FRANKLIN GROVE — The 31st Franklin Grove Summer Harvest Festival will honor the retired teachers who have served students of the Franklin Grove community through the years including the rural schools, the Franklin Grove Schools, the Franklin Center Schools and the Ashton-Franklin Center Schools.

The festival committee made the decision when they met last Thursday night to continue planning for the 2010 festival. The teachers who have taught the students of Franklin Grove have made an invaluable contribution to the community and to lives of those they have been called to serve.

The festival will be held on the weekend of July 30, 31 and Aug. 1. The all-class reunion will be held at the Dixon Elks Lodge on the evening of Friday ,Aug. 30 and will bring many of the teachers and students together again to share fond memories.

One of the schools that has served the community will be featured on published materials and the festival button. A theme will be developed that expresses the village commitment to education and an appreciation for those who build the foundation for our future.

The festival committee will begin drawing up the program when they meet again on Feb. 18 at the village hall. The festival committee has asked 1969 Franklin Center High Schoolgraduate Betsy Jahn to coordinate this year’s art festival.

The Franklin Grove Village Board committed $500 to the promotion of the festival, will provide for blanket insurance coverage for downtown activities and will supply downtown porta-potties.

The American Legion Post #497 will sponsor their pork chop dinner and provide a color guard.

There will be more than 50 yard sales and a host of other activities including historic demonstrations at the Chaplin Creek Historic Village.

The Franklin Grove Summer Harvest Festival is held annually in conjunction with the Living History Antique Equipment Association Show which will celebrate it’s 30th anniversary showthis year and feature the Case 511B tractor of Paul Erisman.