PHILLIPS – Albert and Lorraine Berry of Avon have been selected as this year’s honored couple for Phillips Old Home Days. For this 49th annual celebration, a few daily events begin Saturday, Aug. 11, run through the week and culminate with all-day activities on Aug. 17, 18 and 19.

The Berrys will be roasted at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 13, at Phillips Elementary School with guest speakers Gil Reed, Steve Haines and Beanie Ross. Anyone who would also like to tell a story is welcome.

“The couple have done a lot for the community, schools, church as well as being involved with the Phillips Chamber Old Home Days event,” said Janet White, president of the chamber. “They are just a nice couple.”

With a home in Avon for the past 39 years, the Berrys have been active in the Phillips Methodist Church as well as supporting local projects such as the food pantry, ball fields and local youth programs, according to the Old Home Days flyer.

For several years, they bought and sold horses and held local gymkhana horse shows, White said.

Perhaps the most noted event of the week, the 49th annual Phillips Old Home Days Parade, begins at 5 p.m. Aug. 17. This year’s theme is What’s Your Favorite Commercial? The parade is open to everyone, she said.

Last year, the parade’s official escort, Sheriff Dennis Pike, estimated a crowd of 6,000 people, she said. Pike has escorted the parade for 40-plus years.

The Phillips Historical Society will open its agricultural building on Friday, Aug. 17. The building near North Franklin Park will be open all day, she said.

One event started last year will return: the Morning Bridge Center’s Wonderland will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 17 in the Sanders yard next to the Community House on Main Street. Billed as an attraction for all ages, there is no admission charge.

“The event,” she said, “was a little puppet show but it was such a success last year that it will be huge this year.”

A golf ball drop will be held at dusk Thursday, weather permitting.

Lantern run train rides will be offered from 8 to 9 p.m. Aug. 17 and 18 at Dill Woods. The short ride is lit by lanterns, she said.

Another event seeing growth, she said, is the lumbering competition starting at 9 a.m. Saturday at North Franklin Park. The event includes saw and chain saw events for both men and women, with equipment also on display.

A couple events, the bed race and antique car show, were dropped this year, she said, but plans for the car show have been made for next year.

Four contestants, three girls and one boy, are busy selling tickets for the chamber’s annual raffle. Winners will be crowned king and queen of Old Home Days. Each must sell more than 500 tickets to earn the title, but they also get to keep 25 percent of their sales, she said. The raffle benefits the chamber’s annual scholarship for a Mt. Abram student.

The chamber also has a new chuck wagon. After 47 years, the old food wagon was retired and a new one built. In addition to hot dogs and hamburgers, the wagon will offer french fries, she said. It is on Main Street and open from 8 a.m. to midnight Aug. 17 and starting at 7 a.m. Aug. 18.