Marigold Days to offer myriad of events

Marigold Days committee members have so many favorite events, it's hard to choose just one. " I always look forward to the antique and flea market," Paul Larsen, Mantorville's Chamber of Commerce secretary. "The owner show is always nice- and that's kind of what started it all. And of course, the music is always great."

“I think the Car Show is becoming a favorite,” fellow committee member James Jencks said. “I think all of the antique booths are always fun to leisurely stroll through. The big parade, too, where they throw all the candy out (that’s according to Jencks’ son, Elliot, 6).” 
Mantorville's 52nd-annual event, scheduled for Sept. 9-10, includes a wide variety of offerings- from Log House tours, a spaghetti super, a Quilt Show, and Melodrama at the historic Mantorville Opera House, to a kids' fishing contest, a Stagecoach 5K run, a car show, a rubber duck regatta and a firefighters' water fight. 
It began as a ower show in 1965, to promote the planting of marigolds throughout the city, sponsored by Marigold Dairy.

The city was named a Marigold City, USA in 1980.
“It’s a long time to keep an event going,” Larsen said. “It’s not a record or anything. We had our big 50th anniversary a couple years ago. But we all decided to keep it going."
"It's always been like an ambassador," Jencks said. "It's just a cool event to show people what Mantorville is, everything that we are. The food is always good, too."
Funds raised help the Mantorville Restoration Association set up the following year's Marigold Days extravaganza. 
The Association owns and maintains the Restoration House, Cooper's Log House, the Normal School, the Greek Revival House, the Carriage House and the Opera House.