barberton: It will be a crawl to the finish for babies in the Diaper Derby Dash on Saturday at the 21st Annual Mum Fest.As runners compete in Akron’s 26-mile marathon, babies in diapers will compete in a 26-foot crawl to the finish line – the mum arch at Lake Anna.The baby race to be run at 11:30 a.m. is one of the newest activities at this year’s Mum Fest, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The mum garden, the arch and the sand sculpture will be on Third Street Northwest, just south of West Lake Avenue. There will also be an ice carver, a vegetable carver and a log carver at the festival as well as historical displays, canoe races, arts and crafts.This year’s theme is “We Say it with Flowers” and honors the Aris Horticulture Corp. and its predecessor, Yoder Brothers Inc. Some 20,000 chrysanthemums with 22 varieties will be on display in full bloom. Potted mums will be offered for sale. Admission is free.Tom Morrison, a retired Akron firefighter and sand sculptor, will create a replica of the company’s headquarters to mark the 90th anniversary of the company, which still grows mums and is the primary sponsor of the Barberton Mum Festival. The company is headquartered in barn No. 1 (the cow farm) from O.C. Barber’s Dean Farm. Yoder Brothers renovated the barn between 1983 and 1985. Morrison, who is a self-taught sculptor, has been working with sand for 30 years. “I guess if you play in the dirt long enough you know what to do with it,” he said. “I would build sand castles and they just got bigger and bigger.”Morrison said he will use about four tons of sand for his creation.“I have eight tons to work with so what I don’t use I will scatter around the building and make something else out of it,” he said.Another self-taught sculptor, fruit and vegetable carver Richard Alford, will have demonstrations throughout the weekend. He will carve watermelons and pumpkins to create faces and flowers. He will be there with the University of Akron Hospitality Management Garde Manger Club. The team will be practicing for the collegiate nationals in Holland, Mich.“Our industry is more than just cooking,” he said. “Our industry is so varied. We are like a big tree. Food is the trunk and there are all the branches. I think these carvings, cheese carvings and ice carvings are the fruit on the tree, because it’s the fun stuff.” Lisa McLean, beautification manager for the city and chairwoman of the annual festival, said there will be a service award presentation to the Campfield-Hickman-Collier Funeral Home for 107 years of service in the community at 11:45 a.m. Sunday. Mayor Bob Genet will recognize the funeral home as the first recipient of the Barberton Centennial of Service award on the steps of the funeral home, 566 W. Park Ave. McLean said they are also staging a Hail to the Chief birthday party at 1 p.m. Sunday in honor of the 100th anniversary of Chief Hopocan. The statue is 5.5-feet high and rests on a 12-foot pedestal and is located in the New Portage Park at Norton Avenue and Wooster Road. Birthday cake will be served.The Mum Festival will include a silent auction from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, sponsored by the Barberton Kiwanis Club.Also new to the Mum Fest this year are performances by Heartbeat Afrika, a performing arts ensemble. Some of the returning entertainment includes the ETC Children’s Choir, the New Horizons band and waterski shows featuring the Chippewa Lake Water Ski Show Team.Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.