GALT, CA (MPG) - Herald’s biggest party of the year is coming around again, and organizers with Herald Community Club (HCC) are promising an exciting Herald Day 2024.

Scheduled for Aug. 3, the event will kick off at 9 a.m., with the traditional Herald Day Parade, which will have the theme “Heralding Through the Decades.” Parade participants are asked to pick a decade, from the 1950s to the 2020s, to base their entry on.

Herald Community Club Sergeant-at-Arms Taylor Peasha, who is organizing the parade, said his goal is to ensure the procession is safe.

If you’re feeling competitive, the celebration will feature a range of contests, including baking and canning competitions and a horseshoe tournament.

Herald Community Club is asking on social media for entrants in a photography contest, and the deadline is July 20. To enter, post a photo of Herald or Herald Day on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #heraldphotocontest2024. There will be prizes for first-, second- and third-place entries.

New this year is a cornhole tournament, which Peasha said would provide a “spectator sport” for guests.

“We’re trying to get the crowd involved a little bit, so people have something to watch and be able to be entertained by,” Peasha said.

The cooking and canning contests are returning this year. Herald Community Club member Jim Cunningham revived them after a multiyear absence, and his goal is to get 70 entries, double the number of entries compared to last year. The categories are varied, with contests for jellies and jams, canned pickles and relish, canned salsa, fresh salsa and fresh produce. Baked goods are divided into adult and junior divisions.

Cunningham is also looking for more judges, who are invited guests from the community, so that each judge can focus on a smaller number of categories.

The baking and canning contests provide a friendly, small-town competition that Cunningham said reminds him of Mayberry from “The Andy Griffith Show.”

Children will find all kinds of entertainment, such as a petting zoo, bounce houses and water features.

For food, a barbecue vendor will offer tri-tip sandwiches and barbecue chicken, and there will be food trucks with hot food and cold desserts.

The community club selected a new slate of officers late last year after multiple vacant board positions had put the club’s continued existence in doubt. 

Peasha said the new officers have had help from their predecessors in organizing Herald Day. 

He continued that the new board already has a success under its belt with a well-attended chili cook-off in February.

“We’re kind of all hands on deck with Herald Day,” Peasha said.

Regarding future Herald Days, Peasha wanted to eventually restore elements that he remembered from his childhood, especially mud volleyball. He described the local celebration as a “second Christmas” and a “family reunion.”

“(I am) hoping to bring back the vibe that Herald Day once was when I was growing up here in Herald,” Peasha said.