Affton Community Days: Mark Your Calendars

On Saturday, September 15, 2012, community members and organizations will unite for the annual Affton Community Days Parade and Festival. This year’s theme is “Affton Goes on Vacation.” This annual event is sponsored by the , in partnership with St. George Parish. You are all invited to stop by the festival or bring the kids to watch the parade with their bags to hold the candy from the parade participants. Parade entry is free, but completed and signed applications must be submitted to the Chamber before September 7. Applications are on the Chamber's web site calendar on September 15. Click on www.afftonchamber.com.

The parade begins at 10 am at , traveling south on Mackenzie to Gravois & then east on Gravois to Heege where it will end at the parking lot on Heege. The parade route will close around 9:30 and open up again after the parade, about 11:30 or noon.

Drawing a crowd for all ages to enjoy along the 1.8 mile route will be entries from various schools, churches, businesses, organizations, and residents. The marching bands will be from the Affton School District and .

Chief Tim Fitch & Capt. Mike Dierkes of the St. Louis County Police will lead the
parade, along with the County Police Honor Guard & Bagpipers. Following the
lead car will be convertibles carrying the 2012 Chamber President, Tim Kinealy
of Timothy J. Kinealy, CPA, LLC; the 2011 Business Person of the Year, Michael
Bamvakais, of Dill, Bamvakais & Newsham, PC; and the 2011 Citizen of the
Year, Shirley Eckert, a volunteer with the Affton Historical Society, the St. Louis
Peregrine Society, and Seven Holy Founders Church. Cathy Cartier, Missouri Teacher of the Year will serve as the Grand Marshal.

First place trophies will be given to parade units in five categories this year & Fran Ann Engraving donated them. The trophy winners will be announced from the Main Stage just before 1 p.m. Five of our 2012 Exceptional Educators from area schools will serve as judges for the parade entries.

Parking for the festival will be available on the Salem Lutheran Church (upper parking lot), and at Kuenne Accounting & Tax Service (upper & lower lots at the corner of Heege, Siebert, & Gravois). Parking will also be available on the
US Bank parking lot after they close at Noon and on the Mid America Arms
parking lot after 4 p.m. Heege Road will be closed from Gravois to Aronia all
day for the safety of festival guests.

There will be shuttle buses to pick up parade participants on Gravois & Heege, by
Gardenville Lodge & shuttle them to the parade start at Affton High School.
The buses run from 8:00 to 9:15 am. before the parade and again after the
conclusion of the parade until 12:30 pm.

The booths on the festival grounds will begin operation at 11 a.m. and a little
before Noon the festivities will officially begin with County Councilman Steve Stenger singing the National Anthem.

Many favorites from past years will be entertaining. Noon–Juggling Jeff Koziatek, 1 pm–a new act, My Side of the Story, a Rock Show Academy band
1:30–Memories of Elvis with Steve Davis, 2:30 pm, back for the 2nd year, local magician Joe Fingerhut. 3:30 pm-5 pm near the Beer Garden. A local band of young musicians, Adam’s Apples, will be playing current & past hits.
Again this year the SMASH Band will entertain from 5-9 pm. The SMASH band will be sponsored by Harster Heating and Air Conditioning. The schedule means we will have continuous entertainment from Noon until 9 pm.

Some of the food to be offered by local organizations & vendors will be: Hot Dogs, Bratwurst, Hamburgers, Pulled Pork, Kabobs, Crab Rangoon, Egg Rolls, Gyros, Baked Goods, Snack Chips, Nachos, Funnel Cakes, Pretzel Bites with Nacho Cheese, Bake Sale, Snow Cones, Fresh Fruit Shakeups, Pretzels, & Popcorn. Beverages available at the festival include: soda, lemonade, bottled water, Frozen Margartias, & our hometown beverage in the Beer Garden.

The festival offers activities for all ages to enjoy: for the active there will be
inflatables, a climbing wall, and fire truck rides. Some of the games will be: Sports Card Game, Sucker Pull, Alien Ring Toss, Prize Wheel, Face Painting, Pull Tabs, Bean Bag Toss plus many others. Or you can sit, relax, and enjoy the
entertainment.

Looking for more information about some local businesses? Visit the booths manned by Velata Warmer, Scentsy Warmer, Costco Wholesale, St. Clair Corporation, Spine & Joint Center of Affton, Gateway Metro Federal Credit Union, Joyce Factory Direct of St. Louis, Promo Fund, Morris Family Chiropractic, and Healthcare Complete.

Many of the local businesses have made a commitment to sponsor some of the
activities. They include: Harster Heating & Air Conditioning, South County
Times Newspaper, St. Anthony’s Medical Center, Affton License Office, Allied
Waste, Commerce Bank, Crestside Heating & Cooling, Fred’s South County Auto
Repair, Gravois Kiwanis Club, Great Clips, Affton & Bayless, Park Forest
Apartments & Townhomes, Timothy J. Kinealy, CPA, LLC, Essex Industries,
Gateway Metro Federal Credit Union,  J & J Construction & Remodeling, Tucker’s Place South, The UPS Store-Grasso, Ameren Missouri, Bob’s Package Liquor, Eagle Bank & Trust, Gapsch CARSTAR Collision Center, Georgetown Apartments, Great Southern Bank, Holper’s Pest & Animal Solutions, Medicine Shoppe-Affton, Reinhold Electric, Roberts Pest & Termite Control, Southview Assisted Living & Memory Care, and John L. Ziegenhein & Sons Funeral Homes.  Supporters include: Affton School District, Bayless School District, Cecil Whittaker’s Pizza, Medical West, Merry Maids-Affton, St. George Parish, and Victory Speech Therapy & Autism Consulting.

The committee organizers who worked on this event for the past year are from: A
Plus Business Services, Blackmon Remodeling, Footnotes Dance Company, Holper’s Pest & Animal Solutions, Insurance Concepts, J & J Construction &
Remodeling, LLC, Tim J. Kinealy, CPA, LLC, Neighbors Credit Union, Park Forest
Apartments & Townhomes, Roberts Pest & Termite Control, St. Louis County Police, Senior Health Care & LTC, and the South County Times.

The chamber booth at the festival will have coffee mugs, beverage mugs, and t-shirts with the new Affton Community Days logo for sale fro $10. You can also pick up a free Affton map. Until 7 p.m. the Chamber will have raffle tickets for sale for a 7 cu. ft. freezer of steaks from Kenrick’s. Raffle tickets are only $5.00 and the winning ticket will be drawn by SMASH at 8 p.m. You do not have to be present to win. Kenrick’s will deliver the freezer and steaks to the winner if they live in the Metro area. A list of the 100 steaks is on the Affton Chamber of Commerce web site calendar.

The annual parade began in 1984 and has traveled over many different routes during those 29 years. The festival was added in 1993, being held at the Affton High School until the festival was moved to the Affton White-Rodgers
Community Center when the center opened in 1999. The festival location moved in 2006 to the current location at St. George Church parking lot.

The complete list of entertainment, games, food, sponsors, and highlights of the
event can be found on the Chamber’s web site  www.afftonchamber.com/afftondays.htm or at www.Facebook.com/afftondays.
The Facebook page is new & we hope to keep the community informed about
Affton Days throughout the year. As parade & booth entries come in we post them on the Facebook.com/afftondays page. The list of parade winners will be posted on both the Affton Days page on the Chamber web site and on the Facebook page. Affton Days is always held on the 3rd Saturday of September.