ANDOVER — The Andover Olde Home Days Celebration is scheduled to take place Friday to Sunday, Aug. 1 to 3, with a number of new events, committee co-chairwoman Vickie Meisner said Friday afternoon.

Meisner, who co-chairs the event with her husband, Marshall, said the committee attempted to find a few new things for residents to do over the weekend.

One of the events, a men’s hammer toss at 1 p.m. at the Andover Little League field, is meant to mirror the annual women’s skillet toss.

“Basically, each man gets a six-pound hammer and has to toss it as far as they can,” Meisner said. “There’s going to be five different age categories, ranging from 13 years old to 65 years old. It gives the men something to do that’s similar to the women’s skillet toss.”

Friday will also give residents something new to do, Meisner said. The Andover Historical Society will hold an auction on the front steps of the church near the Common. There will be an art show at the Maple Street Art Gallery, 71 Maple St., where residents Wendy Hutchins and Pam Berry will showcase art created by Andover artists who have passed away.

The annual parade will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, with a panel of judges selecting the best floats at 9:30 a.m.

“In previous years, anyone who wanted to be involved with the parade would sign up a registration form, but we had a lot of people who were telling us that they thought they missed the deadline and didn’t sign up as a result,” Meisner said. “We decided to allow people to just show up if they wanted to be in the parade. It’s been quite successful for us. Everyone enjoys it, and we get a lot of groups involved.”

Meisner said Olde Home Days T-shirts and buttons will be available Saturday at local merchants and at the bandstand at the Common, with all proceeds going to the Olde Home Days fund for next year’s event.

Other events Saturday include the 10th annual Andover Olde Home Days Road Race, which starts 8 a.m. at the elementary school and the 9:30 a.m. bike and doll carriage parade at the town’s tennis court. A book talk is set from 3 to 4 p.m. by Bath resident Karen Johnson, who will be reading at the Andover Public Library. At 11:30 a.m. a pie-eating contest will be held near the town tennis court.

Meisner said she and her husband are two of 16 residents who help organize the Olde Home Days Celebration on a year-to-year basis.

“My husband and I have been doing this for 18 or 19 years, and we’ve decided that this is going to be our last year as co-chairs,” Meisner said. “Next year is the 35th anniversary of the first Andover Olde Home Days Celebration, so I’m hoping someone will take charge and do something special for it.”

For more information, call Meisner at 392-4311.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com