The town of Purdy is gearing up for its 12th annual Purdy Festival, scheduled for July 15, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Big names will be on tap. Back by popular demand is the Eddie Valen Band, with Elvis tribute artist Brian Lee Dunning. The band churns out classic pop favorites, including renditions of favorite Elvis tunes.

Car show organizer Austin Drake, of Purdy, is excited to announce the addition of Butch Patrick (of Eddie Munster fame) and Mike Cook (the selfdubbed “Evel Midget”) to this year’s car show line-up.

Patrick will put in an appearance with the Dragula Coffin Car driven by Grandpa Munster, as well as a special tribute bike dedicated to the memory of the popular television show, The Munsters, Drake said.

“Eddie Valen contacted me and told me that if I came up with some money, that we might be able to book Butch Patrick for the car show this year,” Drake said. “So, I called a few people and came up with some donations.”

Austin Drake, a self-labeled car guru and car show junkie, began making auto show circuits, himself, after restoring his 1972 Chevy C-10 pickup several years ago. Drake said his participation in Darryl Starbird’s National Rod & Custom Show, in Tulsa – where his pickup ranked ninth out of thousands of entries a few years ago – opened doors to connections in the car world. He calls on those contacts, and they call on him, to benefit the Purdy Festival.

“We had ten entries in the car show when I first took on this position a few years ago,” Drake said. “Last year, we had almost 85 entries.”

In addition to Butch Patrick, Mike Cook – a less-than-average-sized daredevil stunt rider – will also put in an appearance.

“Mike has performed on America’s Got Talent and ‘Ride of Your Life’ on Motor Trends TV,” Drake said. “He will also be in new motion picture, Flowers of the Killer Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.”

Drake laughed when he said he isn’t smart enough to handle the pre-registration of autos for the car show, so entrants can register the day of the Purdy Festival from 8 a.m. to noon. The car, truck and motorcycle show, called “Thunder in The Park” will be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with awards presented at 3 p.m. in Veterans Park in Purdy.

“There’s a $20 entry fee, with plaques and trophies awarded,” Drake said. “We will also have several raffles with prizes donated by various businesses.”

Drake emphasized that the car show will be judged by non-locals. He doesn’t know who the judges will be, and said he is not involved in their selection.

“In the past, the judges have been reps of Parts City,” he said.

Spokesperson Renae Neill, a member of the Purdy Festival organizing committee — along with fellow members Robin Henderson, Janice Courdin and CarolAnn Bowman — said she’s pleased to announce that the FFA Livestock Show will be back at the festival this year, after an absence of several years.

The animal kingdom will also be represented by classic favorites: a petting zoo and kids’ pony rides.

“We’ll have free mechanical rides again this year,” Neill said, “but there’ll be some changes in the line-up. We’ll have two different vendors: our past carnival, plus a company bringing inflatables.”

Due to limited space, there will be a mix of the two companies’ offerings, Neill said.

As always, the Purdy Festival will feature plenty of craft and food vendors.

“The food trucks will be more centrally located, closer to the car show, this year,” Neill said.

Neill added that there will be additional parking available closer to the high school this year, too.

For the grand finale of the festival, drenching contents from the town’s fire trucks will be unleashed onto the children eagerly awaiting