The theme of Sherman Day 2024, The Olympics, was carried out in a variety of ways, including the lighting of the Olympic torch at Edmunds Park, Olympic relay races in Edmunds Park, an Olympics-themed parade on a recent Saturday morning with Mayor Colleen Meeder dressed in a Greek toga.

Sherman Day weekend, which began on the evening of Friday, Aug. 2 and continued throughout Saturday, Aug. 3, was filled with music, great food, horse-drawn wagon rides, bounce houses, and cow chip bingo. “We brought cow chip bingo back by popular demand,” said Sherman Day Committee Chairperson, Michelle Emory.

Those who participated in the bingo game had three chances to win. The first game was on Friday at 6 p.m., the second and third games were Saturday afternoon. The cow and the board were in a pen in Edmunds Park, with the cow roaming freely in the pen. The winner for each board (determined by the cow) received $100.

The grand ,arshal of the parade was Harold Wake. Wake, a former Sherman resident who now resides in California, could not be present for the event. However, he, his wife, Wanda, and the Wake Family Charitable Foundation have donated more than $1 million to the Community of Sherman and to organizations such as Stanley Hose Co., Edmunds Park, Minerva Free Library and the Sherman Community Church.

A young girl learns how weaving was done in the 1800s at the Yorker Museum during the Sherman Days celebration.

Many of the participants in the parade incorporated the Olympics into their float or presentation. There were Olympic “rings” handed out to children, people (and dogs) in kayaks for Team USA, and a hay wagon strung with flags of various nations, with all five Olympic Rings on each side and participants in Team USA shirts.

Also featured in the parade were members of the Class of 1974, who were celebrating their 50th reunion. They and other graduates of Sherman Central School gathered for the alumni banquet.

Emory said she felt the Sherman Days celebration was a great success. ‘We were worried about the weather, but it cooperated,’ she said. ‘I think a lot of people were worried because of the forecast, but that faded.’

Emory said she joined the Sherman Days Committee four years ago but has lived in Sherman all her life and has never missed the event. ‘Since this was my first year as chair of the committee, I was a bit nervous, but it turned out well,’ she said.

Meeder said she felt it was the Sherman Days Committee which enabled it to be a great success. “The members of the committee spend the entire year organizing the weekend. It takes a great deal of coordination and promotion,” she said. “The weather held out for families to enjoy the parade and afternoon festivities.”

The Sherman Central School class of 1974 celebrated its 50th reunion at the Alumni Banquet during Sherman Days.

Meeder went on to say that the celebration provided a variety of activities for all ages. “From the Sherman Historical Society giving tours at the Yorker Museum . . . to the Laff N Lyon Ranch with their horse-drawn wagon rides, people enjoyed the vendors and ate at the Cornerstone and Mama’s Pizza, music and entertainment was provided by the Cooler Bar & Grill and the Sherman Hotel,’ she said. ‘the all-important chicken barbeque was offered by the Sherman Community Church and the Wild Eagles football team.”

Emory said the event is very important to the village and town. “It brings everybody back to Sherman who has moved away,” she said. “It gives me a warm feeling to see them come back.”