m. – Fredericktown Chevrolet’s Parade: “Growing Toward the Future”
  • 2 p.m.-2:45 p.m. – Register for Cornhole Toss at Bandstand
  • 2 p.m.-10 p.m. – Main Street Free Press Museum (tours and demonstration)
  • 3 p.m. – Cornhole Toss on South Main Street, past rides
  • 3 p.m. – Register for Kids Pedal Tractor Pull at First-Knox National Bank (10 to 12-year-olds)
  • 3 p.m.-5 p.m. – Pick up flowers
  • 3 p.m-8 p.m. – Pick up prize money at Tomato Show Office on West College Street
  • 3:30 p.m. – Kids Pedal Tractor Pull at Main Stage area
  • 4 p.m. – Exhibits close
  • 4 p.m. – Register for Big Wheel Races in front of Leve-Agriman elevator
  • 4 p.m.-6 p.m. – Pick up baked goods, canned goods, tomatoes, tomato products, fresh vegetables and photography
  • 4:30 p.m. – Big Wheel Races in front of Leve-Agriman elevator
  • 5 p.m. – Register for Bathtub Races in front of Leve-Agriman elevator
  • 5:30 p.m. – Bathtub Races in front of Leve-Agriman elevator
  • 5:30 p.m. – Register for Tomato Toss in front of Leve-Agriman elevator
  • 6 p.m. – Tomato Toss and Tomato Target in front of Leve-Agriman elevator
  • 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. – Entertainment by Remy & Friends on Second Stages
  • 7 p.m. – Special program celebrating Fredericktown FFA Jacket’s 85th Anniversary
  • 7:30 p.m. – Kids prize drawing on Main Stage
  • 8 p.m. – Cash drawing on Main Stage
  • 8 p.m. – Limited Edition Plate Auction at Main Stage area
  • 9 p.m. – Musical entertainment by Nashville Crush on Main Stage
  • 10 p.m. – Cash drawing on Main Stage

Clean-up begins at 9 a.m. on Sunday and “all are welcome” to help, the Tomato Show’s website says.

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