Scott Swanson
Sportsman’s Holiday activities will kick off once again this year with a Chips ’n’ Splinters show and the Queen’s Coronation Ceremony Thursday evening, followed by most of the traditional events throughout the weekend.
The theme this year will be the Fabulous Fifties.
Things are “going good,” Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Andrea Culy said as preparations were being finalized for the parade and some other events.
The Grand Parade, scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 9, is shaping up to be one of the largest ever, she said, based on the number of entries the chamber had received by the end of last week.
“We have nearly a record number of parade applications for this time,” Culy said. “We’re going to have a really good parade.”
As of Friday, a grand marshal had not been named.
The Chips ’n’ Splinters show, revived last year after a long hiatus, will be bigger and better, organizer Wendy Smith said.
During the coronation portion of the program, one of this year’s three princesses – Laura Grove, Ami Olmsted or Kimber Swanson – will be crowned Sportsman’s Holiday Queen.
The show, which is held in conjunction with the coronation, will feature eight acts in which artists will compete for prizes, which include two three-day passes to the Oregon Jamboree, two one-day passes to the Jamboree, and a family pass for two adults and three children to the Sweet Home Rodeo.
“We were given some awesome prizes for the talent portion of the show,” Smith said. “Feedback (from last year’s show) was that people wanted a contest instead of a showcase.”
She said the chamber board felt that opening Sportsman’s Holiday with the Chips ’n’ Splinters show worked well last year.
“We are focusing on (the show). We have people working on a talent search, production, music and a set.”
Admission is $5 for those 12 and over or $3 with a can of food that will be donated to SHEM.
Culy said Chips ’n’ Splinters organizers have gotten a lot of help from the community this year, which has made putting the event on less costly.
“A lot of people stepped up with donations,” she said.
In accordance with the Fabulous Fifties theme, a ’50s-style soda shop with desserts will conclude the evening’s activities.
In addition to the kickoff events and the parade, the festival will also include three rodeo performances, the Loggers Olympics on Saturday afternoon, the Singing Christmas Tree Arts and Crafts show at the high school Saturday, the East Linn Museum’s rummage sale on Friday and Saturday, and the fireworks show Saturday night at dusk.
“We’ve had lots of calls about the fireworks show,” Culy said. “Most of them are from people outside of the area – even people with food carts and stuff saying they want to set up.”
Also on the schedule for Saturday is breakfast at the Elks Lodge. Breakfast also will be served on Sunday.
Sunday’s events include the the Gospel Jamboree at 1:30 p.m. at Sankey Park, and the Rodeo at noon. Details on those events are available in the program included in this week’s paper.
Some other events have been cancelled, at least for this year, due to lack of manpower.
The Sportsman’s Holiday Mile will not be held before the parade this year, though plans are in place to return it next year.
Plans for a street fair with a performers’ competition following the parade also had to be scrapped for this year, Culy said.
“The Sportsman’s Holiday Street Fair will regroup,” she said. “We decided that, because we didn’t have enough manpower, we would put our manpower into Chips ’n’ Splinters.”