The small town of Ehrhardt celebrated its German heritage this weekend with the 34th Annual Hunter’s Festival-Schuetzenfest. ‘A small German Town’ was the theme for this year’s festival and a German town is definitely what Ehrhardt is all about.

The town of Ehrhardt is filled with descendents of its founder, Conrad Ehrhardt.

“This year’s festival was great. Saturday’s parade had 58 entries and was one of the best that we have ever had. It is a lot of hard work trying to organize and coordinate all the events that are going on during the week- long celebration, but it is a very rewarding experience. This is a festival that reflects our little town, my hometown and God’s Country,” said Donna Moore, one of the co-chairs for this year.

In 1976, two direct descendents of Conrad Ehrhardt, Martha Ehrhardt Harrison and Mikki Ehrhardt Murden, headed up a committee, along with Angelia Breland, Betty Carter and Margaret Fender, to develop plans for a festival that would relate to Ehrhardt’s German Heritage.

Since then, the festival has become an annual tradition for the town and each year the festival keeps getting bigger and better.

This year’s festival started with a beauty pageant, followed by an auction on Friday night conducted by Auctioneer Frank Rentz. Then there was Bingo for everyone to enjoy and, the wonderful Singspiration that featured a lot of local talented singers.

The ‘Taste of Ehrhardt’ is another event that highlights a lot of Ehrhardt’s fine cooks putting their best foot forward showing off their culinary talent-one that is worth bragging about. And, of course, the Variety Show which featured a lot of performers, local and from out of town, was enjoyed by everyone.

Although Friday night’s street dance was rained out, Saturday afternoon showcased local southern gospel singers Jimmy Still and Marty Clayton, and the ‘2008 and 2009 Country Music Artist of the Year,’ David Cooler, performed during Saturday night’s street dance.

Eunice Ann ‘Flucie’ Sease, another co-chair said, “It was wonderful this year. All of the events were well attended and I am well pleased with how well everything turned out. Everyone just falls right in and helps out and that is what makes Ehrhardt so special. We all just work together like one big family to keep the festival going, a tradition that we are proud to be a part of.”

Mayor Bill Stanley said he is so proud of how well Schuetzenfest turned out this year and commends everyone for all the hard work in making this year’s event such a success.

Ehrhardt is a small German town…rich with history...filled with good people and still making a difference.