STRONG — The town will celebrate its history and honor its military veterans Friday evening with a parade, music and food.
According to parade organizer Bill Birden, the theme is “Women Can Do Anything Men Can Do.” Judges will award cash prizes to winners.
At 6 p.m., resident Eloise Stevens will start the parade down Main Street. The Farmington American Legion color guard, floats, all-terrain vehicles and other participants will proceed to the fire station, turning just before the Sandy River bridge. The Shriners’ Krazy Kops will perform.
“We’ll also have bagpipers, antique vehicles, antique tractors, the ATV riders and the Alabama 15th Regiment Civil War re-enactors,” Birden said.
At the Veterans’ Memorial next to the Forster Memorial Building, re-enactors and bagpipers will offer a musket salute and traditional music.
The Fire Department Auxiliary will serve a chicken barbecue at the fire station from 4 to 7 p.m., or until the food is gone.
After the parade, the Stay Tuned band will play from 6 to 8:30 p. m. at the White Elephant.
From 2 to 6 p.m., the Strong Historical Society will open its doors for a tour. According to member Carl Stinchfield, the organization’s volunteers have devoted a section of the building to a re-creation of a one-room schoolhouse.
The town supported several of these small schoolhouses in the community, long before roads were paved and automobiles were widely available. The society also has a collection of antique toys dating from the 20th century.
Another event is a slideshow created from glass negatives from the former Luce Studios in Farmington. Stinchfield has scanned approximately 5,000 of these, he said, and has converted them into digital photographs. Many are high school graduation pictures from as early as the 1930s, he said.
The town was a stop on the Narrow Gauge Railroad, and was was the “Toothpick Capital of the World,” because, at one time, Strong Wood Products produced about 20 million toothpicks per day, according to sources. Artifacts will be on display Friday.
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