One of the Wizard of Oz themed floats in the Winona Lake parade.

WINONA LAKE — The theme for the 2017 Winona Lake Fourth of July parade was The Wizard of Oz. The holiday weekend was celebrated with several events Saturday, July 1.

The Cutie Contest was held in the afternoon at the Senior Center where the 2017 Prince and Princess Winona and King and Queen Winona were crowned.

Concession booths were set up in the park, along with bounce houses, music and face-painting. The annual parade started at 6 p.m. on Columbia Drive and traveled down Park Avenue, ending on Fort Wayne Street.

The parade winners in the following categories were:
• Judges category: First place went to Keeping Kansas Safe by the Fritz, Hudson & Volkers families, second place went to Rolling Roads by the Kimball family and third place went to the Wright family.
• Most creative: First place went to David Daniels, second place went to Somewhere Over Winona Lake and third place went to the Lollipop Gang.
• Most original: First place went to the Kessler family, second place went to the DeVries family and third place went to the King & Swain families.
• Best theme: First place went to Herb & Samantha Teeter and children, second place went to the Mackey family and third place went to the Pahl family.

To cap off the holiday weekend celebration, there was a fireworks display over the lake at dusk.