The city of New Florence will celebrate the start of a new month by holding one of the oldest events in Montgomery County.

The Old Settlers Picnic is back for its 144th year and will run on Aug. 1-2 at the Old Settlers Picnic Grounds. The event starts with the princess and queen contests at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.

It’s the second year in a row the Old Setters Picnic will start by crowning a new princess and queen. There are nine contestants in the princess contest and just three in the queen contest.

The following day, action begins at 11 a.m. with a parade that will include the new princess and queen. The parade lineup will start at 9:30 a.m. at the clay piles, then the parade will go down Main Street and turn into Picnic Street.

There will be a backyard cookoff at noon that has an entry fee of $10 per team per category. The categories are breakfast, fish and ribs and contestants may enter either one or all categories.

There will be a cornhole tournament that starts at 3:30 p.m. The entry fee is $20 per team of two members. The tournament is limited to the first 25 teams. Awards will be given out to the top three finishers.

The baby show contest will start at 12:30 p.m. with a $2 entry fee for each participant ages newborn-24 months. White T-shirts and diapers are allowed in the contest.

The cake walk begins at 1 p.m. with participants getting an opportunity to donate a dessert or a baked good. The pedal tractor pull and the horseshoe tournament are also scheduled at 1 p.m.

The greased pig contest returns for another year at 4 p.m. People of all ages will get a chance to get muddy by chasing hogs in a mud pit.

The Old Settlers Picnic will also have the kiddie games at 2:30 p.m. and the Old Settler Awards at 3 p.m. Also, bingo will be played at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 2 and from 3 p.m.-9 p.m. the following day.

There will be plenty of music at the picnic. In day one, Nick Schneider will perform from 6 p.m.-8 p.m at the lower beer gardens and Michael and Mickey Scott will start performing at 8:30 p.m. at the main stage. The next day, there will be performances from 2024 Montgomery County graduate El Reagan from 2 p.m.-4 p.m., 2022 MCHS graduate Juanita Hadden from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. and from a band called Sundown Shot from 8 p.m.-midnight.