LIGHTHOUSE
PARADE
In 1985, members of the West Side Nut Club renewed an old Evansville custom from the
1920's Fall Festivals, lighted decorated lighthouses. Children who built a colorful, beautiful, and inexpensive lighthouse exhibited their creation at the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival on Monday October 7, 1985 where the inaugural lighthouse parade was held.
This year, approximately 100 lighthouses will be exhibited on Franklin Street. Come be a part of westside history. All you need is a wagon and your creativity. You're only limited by your imagination as to what kind of light spectacle you can create to pull down Franklin Street for all to see. You may work as a team to create your lighthouse, but we ask that only one person pull the wagon during the parade. Please join us on Monday, October 7th and see some of the most fantastic, original, neat lighthouses displayed by our leaders of tomorrow.
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Rules and Regulations
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ELIGIBILITY:
1.) It is not required to sign up to participate prior to the event. However, it would be helpful for planning to know you are coming. Please contact this year’s chairman Donnie Fulton at
2.) You may work as a team to create your lighthouse, but we ask that only one person pull the wagon during the parade.
3.) Participants may enter by reporting to the Old National Bank Drive-In Teller area at 2119 W. Michigan Street, which is between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, between 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on the day of the parade. Late arrivals may be exhibited but will NOT be eligible for an award or cap. Parents and other relatives are requested not to congest the judging area.
JUDGING AND AWARDS:
1.) All participants & lighthouses will line up at the Old National Bank Drive-in area on Michigan Street between 6:00-6:30 p.m. on Monday, October 7th.
2.) Judging will take place between 6:30-6:55 p.m. The parade begins promptly at 7:00 p.m. and will end at the main stage. The top 10 winners will be escorted onto the stage for a brief display of their creation.
3.) Anyone who participates will receive 4 ride tickets, and the top 10 will receive wristband vouchers good for 1 wristband any day of the festival. The top 10 will also get to ride in the main parade on Saturday, October 12th (4 tickets per wagon entry).
4.) Winners may participate in the Main Parade on Saturday, October 12th by riding on the LIGHTHOUSE PARADE FLOAT. Lighthouses will not be displayed on the float.
LIGHTHOUSE CONSTRUCTION:
1.) Lighthouses will be judged on originality, creativity, overall design and layout.
2.) The lighthouse must be exhibited during the calendar year in which it was built.
3.) There are no limitations as to theme, size or materials used. (The participant may use any kind of material, decorations or ornamentation he or she wishes. The lighthouse can be any size the participant desires, but we ask that it not be too large).
4.) Openings or designs should be covered with clear or colored transparent paper or plastic to give the design openings a colorful effect when a light is placed behind them. The lighthouse must be lighted by batterypowered light. Lighted systems must be installed in a safe and secure manner. Each entrant is responsible for the safety of the lighthouse as well as him or herself.
5.) The lighthouse will be pulled by a securely mounted strap, rope or handle along the parade route. The lighthouse may be mounted on wheels such as a wagon so as to be more visible to the viewing public. The individual enterIng the project shall supply the effort of movement. The entrant must walk at a reasonable pace while pulling the lighthouse, so that the parade will proceed properly.
6.) Should a breakdown occur, the entrant will step out of the line temporarily, so as not to hold up the other entrants. A Nut Club member will assist in making temporary repairs, permitting the entrant to re-enter the line of march.
PARADE ROUTE:
Parents or friends of young entrants may accompany them down the parade route. The parade will proceed through the Old National Bank parking lot on to the west bound lane of Franklin Street, west to Eleventh Avenue, crossing over to the east bound lane, continuing west to the parking lot of the Pet Food Center, at which point the parade will disband. Parents should meet the winners behind the Main Platform at Twelfth Avenue and Franklin. All other participants can be met in the area between Twelfth Avenue and St. Joseph Avenue on the south side of Franklin Street (area fronting Pet Food Center). In the event of threatening or questionable weather, WIKY radio will announce over the air beginning at 4:00 p.m. on the day of the parade, where the exhibitors are to meet for judging. Chairman, Donnie Fulton 812-453-5078, and Co-Chairman, Jack Weinzapfel 812-319-8002 will answer questions.