By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE — The community celebration weekend Heritage Days will deliver the attractions people have only recently come to expect.
Two years ago the recharged Heritage Days brought a carnival to town, and will again this year. City Hall staffer Laura Walsh said the schedule was adjusted to make the most of the midway.
“Last year was the first for the carnival,” Walsh said.
Previously the two-day civic center party was held in July, and has only recently returned to Heritage Days after a brief life known as Founder’s Day. Local heritage remained a theme, and Heritage Days brought back a range of family entertainment.
The 40th anniversary weekend event at city municipal complex at Dix-Toledo Road and Reaume Parkway will begin June 13 with events including the Heritage Half Eight run, and continue June 14, and includes carnival attractions that will be open Thursday through Sunday on the municipal grounds.
One early event will be the Heritage Cup Scholarship Golf Outing that begins at 8 a.m. June 7 at South Winds Golf Club, 14600 Reaume Parkway. (For information and entry forms contact South Winds at 734-258-3004.) Proceeds from the tournament provide scholarships for Southgate students.
The festival takes off at 6 p.m. June 13 with the four-mile Heritage Half Eight run, competitive by age group. Also available is the less-ambitious one-mile Mayor’s Walk. Participants can register at City Call on the day of the race, or in advance. Contact Total Runner, 15265 Dix-Toledo, at 734-282-1101 for information.
The heart of Heritage Days weekend, however, is the combination of family entertainment, live music, Taste of the Town vendors and more at the civic complex. The annual Heritage Days Parade kicks off at 11 a.m. June 14, and live music will be provided June 13 by The Killer Flamingos, and June 14 by Boogie DynOmite and The Mega 80s.
For more information go to www.southgate-mi.org.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected].)