Downtown Ames merchants are preparing for a weekend of excitement. Downtown Dollar Days and the Shrine Parade will coincide this year.

“The Shriners come to town annually for the all-star football game,” said Kori Heuss, program manager of the Ames Chamber of Commerce.

Proceeds from the game go to support Shriners’ hospitals for children, Heuss said.

The parade serves as a kick-off to the Shriners’ charity football game – the Shrine Bowl, said Julie Weeks, executive director of the Ames Convention and Visitor Bureau.

The parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, she said, and will have members of 40 to 45 different shrine units, all with their own unique vehicles.

“Local groups are participating in the parade as well,” Weeks said. About 25 Ames groups will be in the parade.

Of the local parade entrants, there is a variety that ranges from “everything from daycare centers to businesses to entertainment,” she said.

The Ames High and ISU pom squads will be pepping up the parade route, as well as the Des Moines Isiserettes drill and drum team, Weeks said.

The parade is only one of the events going on downtown this weekend, Heuss said.

The Main Street businesses are also hosting their biannual Dollar Days.

Heuss said Dollar Days is a great way for downtown stores to showcase their wares, often at deep discounts to customers.

“Dollars Days is a biannual sale where merchandise is marked down to extraordinary prices,” Heuss said. “It has a sidewalk-sale atmosphere.”

Other post-parade activities associated with Dollar Days will be held in Tom Evans Park on Main Street, Heuss said. Events will include kids’ activities, Shrine Bowl ticket sales and live music from either the Ed Kaiser Trio or the Ames Jazz Quartet, she said.

Main Street typically holds Dollar Days during the first week in August, but this year it was bumped up to the same weekend as the Shrine Bowl, Heuss said.

“This will be the third year [for the parade], but this will be the first year when there’s been a downtown promotion that coincides with the parade,” Weeks said. “It’s a way to heighten awareness for the Shrine Bowl activities.”