Amboy Depot Days, Mt. Morris Straw Fest Day among 5 Things to do in the Sauk Valley

5 things to do

Amboy celebrates its railroad heritage — not to mention its love of vintage automobiles. The plucky folks in Mt. Morris go all out for straw — as a building material, no less. And East Jordan Church demonstrates a legacy of old fashioned farming. There’s that and more to do in this week’s 5 Things to Do in the Sauk Valley.

1 Share of the pot. Amboy Depot Days starts Thursday and runs through Sunday, with the big 50-50 raffle drawing 3 p.m. Sunday. Last year’s winner took home $105,580. Before that happens there will be carnival rides, craft booths, a beer garden, tractor show, big-rig show, a 5-K run-walk, garage sales, and the signature event that started it all, the Car, Truck and Motorcycle show.

Michael Swanson, 7, of Byron, poses in front of "The Child" in Mt. Morris on Aug. 14, 2021. The straw sculpture of Star Wars' baby Yoda was made by Danica and Mark Rogers of Rochelle as an entry in the U.S. National Straw Sculpting Competition. The competition runs Aug. 13-29 with sculptures displayed on the campus in Mt. Morris. The public can vote for their favorite through Aug. 28.

2 Sculptures of Straw. Straw Fest Day — part of the Seventh annual U.S. National Straw Sculpting Competition — will be Saturday in Mt. Morris. Inventive and artistic structures made of straw have been under construction starting back on Aug. 12 and the effort concludes with Saturday’s award presentation at 6:30 p.m. The festival also includes a crafters market, blacksmith demonstration, mechanical bull riding, ax throwing, straw bale races and fire hydrant painting. The public will vote on its favorite of four sculptures: Sunday Bath by Steve Lentz of Montello Wisconsin, The Hero Within by Doreen White of Foreeston, Die Schnecke by Chris and Cecilia Mann of Rockford and The Catch by Juan Zelaya of Hoffman Estates. The Small Town Living fine art gallery show runs through Sunday at the Old Sandstone Gallery. Also on Sunday is the Around the Hill Top, in which visitors can join a tour bus at 12:30 p.m. (or can motor in their own vehicle) on a tour of the back roads around Mt. Morris.

3 Fine art and photography. The 14th annual Woodlawn Art Academy’s Juried Art Exhibit will be returning to Woodlawn Academy, 3807 Woodlawn Road, Sterling, with an opening reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Friday. The exhibit will be free and open to the public and will feature fine art and photography from adult exhibitors, and artwork of all from Woodlawn students in kindergarten through high school. The exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays until Wednesday, Nov. 16.

4. Summer season finale. Last chance to take in the Summer Nights and Pop-Up Markets at Sterling’s Dale Park. Festivities and live music by Lojo Russo start at 5 p.m. There will be vendors and displays. Luminosity Arts and Design will have face painting.

A corn husker/shredder that will be on display at the Farm Heritage Festival

5 Celebrating Farming. The 15th annual Farm Heritage Festival of East Jordan Church, 22027 Polo Road in Sterling, will be Saturday. It starts at 7 a.m. with the old fashioned farm breakfast of eggs, pancakes and biscuits and gravy. Farm machine demonstrations start at 9 and run to 3:30 p.m. The active displays are a threshing machine, stationary baler, wagon lifts, ensilage cutter, corn husker-shredder and vintage tractors. There will also be a blacksmith demonstration and an activity center for children. Admission to the show is free, breakfast tickets are $5-$10.

Do you have information on an upcoming event or attraction? Be sure to let us know about it. Please submit information for the Gazette and Telegraph’s weekly calendars to news@saukvalley.com. Include a contact person and phone number.

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