Kelly Kenoyer
Although COVID cancelled Oregon Jamboree this summer, long-time fans can get a taste of the festival via a series of short documentaries telling the history and best stories to come out of Jamboree.
The two- to three-minute videos are being posted all over social media starting Monday, July 27, and a new video will drop each day until Aug. 2 to coincide with the dates Jamboree would have happened this year, Oregon Jamboree spokesperson Katie Schrock said.
McFarland Productions, the company behind the video series, also filmed significant portions of last year’s festival.
“We had a (marriage) proposal caught on camera during Scotty McCreery’s performance,” Schrock said.
The company also filmed interviews with long-time volunteers and fans of the country music festival.
“We thought it would be really cool to, for the first time, to really share the story of the Jamboree and of the town that puts it on – it’s got such a cool backstory,” Schrock said.
The first few videos show that backstory, she said.
“How they got this crazy idea, to see if the Judds would perform at this concert, and then maybe this concert could help bring some money. It wasn’t supposed to be a big thing. And then, boom! 28 years later, you’re like, ‘here we are with three stages and four days and there’s all this craziness.'”
The production team interviewed more than a dozen people, including staffers Ron Moore, Robert Shamek, and Peggy Curtis.
The Jamboree’s biggest fan, Irene Kennedy, also gets a shout-out. “She hasn’t missed a single Jamboree.
Kennedy actually made the Jamboree take her money for the year even though it didn’t happen, because she wanted to say she bought tickets every year,” Schrock said.
Volunteers like Donna Poirier, Larry Johnson, Coreen Melcher and Judy Markert are also in the series.
Schrock said one volunteer, Vicki DeLong, shared a heartwarming story about her terminally ill son who wanted nothing more than to meet one of the bands at the Jamboree.
“We got him in, and he got to meet them,” Schrock said, “and then he passed away just a couple days later.”
Other interviewees for the series include Mary Crowhurst, Aiden Shamek, Dakota Melkvik, Leif and Everleigh Curtis, Camp Host Phil Dumas, and Gary Burns.
The festival plans to promote the series with the hashtag #MyOregonJamboree, and Schrock wants fans to share their stories about the Jamboree using that hashtag.
The series will be shared on social media, but all the videos will also be posted on the new Jamboree website at http://www.oregonjamboree.com/fun-news. Schrock said that site will be used afterwards to share updates with the fans and “share artists and interviews and video blogs and behind the scenes footage” once or twice a month.
The blog will also highlight the Jamboree’s year-round involvement in community events like the Lebanon Brewfest or the St. Jude benefit Mystery Concert.