ALBANY - Albany is observing its 125th anniversary, and this year it didn't rain on its Yesteryears Weekend parade.
The downtown attraction Saturday morning was the kids' pedal tractor pull, a preview of the coming antique tractor pull later in the afternoon.
Griffin Ness and Cole Hoesly faced off in the final round for 3- and 4-year-olds. Ness, sporting a pair of sunglasses, cranked the pedals for an 11-inch lead over Hoesly's 17 feet, 7 inches. But Hoesly seemed quite elated with his second-place trophy.
Bill Hawthorne, 81, Albany, relaxed and watched the festivities from the door stoop of a Main Street bar. Hawthorne is a former owner of Ruf's Confectionery in Monroe.
The smell of grilled burgers and brats floated down Main Street from the Jolly Mixers 4-H food stand on the corner of Water and Main streets. Craig Roth, Dick Boss and Art Patchen were cooking. The food obviously was worth waiting for, because the line of customers had to curl around the stand.
Robert Dickson was in Albany, again, after about 60 years. He came in from Soquel, Calif., to track down relatives and to piece together his family history. Dickson's family moved to California when he was a few years old, but stories about Albany remain in the memory of his aunt.
When he discovered his aunt's Albany home was for sale and then found a picture of it online, he decided it was about time to make the trek back to visit his birthplace.
While Dickson was in town for personal reasons, it was the 50-unit parade that people of all ages waited along the streets to see.
June Blumer, 80, gave up her lawn chair on a prime corner along the parade route for a friend, whom she said "isn't much older." Zander Zee, 3 and Nisha Forrest, 5, both of Albany, shared a piece of curb and a little candy tossed from the passing parade units.
The down-home-style parade began with the color guard and included Albany's Dairy Queen Kayla Hamilton, Green County Cheese Days Ambassador Charity Rood and the Albany High School Band.
True to its name, the Yesteryears Parade came with horses and buggies, and antique cars and tractors. A 520 John Deere tractor pulled the city's three-tier, 125th year birthday cake.
Out-of-towners Tom Carroll and Kim Fischer of Stevens Point, bicyclists on the Sugar River Trail, just happened to be in Green County for the weekend and were pleasantly surprised to catch the Albany festivities at the end of their ride.
The Alumni Banquet at the Lions Building Saturday night served people from as far away as California and Florida.
On Sunday and Monday, the festivities continued.
The downtown attraction Saturday morning was the kids' pedal tractor pull, a preview of the coming antique tractor pull later in the afternoon.
Griffin Ness and Cole Hoesly faced off in the final round for 3- and 4-year-olds. Ness, sporting a pair of sunglasses, cranked the pedals for an 11-inch lead over Hoesly's 17 feet, 7 inches. But Hoesly seemed quite elated with his second-place trophy.
Bill Hawthorne, 81, Albany, relaxed and watched the festivities from the door stoop of a Main Street bar. Hawthorne is a former owner of Ruf's Confectionery in Monroe.
The smell of grilled burgers and brats floated down Main Street from the Jolly Mixers 4-H food stand on the corner of Water and Main streets. Craig Roth, Dick Boss and Art Patchen were cooking. The food obviously was worth waiting for, because the line of customers had to curl around the stand.
Robert Dickson was in Albany, again, after about 60 years. He came in from Soquel, Calif., to track down relatives and to piece together his family history. Dickson's family moved to California when he was a few years old, but stories about Albany remain in the memory of his aunt.
When he discovered his aunt's Albany home was for sale and then found a picture of it online, he decided it was about time to make the trek back to visit his birthplace.
While Dickson was in town for personal reasons, it was the 50-unit parade that people of all ages waited along the streets to see.
June Blumer, 80, gave up her lawn chair on a prime corner along the parade route for a friend, whom she said "isn't much older." Zander Zee, 3 and Nisha Forrest, 5, both of Albany, shared a piece of curb and a little candy tossed from the passing parade units.
The down-home-style parade began with the color guard and included Albany's Dairy Queen Kayla Hamilton, Green County Cheese Days Ambassador Charity Rood and the Albany High School Band.
True to its name, the Yesteryears Parade came with horses and buggies, and antique cars and tractors. A 520 John Deere tractor pulled the city's three-tier, 125th year birthday cake.
Out-of-towners Tom Carroll and Kim Fischer of Stevens Point, bicyclists on the Sugar River Trail, just happened to be in Green County for the weekend and were pleasantly surprised to catch the Albany festivities at the end of their ride.
The Alumni Banquet at the Lions Building Saturday night served people from as far away as California and Florida.
On Sunday and Monday, the festivities continued.