The Little Egypt Festival and Parade are receiving high marks from organizers who gave special thanks to the weather.
General Chair Jay Henke called it an awesome day, with a fantastic car show and people standing in line for the food vendors.
Parade Chair Troy Cannon was pleased to break a string of parades where rain threatened or fell on the parade.
“The main thing was the weather. We always worry about that and it’s the unknown variable we can’t control but it was perfect this year. The parade itself, we had a lot of new entries and turned out to be a good parade, kind of a fresh thing. Nice entries, high quality floats, lots of people walking and nice bands. It was just an awesome parade.”
Grand Marshal Frank Brinkerhoff presented the Grand Marshal’s trophy to the Daughters of American Revolution.
At the car show, Tom Brough of Salem was named Best of Show as well as Best in Street Rods for his 1933 Ford Coupe.
Other specialty awards went to Virgil Harris of Salem, whose 1967 Chevy El Camino received the Mayor’s Choice. Dakota Austin of Salem was the Sheriff’s Choice with a 1976 Chevy Scottsdale. The Police Chief’s Choice was a 1972 Chevy Chevelle SS owned by Josh and Trey Dunahee of Salem. It also won 1st place in the 1967 to 1999 Classic Car Division. The unfinished award went to a 1953 Plymouth Belvedere entered by Gaffy Morris of Benton.
First place Class Winners include a 1930 Ford Model A owned by Donna and Lonnie Langley of Vandalia in the Classic Car 1966 and older class. In the cars 2000 to present Tracy Richie of Salem took first with a 2017 Ford Mustang GT. In Corvettes all years Jerry Burkett of Xenia won with a 2002 Chevy Corvette. In trucks 1999 and older, Greg Tate of Walnut Hill with a 1955 Chevrolet Pickup took first. In trucks 2000 to present, Domingo (no other name listed) of Mt. Vernon took first with a 2020 Chevy Silverado. In the motorcycle division, Dax Monroe of Salem with a 2009 Harley Davidson Street Glide was first.
