It’s party time. A few things need some fine tuning, but basically the schedule of events is well planned for the 40th annual Good Old Days festival Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 4 to 7, in downtown Winfield.

Winfield Chamber of Commerce members are pinning down a source for 1960s and 1970s music to play in the “Flower Power” field at the southeast corner of Beecher and Church streets.

The festival will have a variety of events, including the Home Depot Kids Workshop on Friday, and the Rich Bysina Ladies Shoe Kicking Contest on Sunday. Bysina, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, said there will be plenty of music from the stage across the street in the Lions Beer Garden.

The Underhand Free Throw Contest will be operated by Boy Scout Troop 575, which will have a tent to promote the troop and to recruit new members. At the Chamber of Commerce information booth, visitors can buy tickets for the Winfield Park District’s Duck Races.

Preparations for the 40th anniversary festival started with an initial planning meeting in February, and the final session took place Aug. 19.

Two new events make their debut. In Friday’s Armchair Quarterback Throwing Contest, contestants seated on an armchair or sofa will attempt to toss a football 10 yards through a screenless television set. Bysina and son Jay conducted a brief run-through for the contest early in August in the chamber office’s parking lot to determine the distance between the television set and the armchair. Sometime this week, Bysina and volunteer contest chairman Nick Powers planned to set up all the furniture components that will comprise the “rec room” in the lot on the southeast corner of Beecher and Church streets. The Ultra Foods Shopping Cart Races will be for kids and adults, and  the Winfield Flower Shoppe will host an Art Show.

A popular event, the Ladies Shoe Kicking Contest, will be revived, and residents can expect the return of many old-time favorites, including the Good Old Days parade, which begins at 1:15 p.m. Sunday.

Winfield Historical Society members will sponsor their annual coloring contest, with pictures displayed at the society’s open house at noon Friday at Hedges Station. This year, the picture is of the St. John Church fire. Local school students received copies of the image when they returned to classes in August. Adults and teens also may compete. Coloring contest and museum passport awards will be presented at the open house at Hedges Station, east of Winfield Road and north of Oakwood Park Road.

Members of Winfield Area Gardeners will have their annual Plant and Bake Sale, with about 200 plants labeled for shade and/or sun. They will be sold near the Gazebo in Creekside Park. Sale proceeds are used to attract top-notch speakers for the monthly meetings and to lower overhead costs. WAG members will walk in Sunday’s Good Old Days parade, passing out packets of seeds to spectators.

Bev Brach and this writer look forward to serving as parade marshals. Also participating will be the West Chicago Community High School Marching Band and Color Guard.

Winfield Park District will sponsor its annual Duck Races at 10 a.m. Saturday, when hundreds of yellow rubber ducks will be released into the DuPage River and race downstream. A variety of prizes have been donated by local businesses. The first-place winner will receive $150, and other cash prizes may be awarded depending on duck adoption numbers. Ducks can be adopted individually for $5 each or in flocks of five for $20. Stop at the Park District office, 0N020 County Farm Road, to fill out a form or call (630) 653-3811 for details. Ducks also can be purchased at the chamber’s information booth.

Another event sponsored by the Park District is the popular Coin Carnival, open to children 3 years of age to fifth grade. Carnival fun continues from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Creekside Park, where games cost a nickel, dime or quarter.

Lions Club members will present the second annual Cornhole Bags Classic on Saturday and Sunday in the Lions Beer Garden.

Fore

This season’s Winfield Golf League wraps up with a dinner banquet at which prizes and trophies will be awarded to winning players at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, at St. Andrews Golf Club in West Chicago. After 17 weeks of play, Tony Albergo leads the league with 86 points; Lane Buttery and Ed Kowal are tied with 82 points; John Karwoski has 80; and Dale Kenny has 78.5. Competition remains fierce.