SIDNEY — Organizers of the annual Holy Angels Parish Picnic are adding sporting contests for kids and new rides to give the event more appeal for families. With a new ending time of 11 p.m. instead of midnight, the festival will be held at the Shelby County Fairgrounds on Saturday, June 18, beginning at 2 p.m. and promising something for everyone including entertainment, food and carnival games.

Unlike most area festivals, the Parish Picnic is held for only one day, making it imperative that Mother Nature cooperate.

“We do take a chance with the weather,” said Tom Wiseman, one of the three co-chairmen of the event. “Making it two or three days has been discussed from time to time, but it’s never been seriously considered. We just pray for no rain.”

The Parish Picnic is held at the fairgrounds because there is plenty of room for rides, games and on-site parking.

“It takes about a day and a half to set it all up,” said Kevin Higgins, the first chair of this year’s festival.

New for this year’s event sports contests for kids that include a basketball three-point shot, a soccer goal, and a putting green. Prizes for the contests are sponsored by Ernst Sporting Goods (basketball), Apex Sports Zone (soccer), and Rob Fridley of Shelby Oaks (golf). Kids will pay $1 to participate and those who achieve established benchmarks will be entered into a drawing for cash prizes.

Also new is the company providing the rides, Otterbacher Shows. Based in Cardington, Ohio, Otterbacher plays a big part in festivals throughout Ohio from May to September. In the winter months, they operate in Florida, and in the spring and fall, they book sites in Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.

Started by Richard and June Otterbacher, who began by selling popcorn and candy apples at local fairs in 1959, Otterbacher Shows is now in the hands of son Jim and his wife Janet. They promise fun, family entertainment, and the cleanest rides, games, and food concessions in the state. Some of their most popular rides are the Silver Streak, Sizzler, OGravity, and the classic Merry-Go-Round, but they try to vary the rides for repeat customers so there is always something new.

“The Otterbachers believe in safety first and do a nice job,” said Higgins. “Conveniently, they store all their rides at the Shelby County Fairgrounds, so we lucked out in getting them this year.” Inspected and held to industry standards, the Otterbacher rides have specific weight and height limits clearly posted.

One other change for this year’s event is that the Saturday night Catholic Mass will not be celebrated at the Fairgrounds, but will be at the church as usual at 5:30 p.m.

Evening “Games of Chance” for adults are always a popular component of the Parish Picnic and there will be the usual Big Wheel, Blackjack, Showdown, and Bingo. The Cake Booth will also be back, as well as carnival games and kids’ booths for face painting and other crafts. The evening entertainment will be provided by Karma’s Pawn, a classic rock-and-roll band.

No festival is complete without food and the Parish Picnic will have plenty of it. Aside from the usual brats, hamburgers, pizza, waffles, fries, and lemon shake-ups, the focus meal is always the chicken, cooked on-site beginning at 5 p.m. Because of the popularity of the chicken dinners, presale tickets are on sale after Masses at the church on June 11 and 12.

The biggest moneymaker of the Parish Picnic is the annual raffle. Cash and prizes donated by the church and local businesses range from the top five prizes of $1,000 each to gift certificates and cash prizes of $125. In all, 43 prizes will be awarded with a value of over $19,000. You do not have to be present to win.

Tickets are sent to each parishioner to sell before the event, but tickets will also be available the day of the festival. This year, there is an incentive ticket for each member of the parish who sells their full packet of tickets. Those incentive prizes of $150, $100 and $50 will be drawn at the conclusion of the night.

Higgins, Wiseman, and third co-chair Chad Sollmann agree that the Parish Picnic is a well-organized event. Each chairperson serves a three-year term, moving from third chair to first chair. Even as Higgins “ages out” as a chair, he is sure that he will still be involved in years to come.

“They always find something for you to do,” he said. “And it is always fun so I enjoy it.”