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By By Jill Kelley, Staff Writer 1:02 PM Thursday, June 30, 2011

CENTERVILLE — “An Old-fashioned Fourth” is the theme of this year’s Americana Festival, taking place for the 38th year in downtown Centerville.

The event is a joint venture between Centerville and Washington Twp., and draws more than 75,000 people each year.

Americana started as a sidewalk sale by Centerville merchants in 1972, and became a full-fledged festival a couple of years later. Today, the event includes a pageant, 5K run, auto show, baseball tournament and more.

Longtime Centerville residents and festival volunteers Robert “Hutch” and Pat O’Connor were named grand marshals for the 2011 event.

This year’s festivities began June 12 with the Americana Pageant. Annika Samborski of Normandy Elementary School, Maggie Abraham of Cline Elementary School, Hailey Willis of Magsig Middle School and Ashley Ware, a recent Centerville High School graduate, earned Americana titles.

The next event is the Talent Show, which will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 30. It will be at Rec West, 965 Miamisburg-Centerville Road.

Kicking off the weekend activities is the Summer Smash baseball tournament, which will take place at area parks Friday through Sunday.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, there will be a patriotic salute featuring the Centerville Community Band and the Centerville Community Chorus at the Stubbs Park Amphitheater, 255 W. Spring Valley Road.

On the Fourth of July, Americana events start with the annual Pancake Breakfast from 7:30 to 10 a.m. at Cross Point Vineyard Church, 38 N. Main St. Tickets cost $5.

The 5K Run will take place at 8 a.m. Monday at the CHS Stadium, 500 E. Franklin St.

The highlight of the event, the parade, will start at 10 a.m. Monday. It begins at Centerville High School, 500 E. Franklin St., and heads west to Cline Elementary School on Virginia Avenue.

After the parade, there will be a fair with arts and crafts, children’s activities, an auto show, entertainment and food.

The grand finale is the fireworks display at the CHS stadium. Entertainment starts at 8:30 p.m. and includes a 100-yard dash at 9:20 p.m.

The fireworks will begin at 10 p.m. Monday.

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