GRAND MEADOW -- Take your pick: a huge parade, the duck race or feuding families.

MeadowFest 2003 has it all.

How about a $25,000 paper toss?

The Grand Meadow Booster Club will host three days of family fun and excitement this weekend.

Activities begin Friday night and don't stop until Sunday night.

Bingo starts the celebration at 5 p.m. Friday at Grand Meadow United Church, where lunch will be served.

There will be a teen dance beginning at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the Emergency Medical Services building with DJ music by Radge and sponsored by the GM C.H.I.E.F.S. group.

The Saturday schedule is full. Rummage and bake sales 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., softball, volleyball and 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, kids pedal tractor pull, a car wash at the EMS building in the morning, more bingo at Grand Meadow United Methodist Church and a chicken fry to raise money for the community fireworks display.

The Golden Age Center will be the site of another coffee and bake sale and a special candy bar bingo at the high school commons. Participants must bring a large candy bar to play.

Beginning 2 p.m. Saturday, everything stops for the grand parade through the downtown and residential areas.

Holm Hardware Hank Store employees will be serving free root beer floats, beginning noon Saturday until they are all gone.

After the afternoon parade, there will be a paper airplane toss for a $25,000 car, starting at about 3:30 p.m. The competition takes place at the bus garage parking lot near the intersection of First Street and Highway 16.

Parents and children should be advised: Before the parade Saturday morning, there will be a kiddie parade and Alan Skogeboe will entertain with magic tricks at Grand Meadow City Park.

Golfers can participate in the second annual MeadowFest Open tournament at the Cedar River Country Club at Adams Saturday.

The Meadows Assisted Living Center will showcase local artists' works at a show Saturday.

Not to be outdone, the Grand Meadow Volunteer Fire Department will host live music and a beer garden all weekend long.

The Chubbs kickoff the entertainment Friday night on the west side of Boonie's along Highway 16 and return to action Saturday night.

On Sunday, there will be DJ music by Toon Mon in the evening after another engagement of the Family Feud Show, beginning 3 p.m. Sunday.

On Sunday, there will be an ecumenical worship serving beginning 10 a.m. in the school gymnasium, plus volleyball tournament action in Grand Meadow City Park, horse racing games at the fire department's tent, a martial arts demonstration by the White Tiger team at the school, horseshoe pitching and water fights beginning at 1 p.m. in city park and the unforgettable duck race.

Beginning 3 p.m. Sunday, the Grand Meadow Girls Athletics will sponsor the annual MeadowFest Duck Race.

Residents will enjoy a fireworks display on Friday, July 4, beginning at dusk in the skies over the community.

Lee Bonorden can be reached at 434-2232 or by e-mail at lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com