ROCK CREEK — Put on your cowboy boots and cowboy hat because this year’s Morgan Hose Company Volunteer Fire Department Ox Roast is going country.
The annual fundraiser will be this weekend at the Morgan Hose Fire Hall on East Water Street. The event kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday with a Western-themed beauty pageant. Rock Creek will be dancing in the streets from 6 to 11 p.m. as D.J. John spins the hits.
Saturday will feature a full day full of activities. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., WKKY 104.7-FM will broadcast live from the event. Parade participants will line up at 11 a.m. at the new Rock Creek Elementary School with the parade stepping off at noon. This year’s parade grand marshal is local soldier Aaron Smith.
The Citizen of the Year presentation will be at 12:50 p.m. At 1 p.m., 12-year-old Kasey Rollman of Jefferson will perform the national anthem. Iguana Bob will have an animal show at 2 p.m., and hot roast-beef dinners will be sold in the fire hall between 2 and 8 p.m. Parade trophies will be presented at 2:30 p.m.
New to this year’s ox roast is a square dance performance by The Broken Wheel Squares, at 3 p.m. At 4 p.m., magician Rick Smith Jr. will perform. Smith has been featured on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
At 5 p.m., the Ashtabula County K-9 Unit will hold a demonstration, and at 6 p.m. get ready to whistle and holler during the men’s Hot Legs contest. Local country band Wylde Ryde will perform at 7 p.m., and Saturday’s festivities will close at 10 p.m. with a fireworks show.
Another new attraction to this year’s festival will be the addition of a mechanical bull on Saturday. There will also be a raffle for a mini 50cc dirt bike, said Mike Jones, of the fire department.
Sunday’s events will begin at 10 a.m. with a worship service inside the fire hall. The annual pie contest and auction will be held at 11 a.m., and bluegrass band The Red Dust Mountain Boys will perform at 1 p.m. A medevac medical helicopter will land at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Field at 3 p.m., and the Jefferson Volunteer Fire Department will conduct a Jaws of Life demonstration behind the fire hall at 4 p.m.
The Rock Creek/ Grand Valley Rotary will host its Derby Downs at 5 p.m. in the creek. Cost is $5 per duck or six for $25. Ducks can be purchased from any Rock Creek Rotary member.
“We have lots of stuff at the silent auction, and we have a dunking booth again,” Jones said.
This is the 28th year the fire department has held the fundraiser, which raises money for equipment purchases.
“The reason we have all these fundraisers is to keep the taxes down for the township and the village,” Jones said. “We also do it to keep the community together.”
Local News
Morgan Hose Ox Roast this weekend
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