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LEWISTOWN — Goose Day has had road rallies, races, restaurant specials and enough roast goose to keep an old local legend alive for generations. This year, it gets something new: a parade.
Lewistown will hold its first Goose Day parade Sept. 29, bringing a procession through downtown on the holiday itself and tying the community's longtime tradition to the nation's 250th anniversary celebration.
The idea began with Kevin Kodish, a Mifflin County commissioner who also serves as president of the Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau board. Kodish said it bothered him that Lewistown, with its long history of parades, had no America250 parade planned.
Allensville, he said, had already held an America250 parade in July. Lewistown had no similar event planned.
"Lewistown, with its history of parades being a major factor over the years, it just felt awful that there was no parade for America250 Lewistown," Kodish said.
So he raised the subject at a Visitors Bureau board meeting.
"We have Goose Day," Kodish recalled. "We've never done a Goose Day parade. How about we do a Goose Day parade and incorporate America250?"
The result became the Red, White & Goose parade, a name created by Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau Executive Director Jenny Landis and Communications Director Buffie Boyer. The idea ties patriotic decorations and themes to a holiday that has belonged to the Juniata River Valley for more than two centuries.
The parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, with a rain date of Wednesday, Sept. 30. Participants will form on Chestnut Street, then move toward Five Points. The parade will turn right onto Dorcas Street, continue to Third Street, and follow Third to North Grand Street. From there, it will turn left onto North Grand and left onto Market Street before returning to Five Points and disbanding on Chestnut Street.
Kodish called it the traditional Lewistown parade route, with some variations that have been used over the years.
Organizers are inviting a wide range of participants. Floats, walkers, bicyclists and other entries are welcome, with participants encouraged to work either a patriotic or Goose Day theme into their entry.
"We'll take walkers, floats, whatever, people on bikes, whatever people want to do," Kodish said.
There is no registration fee. Organizers are encouraging participants to sign up in advance using the parade registration form available through the Juniata River Valley Visitors Bureau's Goose Day website. Check-in will take place at the police station on Chestnut Street the night of the parade, and Kodish said walk-up registration will be allowed. Kodish encouraged participants to register beforehand to avoid delays caused by last-minute signups.
Kodish said about 15 or 16 entries had registered so far. The Mifflin County High School and Penns Valley High School marching bands had committed to participating, and invitations had gone to other bands.
For Kodish, the parade gives Goose Day a public centerpiece on September 29. The celebration already stretches across several days, including the popular drone show before Goose Day. Kodish sees the parade as a capper to the celebration, one that could put people along the sidewalks and bring more activity into downtown Lewistown.
If residents respond, Kodish would like to see it continue.
"I would love to see it be an annual event because I think it's nice to have something on Goose Day itself," he said. "If the people come out and support it, we get a lot of people on the streets here; they line the streets like they do a Halloween parade. I could see it becoming annual."
Kodish sees the parade as another piece of a downtown that has been changing its identity. He remembers the 1950s and 1960s, when downtown Lewistown was filled with stores. Shopping malls changed that landscape, and online shopping later changed the malls themselves. Downtown, he said, has had to find another way forward.
"I think downtown Lewistown is now doing a great job of reinventing itself and becoming a major positive factor again," Kodish said.
He pointed to businesses and projects adding activity downtown, including Downtown OIP, Monument Square Finest Deli, The Firehouse, and Kickin' Kater on Market Street. Square Cafe is preparing to move into its new downtown home, while Laskaris has been remodeled and is expected to reopen under new ownership. Kodish also cited the Geisinger School of Nursing in the former Bon-Ton building as another important downtown presence.
Downtown may look different from the department stores and retail shops that once defined Lewistown's commercial center, but Kodish believes the change matters. Restaurants, offices, education and community events can bring more people back downtown.
On Sept. 29, Kodish will get his first look at whether the idea catches on. Floats and bicycles will turn onto Market Street. Marching bands will make their way toward Five Points. People will line the sidewalks for a parade Lewistown has never held before.
If Red, White & Goose catches on, the first Goose Day parade may also become the start of another local tradition.