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Waynesburg council discusses Rain Day event

By Kristen Brown, For The Greene County Messenger 3 min read

Waynesburg Borough Council announced Monday night that the 142st Rain Day celebration will take place July 29 in the heart of downtown Waynesburg.

The well-known event will be held from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and it will feature free admission, food, games, entertainment and craft booths.

Council member Mike Simms said it has rained in Waynesburg 114 of the last 141 years on Rain Day.

Rain Day got its beginning in the Daly & Spraggs Drug Store, located in the center of Waynesburg, according to a story written by John Owen, chairman of the special events commission.

Legend has it that one day a farmer was in the drugstore and mentioned to Byron Daly that it would rain the next day, July 29. Daly asked him how he knew and he replied that it was his birthday and that it always rained on his birthday.

He kept a journal for several years in which he recorded the weather and always had noted rain on July 29.

Daly thought this was too sure a thing to let pass, so he started betting salesmen who came into his drugstore that it would rain in Waynesburg on July 29.

The bet was usually a new hat, which of course he would win.

In later years, Byron Daly’s son, John, continued the tradition of wagering a hat on Rain Day.

John was an attorney in Waynesburg, a very gentlemanly person who always tipped his hat to the ladies he passed on the street and spoke with a kind soft voice. Although he had fun with Rain Day, he also took it very seriously.

He liked the idea of keeping it as a local phenomenon.

The Hat Bet will continue this year with Robert and Rachel Rohanna.

Prior to the festival, a buckwheat pancake breakfast will be held at St. Anne Church from 7 to 10 a.m.

The celebration will kick off at 11:30 a.m. with an umbrella contest on the lower stage. Refuge, a classic rock band, will take the upper stage at noon.

At 1 p.m. Barbara Moschetta Dance group will be performing on the lower stage.

Carl Donley, an oldies singer, will perform at 1:30 p.m. on the upper stage.

Howard Mincone will perform physical comedy at 2 p.m. on the lower stage. At 2:30 p.m., Staggering Cardoons will perform Irish Appalachian rock on the upper stage.

At 3 p.m., Drew Johnson will play country music on the lower stage. The Song Birds will feature a variety of music at 3:30 p.m. on the upper stage.

A country showdown will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on the upper stage.

At 6:15 p.m., Ramona Mills will perform a comedy skit titled “Eulah Mae McGillicuty.”

Rain Day contestants will compete at 6:30 p.m. on the lower stage. Company K Salute will provide a moment of silence at 7 p.m. on the lower stage.

Awards will be presented for Window, Best Decorated Baby Rain Day Can, Baby Rain Day Winners, and the Jack McCracken award.

At 7:30 p.m., StoneStreet will provide a variety of top 40’s through 90’s music and more on the upper stage.

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