Fun Times in Fort Payne by John Dersham

If you have not been to our newly formed third Saturday Sunset in Fort Payne you are missing a lot and you should come this Saturday. Third Saturday is a creation of the Fort Payne Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Merchants Association. The event lasts from 5-9 pm and includes fun for the whole family.  You will find outdoor games for the kids, live music, food, an antique car show and lots of shopping at our downtown merchants. This will be the third, third Saturday event. The first two were big successes with   downtown full of smiling faces from 1^st street to 5^th. It is nice to see all the friends gathering for conversation. This event has been a wonderful way for people to enjoy their community and to get together with people on a more regular basis. You get a real sense of community pride when you go to this event. The city administration, police and fire departments along with Parks and Recreation provide a clean and safe and enjoyable place for us to gather. Look at our squeakily clean city parks, mowed, trimmed and beautiful. My wife and I commented as we were walking around last time how good it feels to have an event like this that brings everyone together and provides such a complete evening of family entertainment and community spirit.

Now that we’ve discussed Third Saturday get ready for our biggest third Saturday event called the Fort Payne Boom Days Heritage Festival which kicks off on Saturday September 8^th and concludes on our third Saturday September 15^th. Boom Days is going to be greater than ever this year with more sponsors, more activities, more artists and more music than ever before. The kickoff is on September 8^th and spotlights a local singer songwriter of national acclaim in Pierce Pettis and Family including Pierce, Grace and George. This will be at the DeKalb Theater at 8:00 pm, don’t miss it. On Sunday the 9^th we will have the Joe Underwood Gospel Singing at the City Auditorium. It will start at 3:00 pm.  The next event that week is on Thursday and will include the Mayor’s Cup Golf Tournament at DeSoto Golf Course and the annual Willstown Conference at the City Auditorium at 7:00 pm.

For more information about Boom Days and the schedule it will be coming soon in the Times Journal and will be posted on our website at www.tourdekalb.com . See you downtown.