Students, Parents and Music Fans Expected to Flock to Perry for Annual Band Olympics
Around 1,000 students and thousands of spectators will gather at the Perry High School this weekend for the largest solo and ensemble contest in the Midwest.
The 33rd annual Perry Band Olympics takes place Saturday. Perry Band Director Brandon Weeks says he and his students have been preparing for the event for the last several weeks. He says it’s not only a learning experience for the kids in terms of music but also a chance to show off Perry and raise some money.
In addition to charging an entry fee, Weeks says they fundraise through concession sales but the entire community inevitably benefits from the event.
“We would love if everybody stayed in the building and spent money at our concession stand but of course that doesn’t happen. With 1,000 students, you’re talking at least 2,000 parents. I mean if you look in the building that day, down the hallway, all you’ll see is just a sea of people.”
The Band Olympics takes place from 8am until 4:30pm and all community members are welcome to spectate.
Perry Kiwanis Pancake Festival Saturday
Everyone is invited to come get their fill of pancakes, sausages and beverages this weekend while helping out a good cause in Perry.
The Kiwanis Pancake Festival takes place Saturday from 7am until 2pm.
In addition to enjoying a tasty meal, President Abi Albrecht says this also helps better the community and area youth.
“Some of the things we have (supported) in the past are Shop With a Cop, we have helped with 4-H, we have helped with scholarships every year, both the local food pantry as well as the school food pantry. So anything like that, anything that comes to us to say ‘Would you be willing to donate?’, that’s something that we look at very seriously and say ‘Would this be a good fit for Kiwanis?’ and most of the time it is.”
This year the festival takes place at the McCreary Community Building. Tickets will be available at the door for $7 for adults and $5 for children.
Perry Celebrating Take Your Child to the Library Day Saturday
National Take Your Child to the Library Day takes place each year on the first Saturday in February, but so does the annual Bike Ride to Rippey so the Perry Public Library will celebrate this weekend instead.
Library Director Mary Murphy says the event is meant to be both fun and educational for kids and parents alike.
“It’s designed to encourage families to make library visits a regular practice. Representatives from Parents as Teachers, Dallas County Hospital, Perry Child Development Center, McCreary Center, the Perry Fire Department and other local organizations will be on hand to share information important to parents and children. We’ll have face painting and balloon animals for each child and every child will take home a book free, thanks to the Friends of the library.”
It takes place Saturday at the Perry Public Library from 10am until 1pm. It’s free and open to the public. For more information, call 465-3569.
Pippa White to Present Ellis Island Program Sunday in Perry
If you’re looking for something to do on Sunday, look no further… the Perry Fine Arts committee is bringing a highly regarded one-woman show to town.
Pippa White will be here Sunday afternoon to present “Voices from Ellis Island”.
“It’s a dramatization of two stories of immigrants who passed through the door to America’s freedom. So she’s going to be telling different stories in costume and dialects of the different immigrants. She’s very good, I’ve seen her perform other shows and I know she’s very, very good so I really encourage everyone to come” says Fine Arts committee member Cathy Clark
The show takes place at the Perry Performing Arts Center at 2pm. It’s open to the public and the cost is a free will donation.
Pattee Park Expansion Project Bid Awarded
The area southwest of Perry’s Pattee Park will look significantly different a year from now as a large expansion project will begin soon.
When the City went out for bid to build soccer fields and a pond at the site last fall they received no bid from contractors but the second go around, six companies expressed interest on the project and many of them were below the engineer’s estimate.
“I was literally dancing when those bids were opened. So we were really happy with house those came out. Actually we did it as a base bed for half of the expansion and then another alternate bid for the other two soccer fields. So we were very happy that it came in about $120,000 under the engineer’s estimate for the base bid and under again for the alternate bid. We actually ended up being able to accept both for about the same price as what we thought we were going to have to pay for just that base.”
That’s City Administrator Sven Peterson.
The engineer’s estimate for both the base project and the alternate bid was just under $600,000. Perry will be able to complete both portions thanks to the low bidder, Spring Lake Construction from Polk City, at a cost of around $450,000.