Watson’s Fall Festival
Event Details
State Center's West Main Street
State Center, IA 50247
Contact Name: Marcia Quick
Email: hmquick@partnercom.net
Phone: 641-483-2440
Event Description
The City of State Center invites you to join them in celebrating Central Iowa’s harvest season at the 16th Annual Watson’s Fall Festival on Friday evening, October 10, along the historic Lincoln Highway in downtown State Center. The celebration runs from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The event centers around Watson’s Grocery Store, an historic building built along State Center’s West Main Street in 1895. State Center’s Main Street became part of the Lincoln Highway, “America’s Main Street”, back in 1913.
Watson’s Grocery will be hosting the State Center Historical Society’s homemade pie and ice cream sale. The 6th Annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest will also be held inside Watson’s Grocery Store, with winners determined by a popular vote of visitors throughout the evening.
Next door to Watson’s Grocery, the folks from Mitchell Family Funeral Home, West Marshall Chapel, will be giving out free caramel apples to those who stop by.
In the street outside, the final night of the downtown Farmers Market will be underway. The Farmers Market will feature baked goods, crafts, clothing, and various autumnal produce. State Center’s Hometown Foods will be grilling in the market area for those looking for a quick and tasty evening meal. Dick Ferneau will be entertaining visitors with his organ music throughout the evening. The Farmers Market will also be hosting the always-popular Bounce House for the kids.
Kids and adults alike can catch a hayride on a tractor-drawn hayrack, with pick-ups and drop-offs in the street outside Watson’s front door. The hayride will take you on a tour around State Center; it will drop you off and pick you up again at the City’s latest renovation project, the “new” State Center Police Station.
Yes, the State Center Police Department will be hosting an open house in their newly-renovated quarters, the former Home Oil Service Station. The station is a Cottage Style building built in 1932 along the Lincoln Highway (Old Highway 30) on its southern route through State Center . The State Center Police Department invites you to stop in and see the renovation and repurposing of their historic landmark.
For your shopping convenience, downtown businesses will remain open later that evening. For those looking for some Friday night football, you can head out to the West Marshall High School Football Field and watch the West Marshall Trojans take on the Regals from Iowa City Regina.
The City of State Center invites you to come to town on Friday night, October 10, and help celebrate a bountiful harvest season, here in the heart of Iowa, with dining, shopping, and family entertainment on State Center’s Main Street, located along the historic Lincoln Highway.