Check out these events that are happening before Good Neighbor Days and carry on throughout the week!
Do you have the cutest baby in Washington? Entries are now being accepted for the 2019 Good Neighbor Days Beautiful Baby contest. This will be the 11th year for this adorable contest to be part of the Good Neighbor Days festivities. Chairperson for the event, Jessica Hilst, is excited to bring the contest to Heartland Bank and Trust Company. Official entry forms are available on the Chamber’s website, at the Chamber office, or at either of the Heartland Bank and Trust Company’s branches, 130 S. Main Street and 100 S. Cummings Lane. Entries must be dropped off by May 17, 2019 at either bank location.
Viewing begins Monday, May 20, 2019, and runs through Thursday, May 30, at both Heartland Bank and Trust Company branches. Voting will then continue on Friday in the Merchants Tent, during Merchants Tent hours. For every cent donated, the entry will receive one vote. So, stop in at one of the Heartland Bank and Trust Company Washington branches before May 30th, or drop by the Merchants Tent on Friday, May 31st to vote for the cutest baby in town. The largest amount of votes will “determine” the cutest baby. The winner of the Beautiful Baby Contest will be announced Saturday, June 1st, at the conclusion of the Kidz Got Talent contest on the CEFCU main stage at the festival grounds. The prize will be $50.00 in Washington gift certificates.
Entries into the Beautiful Baby Contest must be 2 years old and under, as of May 31st, 2019. Contestants must have a residential Washington (61571) address. If you have any questions or need more information, contact Jessica at jhilst@hbtbank.com. She said, “We’d love to see a record number of entries this year. We know there are lots of beautiful babies in our community!”
2019 Baby Photo Contest Entry Form
Thanks to Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, the Good Neighbor Days Medallion Hunt will be returning for its 7th year to test your skills. For those of you who like to solve puzzles and decipher clues, the Medallion will be hidden somewhere in Washington the week of the Festival. A new clue will be posted each day providing hints as to its hiding place.
Clues will be posted each day, beginning on Monday, May 27th, at the Washington Jimmy John’s location, 1638 Washington Road, at 11:30 a.m., inside the store. Clues will then be posted on the Chamber’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonChamberofCommerce/) at 2:30 p.m. the same day. A new clue will be posted each day until the Medallion is found. The winner gets to keep the medallion and also receives a monetary award.
The WCHS art department has once again agreed to create the 2019 Jimmy John’s Medallion. Last year’s clue master is returning to provide some challenging, yet fun, clues to test your skills. With each year, it seems there are more hunters entering into the fray in an attempt to be the first ones to discover the Jimmy John’s Medallion’s location. So, why not join in on May 27th to see if you and your family can find the Jimmy John’s Medallion before anyone else!
The Merchants Tents have been a staple of the festival for many years. It’s an excellent opportunity for businesses, whether local, regional, or national, to display their products and services to the public. It gives consumers the chance to meet these businesses in person and ask questions to find out more about them.
“The goal of having a Merchants Tent at Good Neighbor Days has always been to provide a venue for our local businesses to display their goods and services for all the visitors at the festival,” said Melissa Wireman, 2019 GND festival chairperson and Merchants Tent organizer. “We work hard every year to gather businesses from around our area, and even outside the area, to our festival. It gives people a chance to see what these businesses have to offer.”
Stroll through the shaded Merchants Tents at Good Neighbor Days on Friday and Saturday, May 31 and June 1st There will be plenty of businesses from around the area ready to educate you about their products and services. So if you’re looking for home improvement ideas or bug control; or information to help your health or your finances; or household items to make your life more stress free … then the Good Neighbor Days Merchants Tents is the place you’ll want to be. The merchants and vendors will be available at their booths on Friday, 1:00 – 8:00pm, and on Saturday, 11:00am – 6:00pm.
Festival goers who take the time to walk through the Merchants Tent will most likely find give away items from the vendors, as well as door prize drawings to enter. “It just gives a little bit more variety to the festival,” Wireman went on to say. So, be sure to check out the Good Neighbor Days Merchants Tent on Friday and Saturday at this year’s Good Neighbor Days located at 1800 Washington Road, Washington.
Have a group that loves to spend time volunteering together? Does the Good Neighbor Days committee have a challenge for you! Get your organization together and volunteer for multiple shifts to make your group be the winner of the third annual Volunteer Challenge. All you have to do is sign up on the Washington Chamber of Commerce’s Sign Up Genius for Good Neighbor Days, available after May 1st.
All volunteers will need to have their hours of service verified by signing in at the Chamber’s Info Tent or with the individual chairperson in charge of the event you volunteer to do. All hours must be verified by an official GND representative to be counted towards your group’s total hours. When signing in, you will specify which group you want your volunteer hours to count towards – then have fun while being a part of Good Neighbor Days. The winning group will be given a monetary donation to their organization or to another local organization of their choosing in their name.
Each individual volunteer (in a group or not) will be given one entry for every 2 verified hours they volunteer for a chance to win a gift package valued at $200.00. “It takes a village” to have the Good Neighbor Days festival run as smoothly as it does – and that “village” is made up of the many volunteers who take a few hours out of their time to be a part of this long running tradition known as the Good Neighbor Days. Why not check it out this year, and see how much fun you can have with your friends while you’re helping at a great community event.
Entertainment for the festival is still being booked. But check back after May 1st for a complete list of bands and brochure. If you are interested in performing, e-mail us at info@washingtoncoc.com.