Color Run for Fun to benefit CreatiVets

Marshall-Putnam Fair

July 14-21

915 University Ave.

Henry, Illinois

HENRY, Ill. — This year’s “Once Upon A-Fair” theme continues Marshall-Putnam Fair’s 103-year tradition of excellence.

The fair will feature 4-H and livestock shows and sale, harness racing, livestock judging, non-livestock judging, free kid games, wine-tasting event, exhibits, talent contest, queen pageants, car and antique tractor shows, stock and antique tractor pulls, grandstand shows, kids’ activities, senior citizens program, demolition derby, vendors, fair food and more.

One of this year’s premier events will feature a salute to veterans by teaming up with CreatiVets for a Color Run for Fun on July 16, where participants will be doused from head to toe with nontoxic powder of different colors.

Wear white or light-colored clothing. All proceeds from the run, as well as a drawing, will benefit CreatiVets.

CreatiVets is a nonprofit organization that empowers wounded veterans with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries to heal through art and music.

Richard Casper, CreatiVets cofounder and Washburn native, served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps infantry. During his deployment, he was hit by four IEDs in four months, causing him to suffer from a traumatic brain injury.

Upon returning home, Casper found it hard to adjust and suffered from PTSD until he discovered the healing power of music and art.

After experiencing firsthand the impact of music and art on his own recovery, he cofounded CreatiVets to help other veterans who are suffering.

Casper, a Purple Heart recipient, is an artist, entrepreneur and a songwriter with over 70 placements in film and TV.

The Marshall-Putnam Fair is known for drawing big-name artists to perform and this year will not disappoint as Tracy Lawrence will headline a concert July 18.

Southern rock and country music band Confederate Railroad will open the show. An acoustic performance by Tyson Schulte, a Quad City area native, will kick off the evening.

Lawrence has sold over 13 million albums and charted numerous No. 1 hits. His most commercially successful albums, “Alibis” in 1993 and “Time Marches On in 1996, were both certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Lawrence has charted more than 40 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including eight songs that reached the No. 1 position: “Sticks and Stones,” “Alibis,” “Can’t Break It to My Heart,” “My Second Home, “If the Good Die Young,” “Texas Tornado, “Time Marches On” and “Find Out Who Your Friends Are.”

Of those, “Time Marches On” is his longest-lasting at three weeks, while “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” set a record at the time for the fastest ascent to the top of that chart.

He has won Top New Male Vocalist from Billboard in 1993 and from the Academy of Country Music in 1993.

Lawrence earned a Grammy nomination in 1997 for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. He’s a six-time nominee and two-time winner for Academy of Country Music Awards.

His “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” earned him Vocal Event of the Year awards from the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association in 2008 and 2007, respectively.

He was the Top New Male Vocalist Award recipient in 1993 at the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Confederate Railroad released their self-titled debut album, followed by four more albums in the 1990s for Atlantic. In addition, 18 of their singles entered the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

The band’s most recent studio album, “Lucky to Be Alive,” was issued on the D&B Masterworks label in 2016.

The band released their first live album, “Confederate Railroad Live: Back to the Barrooms,” on the E1 Music label in 2010.

For a complete schedule of events, go to marshallputnamfair.org.