Alabama Tourism Year of the Small Towns and Downtowns 'Celebrate Opelika' Saturday July 17th

As part of The Great Alabama Homecoming, ‘Celebrate Opelika’ will take place tomorrow in downtown Opelika. The festivities will begin at 10am along South Railroad Avenue with opening ceremonies; Raising of the flag by Boy Scout Troup Pack 858 from First Baptist Church Opelika, Ashley Layson singing The Star Spangled Banner and God Bless the USA and prayer offered for our community by Tom Tippett. After the opening ceremony we will have a flag retiring ceremony and from what I have heard you will not want to miss this. Once the retiring ceremony is complete Marilyn Stamps with The Alabama Tourism Office in Montgomery will unveil and dedicate the new historic marker to Opelika.

Wow…what a way to Celebrate Opelika and get the day started! Hold on…we are just getting warmed up. Until 4pm you will enjoy childrens activities such as inflatables by Spacewalk of Auburn, balloons by DR Magic, Pony Rides by Jubilee Farms and a special one-of-a-kind butterfly art area presented by Keep Opelika Beautiful from 1-3. Other activities throughout the day will be; A Sprinkler System Fire Demonstration, fire extinguisher training and car seat installation training by Opelika Fire Department, Arts & Crafts, complimentary watermelon slices and a project you can get involved with for our Troups presented by Hometown Ford, Chrysler, Dodge Jeep, Grand re-opening for the Museum of East Alabama with showings of Norma Rae and a documentary of Horace King. Mr. King built the original Lee County Courthouse in 1867. Also throughout the day enjoy reenactments of some of Opelika’s historic citizens. Great historic buildings are downtown so we will offer Historic Tours from 11-3 with the tours leaving from the Event Center Downtown.

You will begin the tour at the Event Center formerly known as the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. While touring the Center you will enjoy ‘The Real Thing’ small bottles of coke provided by owners Lisa and Chris Beck. Golf Carts shuttles provided by FunCarts of Opelika will then take you along with your friends accompanied by a driver/guide though the downtown area. Other open houses that day from 1-3 will be at The Darden House and The Cultural Center (formerly known as Miriam S. Brown school). While at The Cultural Center take a moment and enjoy ‘Memories of Opelika and East Alabama’ provided by East Alabama Arts. I think we can all agree that food is one of the best parts of Opelika.

Saturday you will enjoy some smokin’ good BBQ provided by Richard Samford, hamburgers grilled up by the All-Sports Booster Club of Opelika lead by D. Mark Mitchell and cold delicious homemade ice cream served up by the fine members of the Lee County Pilot Club. All our restaurants will be open and ready to serve you also that day. Irish Bred Pub opening in August, will offer samples of their menu along with tours of their great building located at the corner of 9th Street and Railroad Avenue. We will also have entertainment throughout the day which includes Ashley Layson, Make Your Move Performing Arts and others. We do have some time still available if you are interested in performing. Rest up a bit and then grab your lawn chair or blanket and a picnic supper and head back downtown to Courthouse Square as we continue to ‘Celebrate Opelika’.

If you make the best homemade Ice Cream and you want to prove it, enter the Opelika Lions Club ‘Cream of the Crop’ homemade ice cream contest. Entries can be taken to Courthouse Square between 6:15-6:30. Once samples are taken to the judges the ice cream will be available to the public. The winner will be announced during the concert. The evening gets kicked off when Adrift hits the stage. Adrift is made up of locals Trace Pridgen-lead vocals and guitar, Luke Britton-bass and vocals, Chris Gothard-drums and vocals and John Clifton-lead guitar. Following Adrift we will bring to the stage special guests Dallas Dorsey, Adam Hood and Brad Cotter for a song swap. The entire day is about reconnecting with family and friends and celebrating Opelika.

If you or your organization is interested in participating in ‘Celebrate Opelika’ please contact me (velinda@opelikamainstreet.org). We are looking for volunteers that can help throughout the day. Make plans to join us Opelika and let’s celebrate this great town we all call home.