Perry’s 4th of July Celebration Schedule
The Perry Area Chamber of Commerce has several events planned for another fun 4th of July celebration tomorrow.
The festivities start with the parade at 10am which travels west on Willis Avenue from 26th Street to Pattee Park. At the park there will be food and craft vendors set up all day, along with kids’ activities and water fights with the Perry Volunteer Fire Department.
Showtime Dance Studio will perform at the band shell at noon, followed by the Al Welch Orchestra at 1pm and the Skeeter Creek Band and P.O.W. in the evening at 6:00.
Bob Wilson with the Perry Chamber encourages everyone to come celebrate.
“It’s a long standing tradition, obviously. It’s a community supported event, but we have the multicultural aspect of it too. Our community is so diverse but we all come together to celebrate the 4th of July. It’s unlike anywhere else in the park, I guarantee you that. You get that wide variety and I guarantee we have the biggest fireworks display in the area.”
As always, the fireworks display will start at dusk.
Perry Fine Arts Presents Carol Montag Concert and Ice Cream Social
There is no shortage of things to do in Perry tomorrow to celebrate the 4th of July.
Once again, Perry Fine Arts is offering a free concert and ice cream social at the First United Methodist Church.
This year’s entertainment will be provided by folk singer and songwriter Carol Montag. The Ames native will play a variety of tunes starting at 2pm Saturday in the air conditioned comfort of the church. Organizer Duane Griffin says there’s no reason to leave town if you want to enjoy good tunes this holiday weekend.
“It’s a lot cheaper than going to Des Moines and it saves a lot of time. A lot of the people we get perform in (places like) Des Moines and Ames already so you’re getting the same kind of music and it’s very good quality. So there’s no reason not to.”
After the concert, attendees are invited to enjoy the 41st annual ice cream social in the Fellowship Room.
There’s no cost to attend, though donations are accepted to help support future programs.
Perry Police Arrests Two After SUV is Stolen from Mercy Medical Center
Two adults were arrested in Perry Tuesday after a vehicle was stolen.
Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn tells Raccoon Valley Radio an officer was dispatched to the former Alco store parking lot around 7:30am after a male and female were reportedly chasing each other. When the officer arrived on scene he was told the two adults had gotten into a white Jeep Patriot with Mercy Hospital written on the doors. The Jeep was pulling out of the McDonald’s parking lot when the officer initiated a traffic stop. When speaking with the male and female inside the vehicle their stories did not match up. Officers contacted Mercy Health Center in Des Moines and were informed that the Jeep’s keys had come up missing sometime Sunday evening or early Monday. Staff checked for the vehicle Monday afternoon and it was still there but the keys were no where to be found. The driver, 45 year-old Benjamin Teachout told officers he was employed by the hospital, which was later determined to be false. The passenger, 35 year-old Candace Anderson, admitted to being suspicious the vehicle was stolen and the Jeep’s registration was located in her purse.
As a result, both Teachout and Anderson were arrested and charged with possession of stolen property.
The vehicle, which is being leased by Mercy Medical Center, was impounded.
Extreme Flooding Not Expected to Repeat Itself
After large amounts of rain last week resulted in flooding and an eventual disaster proclamation, many are worried about any rain in the forecast.
Fortunately, experts say they don’t expect the storms to repeat themselves.
“We’re not expecting a high end event like we saw last week anytime soon. The weather pattern is showing signs of changing and is not as conducive to the kind of repeat rainfall that we saw.”
That’s National Weather Service Hydrologist Jeff Zogg who says additionally, this is actually a good time of year for it to rain.
“The good news is we’re moving into the time of year where soil moisture values typically recover pretty rapidly, just with all of the agricultural activities going on. The agricultural crops, so to speak, typically require a lot of moisture on any given week. So if there’s a time of year to want to dry out the soil, this is the time of year to do it, moving to July when that soil moisture will be depleted at a rather rapid rate compared to other times of the year.”
Calmer Week in Terms of Percipitation
Compared to last week, the past several days have been quite dry here in the Raccoon River Valley.
According to the National Weather Service, Perry received a total of 10.9 inches of rain during the month of June. Jefferson received almost 8.7 inches and Guthrie Center saw 12.7 inches of rain.
This week, 0.37 inch of rain fell over Perry, 0.32 inch was received in Jefferson and just 0.15 inch fell in Guthrie Center.
Local normal monthly rainfall totals for July range between 4.4 and 4.8 inches.