Scott Swanson
After a year’s hiatus, thanks to the COVID pandemic, Sportsman’s Holiday returns in full force this weekend in Sweet Home.
Things kick off Thursday, July 8, with the Sportsman’s Holiday Court Coronation, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Community Chapel Amphitheater at 42250 Ames Creek Road. The public is welcome and admission is free.
The queen will be crowned from the court made up of princesses Paige Chafin, Serenity Corona-Dehart, Kami Hart, Jessica Maynard and Haley Nunez.
The event will include musical performances by local artists Stefani Brown, David Dominy, Cathy Cheshire and Chamber of Commerce Director Melody Reese, who performed professionally as a country music artist in Southern California before moving to Oregon.
“We have some really good performers,” said organizer Shirley Austin. “Melody is going to be singing and playing during the princess introductions and we will have entertainment between the segments, like when the judges’ scores are being tallied.”
The Cut The Gut cruise night will be back Friday, July 9, from 6 to 9 p.m. after what Chamber Director Melody Reese described as “a hit” last year, with 246 officially registered participants who competed for prizes.
“This year we’re expecting it to be even better,” she said. “The Passport Stops are going above and beyond. Everybody wants that perpetual trophy from Coffee Hut.”
Check-in for the event is in the parking lot across from Sweet Home High School in the 1600 block of Long Street. Presale packages and passports are available at the Chamber of Commerce, 1575 Main St., which allows participants to bypass the check-in line and start cruising, she said. Others who have pre-registered can pick up their passports at check-in.
At 7:30 p.m. Friday, the traditional Chips ’n’ Splinters variety show will be held in the parking lot behind the Rio Theater, between Main and Long streets in the 1300 block.
The event will feature about a dozen acts featuring local personalities who will be costumed appropriately for their performances, said Austin, who is organizing the event.
“People should expect to be entertained – lots of laughs,” she said.
The list of performers includes Stefani Brown, Cathy Cheshire, David Dominy, Trisha King, Jaquline Ohmer, Liz Rains, Hannah Wible and Nina Zuniga, a local SHARQ Showdown talent show winner.
They will perform a program including “ballads to country music to get-up-and-dance tunes,” Austin said. “It will be fun for all ages.”
Spectators are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.
Presenting sponsor is Timberline Logging, with additional support from Cascade Timber Consulting, Gary and Pamela Rasmussen, and T2.
Saturday’s events start with the Elks Lodge’s traditional breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. at 440 Osage St. Cost is $7 per person, and kids under 12 are half price.
The Sportsman’s Holiday Parade will begin at 11 a.m., and will run along Long Street, Reese said, adding that COVID guidelines made planning the event difficult and organizers decided to just keep it on Long Street rather than putting in for the necessary permits to close down part of Main Street.
“We have at least 20 floats,” she said. The parade will run from 22nd Avenue to Oak Terrace – the Sweet Home Inn.
A vendor fair will be held all day, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the Rio parking lot, coordinated by the Sweet Home Community Singing Christmas Tree. Organizer Gina Riley said the event will raise funds for the organization’s annual concert in December.
It will include about 30 commercial vendors and crafters.
“This is the kind of craft fair that we used to have at the high school (during Sportsman’s Holiday),” she said. “We have local artisans who want to share their crafts.”
Sweet Home Gleaners will have hot dogs and hamburgers for sale and a local church will offer iced coffee, Riley said. Also, a local family will provide a “small petting zoo.”
The traditional Loggers Olympics is also back after a year’s hiatus, and will be held Saturday afternoon, starting at 1 p.m., at the Events Center in the 4000 block of Long Street. Admission is free to the competition, which features local logging firm team members pitting their skills against each other in timed events.
The traditional Sportsman’s Holiday fireworks show will be held Saturday evening at dusk – about 10 p.m., but the fireworks won’t be launched from Foster Dam as they normally are.
Wes Strubhar, president of the Sweet Home Volunteer Firefighters Association, which puts on the show, said that the Army Corps of Engineers earlier this year was not approving permits that were necessary to put on the display from the dam.
Instead, he said, the discharge site will be “closer to town” and “viewing will be good from the east side of town.”
Strubhar said “significantly larger” shells will be used this year, which will produce bigger displays that will be higher in the air and “a little more noise.”
“We’re not setting up for close-in viewing.”
The show will be the result of the pooling of resources by the volunteer firefighters, the city and the chamber, Strubhar said.
“Everybody worked together to make it work. This is a big boost for us.”
An event new to many current residents will be re-introduced on Sunday afternoon: a Raft Tug ’o’ War at Lewis Creek Park. The 1 p.m. event was held in the late 1960s as part of the festival, according to local historian Mona Waibel, and is being sponsored as a fund-raiser by the Sweet Home Swim Club.
Keith Sautel, president of the Swim Club, said that chamber officials asked if the club would be interested in putting on the event. They were, with a few tweaks.
“We are going to use paddle boards, though we are still calling it a Raft Tug ’o’ War,” he said. “And it will be individuals instead of teams.”
Cost is $20, and the format will be double-elimination, so every entrant will have at least two contests.
Sautel said local merchants, including Mike Hall at The Point, Cassie Ritchie at Sweet Things Boutique, along with and Jared Cornell at Edward Jones have provided prizes, including a grand prize of a $100 gift card to The Point.
“We wanted to keep it all local,” Sautel said. “All of the prizes are coming from donations from businesses. The entry fees will help the Swim Club.”
Jordan said the goal for organizers is to restore Sportsman’s Holiday to its original glory days, when there were a multitude of events that drew participants and spectators from beyond the city’s borders.
“Sportsman’s Holiday used to be jam-packed and we want to bring it back,” she said.