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Pace fiR. Outdoor Festivals
Ferries
Bothard Gardens
Dining in Victoria
Small-town festivals add spice to summer life
The months of June, July and
August are times for swimming in
fresh-water lakes, spitting
watermelon seeds, sunbathing
and small-town festivals. These
are the kinds of get-togethers
everyone from grandparents to
motorcycle-club members enjoys.
Mike Sims describes this old-age
tradition that both small-town
folk and city dwellers live for.
In these socially and economically uncertain
times, there’s one thing that provides an annual
source of stability to many small towns: the annual
festival.
These festivals take on many forms and pay
tribute to many things. Local crops are honored by
Florence’s Rhododendron Festival and Lebanon’s
Strawberry Festival, among others. There are odes to
major industries, like the Albany Timber Carnival.
Rodeos provide the focus for many small town "big
weekends” — the Molalla Buckeroo, the St. Paul
Rodeo and the world-famous Pendleton Round-Up
come to mind.
If a town or region is heavily populated by
members of a particular ethnic group, this fact can be
the basis of a festival. Mt. Angel's Oktoberfest and
two Scandinavian Festivals (in Astoria and Junction
City) are prominent examples.
That reminds me of a story. During the 1968
**000o.
presidential campaign. Bobby Kennedy was cam
paigning in a small Midwestern town during its an
nual Slavic Festival. He asked how many persons of
Slavic descent were in the audience.
There were none. Bobby was dumbfounded.
“Then why are you having a Slavic Festival?" he
asked.
The answer Bobby received wasn’t recorded for
posterity, but “Why not?" may have been ap
propriate. These weekend or week-long extravagan
zas not only provide extra revenue for local
businesses, but also give the communities a rallying
point — a source of unity and a morale boost.
That’s what the travel brochures tell you. But my
good friend Jim breaks the matter down Into simpler,
earthier terms: “It’s a big-ass party.”
1 doubt that very many tourists go to Lebanon to
eat strawberries or Portland to smell the roses, if you
catch my drift. I’d say that a lot of visitors to these
gatherings are either just passing through on U.S.
101 or whatever, and need something to occupy the
kids after 10 hours in the car; or they’re bored wage
slaves from a neighboring big city looking for a hot
time in the little town.
I spent the Fourth of July weekend at the Molalla
Buckeroo about eight years ago. I’m not really what
you’d call a rodeo fan. My friend and I did to go the
rodeo once during the weekend, mainly because a
guy we went to junior high school with was riding
bull that night.
Had Randy not been in the evening lineup, I’m
sure Reo and I would've stayed where we spent most
of that weekend: either "cruising" at the carnival,
trying to get into one of the taverns or, failing that,
drinking warm Heidelbergs in a '59 PJl Camino with a
new-found friend who spent his Buckeroo-weekend
evenings making rude remarks to passers-by over his
CB radio’s public address system from the Coast-To
Coast parking lot.
He wasn’t a tourist. I guess that’s what they
mean by local color.
The point of this whole ramble is that, to
paraphrase Shakespeare, “the party's the thing.” Reo
and I went to the Buckeroo to commune with old
friends, hoist the jug and get a change of scenery.
That’s why the members of the Free Souis motor
cycle club make their annual trek to Florence for the
Rhody bash each May. The "Rhody Run” is
recognized as one of the premier biker "runs” in the
West, particularly so after a four-page photo feature
in the September 1984 issue of Kasyriders magazine.
The article dwelt at great length on the foggy,
rainy "Oregon" weather that Florence enjoyed dur
ii>K the '84 festival It also mentioned the incredible
amount of money that local businesses (particularly
Bay Street tavern owners) raked in, largely because of
the biker influx. let 'em drive their Harleys through
the door and right up to the bar rail, the
saloonkeepers say. They're good for the damages —
and aliout $8,000 worth of beer and such, as well.
Lest this make these festivals sound like
righteous Bacchanalian brawls, let me say that there
is one formality involved where everyone gathers
together and focuses on the true purpose of the
festival: The Parade.
There’s the Grand Marshal. At the '77 Molalla
Buckeroo parade, it was Heck Harper, who hosted a
kiddie show on KGW-TV during the late '50s and ear
ly '60s. The youngsters in the crowd didn't know
who the hell he was. But most everyone 18 and older
remembered him. and responded with raucous
cheers of recognition. (He was astride his old faithful
mount. |ody. which gave us overaged rug rats an
even bigger thrill.)
Then there's the Festival Court. This usually
consists of five or six teenage girls, chosen on the
basis of looks, poise, charm and number of festival
buttons sold. They have two main functions: to ap
pear in the parade (and five or six parades at
neighboring festivals) and to make TV commercials
for automobile agencies and discount furniture
dealers.
There are the members of the Local Booster Club,
like Cottage Grove's Lemati Gang. I.a Grande's Blue
Mountain Boys and the Coos Bay Pirates. They are
supposed to drum up community spirit by dressing
and behaving in a pre-Neanderthal manner, harass
ing women and children and. generally, putting on a
colorful show for the tourists
(A few years ago. a couple from California
There's the Festival Court. This
usually consists of five or six
teenage girls. chosen on the basis
of looks, poise, charm and
number of festival buttons sold.
They have two main functions: to
appear in the parade (and five or
six parades at neighboring
festivals) and to make TV com
mercials for automobile agencies
and discount furniture dealers.
thought the men of the Free Souls were performing
this function for the town of Florence. . .)
I haven’t even mentioned the carnival And real
ly, why bother? Most of the money the carnival
makes leaves town, anyway. The carnival is there so
that the kids can channel their energies while their
parents gawk at the rhododendrons or visit the Alibi
(Office? Hub?) Tavern.
If every small-town festival were to disappear
tomorrow, there'd be a big void to fill — and not just
in terms of lost revenue. These festivals are a con
tinuation of a tradition that has been perpetuated for
centuries — a community gathering together to
celebrate who its people are. what keeps them alive
— or just life itself.
By Mike Sims
In Home Parties
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at the UO Street Fair and
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Eugene • 343-6124
Now Offering A Way For You To Earn
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Thursday, May 16, 1985
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Outdoor Festivals. Page 7B