By Lakendra Rippy
PORTLAND, Tenn.--
The 72nd annual “Strawberry Festival” will kick off on May 11 with the
annual “Strawberry Parade”, which
will be led by Portland native Tim “Mountain Man” Guraedy.
Along with Guraedy leading
the parade, there will be World Wrestling Federation wrestling at Meadow Brook
Park later that evening. This is considered one of the most entertaining events
of the day.
Corp. Kenneth Rippy of the Portland Police
Department said that all local businesses in town participate in the parade by
creating floats and competing in various sports activities. “Movie night" will occur in Richland
Park later that night.
Festivities such as grilling, food sales, money drawings and live music will also be taking place
on Main Street. There will also be “Kids Town USA”, where kids play all day
for $5. A “Duck Calling” event will be hosted by Guraedy as well.
There will also be other
events hosted earlier during the day of the festival, including the
"Strawberry Stride". Adults and children of all age groups can participate in a running marathon that starts at 8 a.m. at Portland
High School. It is a six-mile run. However, they will not have the 52-mile yard
sale because it caused a lot of issues last year, according to Rippy.
Rippy said he expects 15,000 to 25,000 people to attend the "Strawberry
Festival" this year. Last year, there were a little over 10,000 in
attendance. People from across Tennessee and Kentucky will be in
attendance. He credits the high attendance rate to the strawberries and the
appearance of “Duck Dynasty” star, Tim Guraedy.
The city of Portland is improving
safety for the event. The town's emergency teams, including police officers,
firefighters and other emergency service providers, will be on alert. The
mayor also plans to shut down the intersection of Highway 109 and Main Street
for safety purposes. Individuals will no longer be able to drive through Main
Street. They will have to park their cars and walk. Law enforcement is making
sure that all roads are blocked-off leading into Main Street so people are no
longer in danger of moving traffic. Officers will be on foot as well.
“The carnival will be here
the same weekend, and the crime rate will be higher," said Rippy. Also,
more car wrecks are likely to occur because of all the traffic coming into
such a small town.
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