Planning for Milford Fun Days began later than normal this year, but the excitement level for the return of the event never waned for its planners.
Katie Wergin, Milford Chamber of Commerce secretary, said the group began planning in early 2021, which is a departure from its normal schedule.
“The board usually starts planning right after Fun Days for the next year, but since we didn't have Fun Days last year, we waited until February or March of this year to even think about planning, just in case,” she said.
Planning was touch and go to begin, said chamber board member Jessica Mathis, but when the committee was given the go-ahead to host the event, plans quickly came together.
“Chamber members were very excited to learn Fun Days was going to happen,” she said. “Ideas started rolling right away.”
This year's Fun Days is scheduled for Thursday, July 22, through Sunday, July 25.
Wergin said the committee meticulously planned this year's event out of an abundance of caution. The chamber board considered each event and consulted vendors and sponsors in order to plan the safest event possible.
“We went line by line through the schedule asking ourselves if we can have the event,” she said. “We asked what the event will look like, if we need to move it to another location and once we narrowed down if we could have the event, we started asking sponsors and volunteers if they felt comfortable hosting.
“Overall, we said we would plan as normal and then, if we got closer to the date and things were changing, we could always scale it back and adjust events as needed.”
The focus wasn't all about what couldn't happen or what needed to change, Wergin said. New events grace this year's Fun Days lineup to add even more entertainment to the weekend. This year will include a fire department demonstration, a movie in the park, a pickleball tournament and learning class, a trailer of activities provided by the Boy Scouts and a thrilling performance by professional stuntman and Milford native Shawn Roth.
With the return of Fun Days favorites and the arrival of new events, Mathis said this year's Fun Days could be one of the most exciting yet.
“From what we can tell, the community is very excited to have Fun Days back this year,” she said. “A lot of people have been willing to donate, volunteer and help organize.”
Chamber board member Ron Petsch said the excitement and anticipation of the event reflects the “Good Old Summertime” theme of Fun Days.
“Because people have longed to be out and about for the past year, Fun Days should be an event to celebrate people's return to a certain degree of normalcy,” he said. “Hopefully people will reminisce about their previous fun times and family gatherings during Fun Days this year and cherish those memories now and for the future.”
