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McLean Mail

Danvers Days and Waynesville Fling Return

This weekend brought back two loved events in our community. Danvers Days was a Friday through Sunday event and the Waynesville Fall Fling was a Friday and Saturday event. Both celebrations were filled with activities for community members to enjoy. If you missed the fun, here is an overview of the events that occurred!

Danvers Days began on Friday, August 20th with a carnival that began at 4:30 p.m. and ran until 10 p.m. The carnival was held in the village park, like usual, and was full of fun activities for all members of the family. Also in the village park was a vendor’s market and beer tent. Those both began at 5 p.m.

Entertainment began on the main stage began at 5 p.m. and ran until 10 p.m. DJ Dan Hall provided the Friday night entertainment. The entertainment took at brief break at 7:30 p.m. for a community raffle. There was a second community raffle at the same time and place on Saturday night. But before we get ahead of ourselves, we look back to the beginning of the day on Saturday when community members did amazing in the 8 a.m. 5k race!

After the 5k, the vendor’s market reopened in the village park and the carnival opened shortly after. The beer tent and entertainment on the main stage by The Tucked in T’s began at the same time as the carnival. The entertainment took an hour intermission, then began again at 2 p.m. and entertained until the annual Fire Department Pork Chop Dinner. The rest of the night brought bossy bingo, more entertainment, and fireworks.

Danvers Days wrapped up the celebration on Sunday, August 22nd. The day began with a 9 a.m. community church service in the park. After that there was an AWW Youth Group Fellowship in the Lion’s Pavilion. The fan-favorite parade started at 12 p.m. and was just as good as everyone remembered it. Finally, the vendor’s market and carnival occurred one final time from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Over in Waynesville, the fun began late Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. with the Firemen Dinner in the park! They served brats, hot dogs, and burgers. After the dinner, there was a movie in the park at dusk. The final event Friday night was hosted at the American Legion. Karaoke and a DJ occurred from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Waynesville had early Saturday morning fun with breakfast and a vendor show at the Waynesville Christian Church starting at 8 a.m. The vendor show was followed by kids games and a bike decorating contest. A parade of the bikes began at 11:15 a.m. Lunch was also provided at the church from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Saturday fun continued with laser tag in the park and a bags tournament outside of the American Legion. The third meal of the day was provided starting at 4 p.m., it was the SAL dinner. They served ribeye and pork chop sandwiches outside of the Legion. Dessert, which included pie and ice cream, was served inside of the Waynesville Methodist Church. The Fall Fling concluded with the Jordan Street After Party playing outside of the Legion. 

The small towns and community members were glad to have their annual event back this year! Both events were a success and a good taste of normal after the events had to miss the 2020 celebrations. These events have been a community staple for years and serve as a great way to wrap up summer. 


Chloe Scroggins
Correspondent, Columnist

Chloe Scroggins was a Mail Correspondent covering the Olympia communities starting in March of 2021, and was the Mail Agriculture Columnist from August 2021 until July 2022. She is from Danvers, Illinois.