Kimberling City to celebrate 50 year anniversary

The city of Kimberling City will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary next month.

The city is planning a day of fun and family friendly events to honor the occasion. The Kimberling City Special Events committee has been working for months to make the day special. The celebration will be hosted on Saturday, June 24, on Kimberling City Boulevard between the Kimberling Area Library and the Kimberling City City Hall. 

Kimberling City Clerk Laura Cather, who is heading up the Special Events Committee, said the event has been a group effort with Lynne Harman, Maureen Darby, Andy Kilgore, Jayne Swanson, Dave McCallister, Lindsey Hejlek, Krissie Crisp, and Daniel Jacobs; along with city representatives Alderman Phil Korem, Mayor Robert Fritz, City Administrator Dawne Gardner, Police Chief Todd Lemoine, Public Works Director Randy Reed and herself.

“Everyone on the Special Events Committee has been a huge help putting together the event,” Cather said. “We partnered with the Table Rock Art Guild who is hosting their Annual Festival of Arts Show at the library starting at 10 a.m. Then starting at noon, our event will open and that’s going to be from the library down Kimberling Boulevard ending here at city hall.”

The 50th Anniversary celebration will be a call back to old time street fairs.  

“It is free to get in. There’s going to be a lot of stuff to do now. Obviously the vendors will be selling stuff, but we’re gonna have games and lots of family friendly fun stuff too,” Cather said. “Our goal and the goal of the special events committee is to bring the community together, bring things that families can do together, that aren’t going to break the bank. We want to bring community and have involvement. So that’s what we’re sharing and we’re hoping to make it bigger and better every year when I build on it.”

Included in the planned events for the day are vendors, live music, a kids zone, a history museum and an auction. 

“We’re going to have vendors lining Kimberling Boulevard. We’re going to have food vendors, a wine tasting vendor, a distillery tent in the parking lot here,” Cather said. “We’re gonna have a kid zone down in the lower parking lot in front of the police station. We will have games set up, facepainting and fun things for the kids. We’ve got a couple of vendors doing games and things just for the kids, as well. We’re going to have bands playing throughout the day next to the community center here at city hall as well.”

Some of the food and drink vendors who will be in attendance are: Harter House, the Chicago Dog Father, Goofy Goose Bar & Grill, Simply Baked by Chandler, the Funky Twig, YOLO Rolled Ice Cream, Chances of Stone County, Whatz Poppin Missouri, Vino Cellars and Duckees Drive Thru.

“We will have all kinds of regular vendors along Kimberling Boulevard,” Cather said. “Our Regular vendors span from local advocacy groups, non-profit organizations, craft vendors, and booths for animal items, rescue and more. There should be something for everyone in the family.”

The live music will start at 1 p.m. and will continue until 9 p.m. Featured bands performing include: 

- KC-F-EX from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

- Table Rockers from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

- Hwy 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

In between the featured bands, a local church band will be providing music. 

“Our police department and Chief Lemoine will set up a barricade  next to city hall for the live entertainment,” Cather said. “We are going to build a stage and…It should be a lot of fun.”

There will be a live auction during the event as well to help fund the Kimberling City Parks Board and one of their upcoming projects. The live auction will take place at 5 p.m. to auction off some big ticket items and a couple of donated items.

“We’ll be doing a live auction to raise money for the park board for our Hilltop Park project. They have the old Kimberling City sign and the old Bearded Clam sign that they’re going to be auctioning off as pieces of Kimberling City history,” Cather said.

Cather said what she is most excited about is the temporary Kimberling City Museum, which will be set up in the community center located at city hall from noon to 6 p.m.

“In the community center, we’re going to have a museum of sorts. It’s going to be all about Kimberling City history. We have a slideshow presentation that’s going to be playing throughout the day. We have different documents and historical artifacts that we’ve collected to be on display,” Cather said. “The Reed Springs Historical Society has different exhibits there. We have also collected items from Kimberling City residents. We are hoping to have a Kimberling family member here who can talk about some of the history. We will have volunteers helping guide visitors through the exhibits, to give more information. I am very excited about the museum. There are some really cool things we have to display.”

For more information on the celebration or how to become involved as a vendor or volunteer call the Kimberling City Hall at 417-739-4903.