ELLINWOOD — The city of Ellinwood will party this week to celebrate the 38th annual After Harvest Festival with a full range of activities for the entire family from Thursday to Saturday.

"There is something to offer for every age," said Nancy Baird, director of the Ellinwood Chamber of Commerce. The activities that are available will be expanded, and some events have been added.

Kids and the kids at heart will have the opportunity to check out their chompers in a corn eating contest after the parade on Saturday. There will be a time limit of two minutes, and the winner will be determined by how many cobs of corn are eaten.

Wheatland School, once a rural school outside of Ellinwood, will hold a reunion at 11 a.m. on Saturday at UCC Church, 701 N. Fritz.

The festival will open on Thursday with the annual barbecue. The cost is $3 per plate at City Park followed by an ice cream social. The ice cream social features homemade ice cream and homemade desserts.

The 4Told Quartet will entertain from 5-7 p.m. The 4Told Quartet sings gospel music with lighthearted stories in-between, said Baird. "It’s really neat," she said. The group is from Russell.

The Ellinwood Spirit Squad will also perform.

For the first time during AHF, the Ellinwood Community Theater will perform a melodrama "Westward Whoa!" at 7:30 p.m. at Ellinwood High School on Thursday. Tickets are $5.

For those that like to sing, karaoke will be at the Ellinwood American Legion at 9 p.m.

Wrist band night at the carnival will be Thursday and Friday evenings at City Park, on the northwest side of town.

On Friday at 10:30 a.m., cardboard boat races will be held at City Pool. All of the boats need to be homemade and there will be categories for manned and unmanned boats. The boats have to go two lengths of the pool.

In addition, the Ellinwood Fire Department will have its annual Duck Run at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at the pool. This is a fund raiser for the department.

The annual 5K/10K run will start bright and early Saturday morning. Registration is from 6:45 to 7:15 a.m. with the race beginning at 7:30 a.m. In addition, there will be a one mile Fun Run for children 12 and under, beginning at 8 a.m. Registration forms are available online at ellinwoodchamber.com, as well as a full list of activities.

The 34th annual Fishing Derby will be at Wolf Pond at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the 10 a.m. parade.

The theme of the parade is "Kansas 150th - Beyond the Yellow Brick Road" and the Grand Marshals are Marion and Vernon DeWerff.

According to Rotary Club members, the theme was chosen to commemorate Kansas’ birthday and recognize its diversity. The DeWerffs were chosen for their many community contributions. The club is still accepting entries for the parade.

The band Second Nature has been chosen to perform for the dance on Saturday night. "Crowds have continued to grow," said Baird. The cost is $5. They group plays hits from the 1970s onward.

AHF T-shirts will be available for $10 and water bottles will be $5.

In addition, there will be food vendors, a beverage tent and a two-man golf scramble at Grove Park Golf Club at 1 p.m. on Saturday.