NEW BERLIN – New Berlin’s Youth Days was forced to pre-emptively cancel all events on the final day of the 50th anniversary celebration Sunday due to Hurricane Irene. However, the event was still a success, said organizer Larissa Hanslmaier.

According to Hanslmaier, Saturday is the biggest day of the weekend and usually draws the largest crowd. This year was no exception as the streets around Milford Academy became filled with people from across two counties for the 50th annual Youth Days celebration.

The day began at 9 p.m. as Agro-Farma kicked off its first Chobani 5k Unadilla River Run and 2k walk. According to Tom Lawson, race director, the turnout far exceeded what anyone was expecting.

“We were hoping for 100 entries, but we ended up with over 160,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of great volunteers help from the fire and police departments.”

Lawson said that although this year’s race was designed specifically for the 50th anniversary of Youth Days, he expects that it will become an annual event based on the participation and support. Cassie Stanton, events coordinator for Chobani, agreed that the race was a huge success and said she would expect the event to continue.

“We have way more people than we expected and everyone loves it,” she said.