Mineola’s Iron Horse Festival set for this week
editor@woodcountynews.com
From watermelon eating to weenie dog racing the 28th Mineola Iron Horse Heritage Festival offers a boxcar load of events, music and activities during a celebration of the city’s railroad heritage. …
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Mineola’s Iron Horse Festival set for this week
From watermelon eating to weenie dog racing the 28th Mineola Iron Horse Heritage Festival offers a boxcar load of events, music and activities during a celebration of the city’s railroad heritage.
A meal fit for a hobo starts things off Friday evening. The festival goes into full swing Saturday.
The Iron Horse Heritage Festival began in 1990 under the Mineola Main Street program. It was handed off to the Chamber of Commerce in 2001 and today is one of the city’s largest social occasions.
“We’re really taking it back to our heritage this year,” Chamber Director Maddi Regalado said of this year’s shindig. The menu of events includes an old-fashion pie baking contest, a watermelon eating competition and a bean cook-off. In keeping with the railroad theme, folks can get aboard a miniature train that will travel the streets of downtown Mineola. Proceeds from this year’s festival will help fund the Chamber of Commerce and go toward the promotion of chamber members, Regalado said.
Things get on track at 5 p.m. Friday with the return of the HoboStew sponsored by the Mineola Landmark Commission and staged at the Farmers Market pavilion just west of the train depot. Ten bucks will buy a meal of stew, cornbread or crackers, dessert and a drink. Proceeds will benefit the Iron Horse Square project. Call Doris Newman at 903 705-2290 for more information or to preorder your meal.
Saturday morning kicks off with the Iron Horse Rhythm Run sponsored by Dance Dimensions of Mineola. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. for a 5K fun run and a 1K kids run. Folks at the Farmers Market will sign people up to win gift baskets or certificates from the market. Drawings begin at 11:30 a.m. at the pavilion.
Throughout the day, festival-goers will enjoy live music, arts and crafts, a bounce house for the kids, a shootout re-enactment at the train depot, and food and refreshments. The Weenie Dog Race, a crowd favorite last year, is also back by popular demand as Mineola’s swiftest dachshund is unveiled.
Also Saturday, the Landmark Commission will man a booth to accept donations for the Iron Horse Square fence and to sell Mineola souvenirs.
