Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
What appeared to be the largest Oregon Jamboree festival ever left public safety personnel stretched last weekend.
“We got hammered,” said Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District Batallion Chief Doug Emmert. Off the top of his head, he said he figured the fire department had 50 or 51 calls Friday through Sunday.
Usually, the department runs about five calls per day, Emmert said. They handled some 16 to 17 medical and fire calls per day over the course of the Jamboree.
“It was a really busy Jamboree for us because it was so hot,” Emmert said. On Saturday, medics saw 13 people on the grounds. Only a couple of those were transported to the hospital.
“The city probably triples in size,” Emmert said. With the addition of heat and alcohol to the mixture, it made for a busy weekend. All three days were in the 90s.
The biggest fire was a car fire in one of the Jamboree campgrounds, Emmert said. Other calls were to smaller brush fires.
Sweet Home Police escorted more persons out of the Jamboree than in all previous years combined, Police Chief Bob Burford said. “It was a busy weekend for us.”
Among the many incidents, police recovered a golf cart from the Oregon Jamboree in the 100 block of Eighth Avenue. At about 12:30 a.m. on July 30, police received a call that two intoxicated subjects were driving a golf cart there.
Officers arrived and found the golf cart abandoned with damage to its steering, apparently from striking a curb, Burford said. One of the cart’s axles was broken.
“We have not determined where on the grounds the cart was at, at the time of its theft,” Burford said.
The case remains under investigation as an unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, Burford said. Police are evaluating the statements of several witnesses.
Multiple police officers responded to a large disturbance outside of Chewy’s Sports Pub early in the morning on July 31.
Police also responded to a large disturbance at the bar during the 2004 Jamboree, Burford said. That disturbance also spilled out into the streets.
“Investigation revealed that much of the disturbance involved bar employees who allegedly assaulted patrons, including shoving one patron into a vehicle, causing damage to the vehicle, and discharging pepper spray, which affected other patrons,” Burford said.
The investigation is continuing, and reports will be forwarded to the city attorney for evaluation, Burford said. Based on overall safety concerns, “we ‘requested’ that the bar be shut down immediately,” and it closed.
“One bouncer wound up in the hospital with a big, giant gash under his eye,” Chewy’s owner James Ashcraft said. The incident started with three men and a woman from Arizona.
Five bouncers were slowly moving them out of the bar, Ashcraft said. They got them out completely, but one of the patrons took a sing at a bouncer.
Ashcraft used pepper spray, between the temporary fencing and building, he said. Two of them kept coming after that, so he sprayed them again.
“We were attacked by these people,” Ashcraft said. “The pepper spray kept it from becoming a large brawl. It was getting to the point it would have been a giant brawl. These guys were not stopping.”
When the police shut the bar down, Ashcraft said, “the problems were gone.”
“They had no reason to shut me down at one in the morning,” Ashcraft said.
The incident last year “had nothing to do with the bar,” Ashcraft said. Last year, a fight broke out in the street after the bar had closed.
“We had a large amount of alcohol-related problems in the community following the Jamboree on Saturday night especially,” Burford said. “We ran everybody we had all weekend. Most of the officers worked 12- to 14-hour shifts throughout the weekend, and some more.”
It was probably the busiest Jamboree weekend Sweet Home has ever had, Burford said. “We’ll have to evaluate for next year some options to further beef up our presence in the community and work with the Jamboree to raise the level of security that’s provided in the campgrounds. We’re inviting visitors to our community, and they’re being victimized.”
Burford referred to a large number of reported thefts at campgrounds throughout Sweet Home.
The Jamboree provided security at the campgrounds for the first time this year, Burford said. “We’re going to recommend that presence be increased for next year.”
Inside the Jamboree, “officers were busy on Friday and Saturday dealing with minor disturbances,” Burford said. “All of them were handled by warnings to the patrons or ejecting them from the Jamboree grounds. No arrests were made.
“But I do believe we probably escorted more people off the grounds this year than all the years previous combined.”
In average years, police escort one to three persons off the grounds.
Burford credits a combination of larger crowds, hot weather and alcohol for the heavy activity.
“Saturday night was by far the busiest of the three days,” Burford said. “Several of the people that we escorted from the grounds let it be known they were (Merle) Haggard fans.”
That was the only common denominator for those ejected from the grounds on Saturday, Burford said.
Despite the problems, the chief said he wanted to emphasize the positive side to the Jamboree.
“The value for the customers of the Jamboree is astonishing,” Burford said. From an officer’s viewpoint, “our officers love being able to interact in a positive way with a large crowd.”
During the daytime at the Jamboree, “we had many people wave at us, with all five digits, than the rest of the year in total,” Burford said. Patrons seemed appreciative of police efforts to make the event safe and secure, “and it makes it all worthwhile.”