DICKEYVILLE—Food, games, music and more will be available at the 102nd annual Holy Ghost Parish Picnic on Sunday, Sept. 6.

The event has traditionally been held on Labor Day, but volunteers of the event have changed it to Sunday to better accommodate the families who support the event.

“By having it on Sunday, parents will have an extra day to help clean the grounds and give the kids a day break before they are back in school,” Scott Busch, one of the event’s organizers, said.

This year’s event will feature a chicken and ham dinner from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with carryout meals available until 6 p.m. The dinner will include mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, salads, rolls, pies, cakes and beverages. The beer tent opens at noon. A hamburger stand will also be available until 6:30 p.m. featuring Hauber Brand Meats.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a garage sale will be held in the parish basement.

Throughout the day, several events will keep the crowd entertained. A singles bean bag tournament will start at 4 p.m. and the baseball/softball Olympics for boys and girls grades kindergarten through eighth will start at 11 a.m. at the ball diamond. The baseball/softball Olympics will measure throwing speed, distance and accuracy, running speed and hitting distance for grade school teams.

The school grounds will also feature an arcade for kids to play a wide variety of games, such as Bingo, a fishing pond and bounce house. Busch said in the past, the parish was the sole sponsor of the entire picnic. Now parish families are sponsoring the games and activities.

The parish raffle will continue to be held at 6 p.m. A hand-stitched quilt will also be raffled off; tickets are $1 each. Fresh-baked goods will be available at the country store throughout the day.

This year the beer tent will open at noon with live music by Awesome Sauce from 6:30-10 p.m. The local band performs a wide variety of music, including older rock and country. During the live music, pork roast sandwiches will be available for sale.

“It started and continues to be a day where the entire parish gets together for a few laughs and camaraderie,” Busch said. “There should be something for all ages, if you want to sit down and play a relaxing game of Bingo, if you like to listen to a live band, if you like to play bean bags, throw a baseball at milk jugs, play a game of showdown, if your young child wants to go fishing and win a prize or just jump up and down in a bounce house, if you want to sit down for a chicken and ham dinner or just grab a hamburger and a cold refreshment. There should be something for all ages.”