Mineola Iron Horse Festival on the horizon

It’s time to make your plans now to attend and be a part of the 29th Mineola Iron Horse Heritage Festival set for Sept. 27-28. The annual festival honors the heritage of the railroad and its influence and importance to the city has become a staple of popular East Texas events featuring everything from live entertainment and baking contest to the crowd favorite weenie dog race.

The Iron Horse Heritage Festival was started in 1990 as part of the Mineola Main Street program and the local chamber took control of the event in 2001. It has grown into one of Mineola’s largest social gatherings.

The event will kick-off Friday with the Landmark Commission doing their Hobo Stew fundraising dinner. There will be time to grab a bowl of stew and still get over to Meredith Stadium for the Mineola Yellowjacket District 8-3A Division II game against West Rusk.

Saturday will be a fun-filled day including the Creature Teacher, pie-baking contest, Dance Dimensions, East Texas Twisters, watermelon-eating contest, a western show, a hamster wheel snow cone maker and more.

Historic Preservation Officer Doris Newman is excited about the downtown playground. “We’re excited to have the playground addition finished. We are very grateful for the Meredith Foundation’s help. This was added to help occupy children while waiting on our mini-train,” Newman said. “The Landmark Commission is including elements acknowledging all of the railroads that have served Mineola. The slogan for Iron Horse Square is ‘Where history and education meet’.”

Vendors will be on site Saturday only and the festival opens at 9 a.m. closing down at 6 p.m. The booths are 10’ by 12’ and are $50 for arts and crafts; $100 for food vendors; and $25 for non-profit arts and crafts with no sales. There is an additional charge of $25 if electricity is needed and vendors are asked to bring long extension cords to reach from the middle of the street to the alley or sidewalk. In order to assure variety, there will be limited duplication of vendors.

The Bean Cook-off is open to all and there is a $15 registration fee. Beans may be pre-cooked from dry pinto beans only and only one 16 oz. container of beans can be turned in. Prizes will be awarded to the top three entries as decided by the judges and there will also be a prize for a people’s choice winner.

The weenie dog race is for certified dachshunds. This does not mean the canines have to be AKC registered, but must have specific breed characteristics as stated by AKC. The Mineola Chamber has the right to disqualify any dog if there is a question of the breed or size which may give an unfair advantage.

All dogs must have current shots, rabies in particular. Qualifying races will be determined by heats and that will be determined by the number of entries. There will be two brackets, championship and consolation.

Vendors and contest entries are encouraged to go online at www.mineolachamber.org or pick up their applications from the Mineola Chamber of Commerce at 101 East Broad Street.