Schedule set for Wilder Days

The official schedule is set for the 49th Annual Wilder Days event scheduled for Friday, Sep. 27 and Saturday, Sep. 28 in  Mansfield.
This year’s special guest will be actor Dean Butler, who portrayed Almanzo in the hit television series, “Little House on the Prairie.”
He will first be at the Fifth Annual Wilder Dinner on Friday night for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum fundraiser.
Tickets cost $85 per person for the dinner and they are non-refundable. A VIP ticket costs $125 as it features a meet and greet with Butler.
It will be held in the Mansfield High School commons area.
For more information, call 417-924-3626.
Tickets can also be purchased by visiting lauraingallswilderhome.com. Click on Calendar of Events and find a hyperlink to a website for purchasing tickets.
Then on Saturday, Butler will have two autograph signing sessions at the museum, first from 10 a.m.-noon and the second session from 2-4 p.m.
On Friday, Sep. 27, the Wilder Home and Museum will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Mansfield Area Historical Society’s Museum will be open from noon-3 p.m.
Wilder Days kicks off at noon along with craft and food vendors being open from noon-7 p.m.
Mansfield’s fourth graders will perform at 4 p.m. on the downtown square. Then from 7-9 p.m., a street dance featuring The Abel Band will be performing, thanks to a sponsorship from Progressive Ozark Bank.
On day two, both the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum and the Mansfield Area Historical Society’s Museum are open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. A Silent Auction will be held from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Historical Society and pie sales start at 10 a.m.
For both days at the Wilder Museum, admission is $10 for adults and children ages 6-17 cost $5.
Pa’s fiddle will be played on by David Wilson at the Wilder Home at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Children’s games along with craft and food vendors will be at the Wilder Home from at least 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The downtown square will have craft and food vendors from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Ava third and fourth grade students will perform on the downtown square from 10-10:30 a.m. They will be followed by the Mansfield School Band from 10:30 a.m.-11 a.m.
The Wilder Days Quilt Show is slated on the downtown square from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
The annual Little Laura and Farmer Boy contest registration will close at 10:30 a.m. before the 11 a.m. contest on the downtown square.
There will be Morgan Horse Pulling set for both 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Wilder Home.
The Muddy Hooves Farm Petting Zoo is slated for noon-4 p.m. on the downtown square.
The parade line-up begins at noon at the Mansfield school parking lot in time for the 1 p.m. parade.
The One More Dollar Band will play from 2-3 p.m. on the square. Steven James is slated for 3-4 p.m. Ty Smith has from 4-5 p.m. and the Dave Barton Band performs from 5-6 p.m.
(A full schedule will be printed in the Sep. 25 issue of the Wright County Journal.)