By Brad Dison

Each July from 1931 to 1933, the Saline Truck Growers Association held a Watermelon Festival in Saline.  It was always held on Fridays.  For reasons that remain unclear, the festival was discontinued.  In 1983, 50 years after the last Watermelon Festival was held, members of the community came together and decided to revive the festival.  Like the 1933 festival, the 1983 festival featured a queen’s parade, continuous entertainment which featured local talent, a variety of contests, exhibits of arts and crafts, and exhibits of watermelons and other farm products. 

In keeping with the golden anniversary theme, the 1983 festival featured members of the families of those who were on the program 50 years earlier.  Speaker of the House, Lorris Wimberly Sr. spoke at the 1933 festival.  Rev. Lorris Wimberly Jr. gave the invocation at the 1983 festival.  In 1933, Mr. M.E. Dodd, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Shreveport, was on the program.  In 1983, his granddaughter, Mrs. Hubert L. Joiner was recognized on the 1983 program.  John Paul and David Fields, members of the family of F.B. Fields, who was president of the Saline Truck Growers Association in 1933, helped plan the 1983 festival. 

The 1983 Saline Watermelon Festival was so successful that it became a yearly tradition which has lasted uninterrupted for the past 40 years.  This year’s festival, to be held on July 8, marks the Ruby Jubilee of the revived Saline Watermelon Festival.