Cecilia Days & Sunflower Festival Finale: Hardin County Events

Key Takeaways

• Cecilia Days runs Friday and Saturday at Cecilia Ballpark — parade Saturday at 10 AM on the new route, and no four-wheelers, side-by-sides, golf carts, or lawnmowers this year
• It's the final weekend for the Sunflower Festival at Thomas Dairy Farm & Market; admission includes a bloom to take home
• Hardin County students go back Thursday, August 6 — most schools release an hour early on day one
• 7 Brew's grand-opening free drink windows run through Friday, with swag day Saturday
• Household Hazardous Waste & Prescription Drug Disposal runs Saturday 8-2 at Metalsa

Summary

Jon O'Brien's events rundown this week points almost everything at one small town: Cecilia. Cecilia Days takes over Cecilia Ballpark Friday and Saturday with fish plate dinners, pageants, a parade, barbecue chicken, a car show, and Cecilia's Got Talent — and the same weekend is the last call for the Sunflower Festival at Thomas Dairy Farm & Market, where 150,000 sunflowers are at peak and fading fast.

It's also back-to-school week for Hardin County, and Jon and the crew spent real time on the practical side: buses, school zones, early release on day one, and a 6:45 AM welcome-back high-five line at Radcliff and Vine Grove elementary schools.

Full Article

If you only pick one direction this weekend, point the car toward Cecilia.

Cecilia Days starts Friday evening at Cecilia Ballpark with fish plate dinners and barbecue sandwiches, the baby contest, and the full pageant slate — Little Miss & Mr., Princess, Junior Miss, and Miss Cecilia — closing out the night. Saturday starts early with a $6 breakfast at Cecilia Baptist Church that supports the church's student ministries, then the parade steps off at 10 AM on the new route. One change to know before you load up the family: no four-wheelers, side-by-sides, golf carts, or lawnmowers in the parade area this year. Walk down, or park and walk.

From there Saturday just keeps rolling: barbecue chicken dinner at 11 until it sells out, live music with Jon Langley, a car show, bingo, a cakewalk, the pedal tractor pull, and the Cecilia Days drawing with the Honorary Mayor and Citizen of the Year announcements. The day carries a tribute to Dennis Parrot, and Cecilia's Got Talent closes the night. "I'm wondering who's going to get out there and shine this year," Jon said — the crew agreed anyone willing to take that stage in front of a festival crowd is "pretty solid."

The same weekend is your last chance at the Sunflower Festival at Thomas Dairy Farm & Market. A hundred and fifty thousand sunflowers, admission includes a bloom to take home, and the clock is real: the blooms are seasonal, and one rough weekend of weather can end them. Jon put it simply — there are three days left to get out there.

School is back Thursday, August 6, and that reshapes the week for everybody, not just parents. Watch the buses, watch the school zones, and know that most Hardin County schools release an hour early on the first day so the buses can work out their routes. Businesses are leaning in too: Heartland Mini Golf hosts a back-to-school bash with B. Robbins playing live — bring school supplies, backpacks, pencils, and notebooks to donate — and HubHaus has a back-to-school event of its own this weekend.

The rest of the week fills in fast. Tonight is a double Food Truck Tuesday at Phillips Grove and the E-town Farmers Market, where Snow Dogs was added to the lineup same-day. Thursday brings Tavern in the Garden at Brown-Pusey House with Forging the Fable from 6 to 9 — free to come listen, food truck on site. Friday morning, the Radcliff Small Business Alliance holds its first-Friday Coffee and Cards at Apostolis from 8 to 9; Scott's pitch: if you're looking for a client, a partner, or a sponsor, that's an hour of the right people in one room. 7 Brew's grand-opening free small drink windows run through Friday (noon-1 and 5-6), with a free t-shirt with a large drink on Saturday's swag day.

Saturday also brings the August Craft Bazaar at Pritchard Community Center (10-3), the Panther Quarterback Club Auction at the Historic State Theater (doors at 5), and the Two of a Kind Variety Band benefit at American Legion Post 113. And there's one unglamorous event Jon flagged as genuinely important: the Household Hazardous Waste & Prescription Drug Disposal at Metalsa, 750 North Black Branch, from 8 to 2 — free, and the right way to get old chemicals and medications out of your house.

As Jon reminded everybody: this is only about a third of what's on the calendar.