The annual Affton Community Days Parade and Festival will take place Saturday, Sept. 21.

This year’s theme is “Affton Community Days is Out of This World.” In 2012, the name of this annual community event was changed to Affton Community Days to reflect all residents and businesses of 63123 and the parts of the four area school districts in 63123 — Affton, Bayless, Lindbergh and Mehlville.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. from Affton High School, travel south on Mackenzie to Gravois and then east on Gravois to Weber Road — at the Affton Fire Protection District headquarters — then west on Weber Road to Mackenzie, where it will travel north to the festival location at the St. Dominic Savio Parish parking lot at 7748 Mackenzie Road.

Shuttle buses will be available from Affton High School, 8309 Mackenzie, to St. Dominic Savio, 7748 Mackenzie. Look for signs designating where the bus will pick up and drop off at the two locations. Shuttle buses will run from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. before the parade and after the parade until 12:30 p.m.

The St. Louis County Bagpipers and Honor Guard will lead the parade, followed by Chief Tim Fitch and Capt. Chris Stocker of the St. Louis County Police and the Affton Fire Protection District units.

Following them will be the VIP cars: Grand Marshal Terri Ems, who is being honored for her 20 years chairing this event. After the Grand Marshal’s car will be Chamber President Jake Baretich of J&J Construction & Remodeling; the 2012 Citizens of the Year, Larry and Pam Knox; and the 2012 Business Person of the Year, Tim Weinmann, president of Kenrick’s Meats & Catering.

Marching bands from the Affton and Bayless school districts will participate again this year.

The booths on the festival grounds will begin operation at 11 a.m. and a little before noon the festivities officially will begin with 6th District County Councilman Steve Stenger singing the National Anthem. The festival ends at 9 p.m. Parade winners will be announced at 12:55 p.m.

Besides the normal festival-type food, St. Dominic Savio is offering a chicken dinner in the parish cafeteria from 4 to 7 p.m. Other food that may be available are snow cones, kabobs, gyros, egg rolls, funnel cakes, hot dogs, hamburgers, brats, chips, nachos, fried Oreos, pizza and all kinds of desserts. The chamber will again have a beer and margarita booth.

Medicine Shoppe-Affton will offer flu shots and free blood sugar screenings from noon to 3 p.m. under the Affton chamber tent. Flu shots will be available for ages 12 and up and the cost is $30, however there is no out-of-pocket cost if you have Essense, Medicare Part B, Part C or Medicaid. Bring your insurance and/or Medicare card. Cash, Visa or MasterCard will be accepted and you will receive a receipt you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement.

Many favorites from past years will be entertaining: at noon, Juggling Jeff, a high-energy, fast-paced, comedic juggling show that includes danger, suspense and lots of audience interaction; at 1 p.m., a big fan favorite, Memories of Elvis with Steve Davis, a local impressionist who performs a memorable tribute to the king of rock ‘n’ roll; and at 2 p.m., local magician Joe Fingerhut from Abra-Kid-Abra.

New this year is a favorite local band, Fanfare, which will perform from 3 to 5 p.m. near the Beer Garden. Back by popular demand will be the SMASHBand, which will entertain from 5 to 9 p.m. on the main stage.

To keep the festival safe for everyone, no outside coolers or alcohol will be allowed, as well as glass containers, pets, skates, skateboards, scooters or bicycles.

The Affton Community Days Parade and Festival is sponsored by the Affton Chamber of Commerce in partnership with St. Dominic Savio Parish. Other partners this year are the St. Louis County Police Department and Affton High School and Rogers Middle School ,where parking will be available.

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