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Head Start moving forward
Locals will join fight in Sisters
Dundee wll seek new water sources
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The spectacle of the Old Fashioned Festival |
Newberg's annual rite concludes for another year |
By Nicole
Clark, Newberg Graphic intern
E-mail Nicole at
thegraphic@eaglenewspapers.com
|
The queen had been crowned, the elephant ears were frying and many
bands had already taken the main stage in Memorial Park. The Old
Fashioned Festival had already been in full swing for two days, but
Newberg’s party wasn’t over yet.
Despite gray skies hundreds of people woke up early Saturday
morning for breakfast in Memorial Park, cooked and served by members
of the Newberg Rotary Club. With a choice of plain or blueberry
pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage, many an appetite was satisfied
before a festival highlight, the Grand Festival Parade.
Although the
parade wasn’t scheduled to begin until 10 a.m., chairs and blankets
had already begun to line the parade route days before.
Among the first to claim a space on Second Street was a local
family that included several children. The children were especially
excited about taking home a sizable stash of candy, thrown from
floats as they circled the parade route.
The parade, although including fewer entries than in years past,
still managed to bring smiles to many a face. Most of the parade
entries were decorated with the festival theme, “The Magic of
Music.” Musical notes, rabbit ears and top hats could be seen atop
many a float.
Immediately after the parade, many children flocked to Memorial
Park, where the Newberg Fire Department was holding the third annual
Junior Firefighter Challenge. An obstacle course was set up and
involved several tasks simulating parts of firefighters’ jobs.
Participants had to drag a fire hose through a tunnel, rescue a
“trapped” Teddy Bear, “climb” a ladder and use a fire hose to put
out a “fire.”
At the same time, the Newberg Active 20-30 soap box derby was
taking place on Fulton Street near George Fox University. Children
of all ages strapped on helmets and steered cars toward the finish
line at the bottom of the hill.
Festival queen Mika Dedrick and princesses Lindsey O’Halloran and
Corina Gierok made an appearance at the derby and took turns
racing each other down the hill. Elizabeth Oliver, one of the more
than 100 spectators present, commented, “Good crowd for a soap box
derby.”
Back at Memorial Park, Glen Mills had set up a hands-on science
displays in the Children’s Corner. Children and adults alike were
gathered in front of the displays, trying to solve the various
problems and puzzles.
Also in the park were vendors selling everything from cotton candy
and elephant ears to mini-marshmallow shooters and candles. Although
many of the vendors were at last year’s festival, there were some
new booths this year. “Applicious” fries and Mexican food were some
of the new additions to the midway. A popular booth featured
airbrushed T-shirts.
The fireworks show at Renne Field wasn’t scheduled to begin until
10 p.m., but chairs and blankets began to dot the field well before
the Boomer Band began playing at 7 p.m.
The Boomer Band entertained the growing crowd with 1950s rock ‘n
roll. Just a few got up to dance at first, but the group increased
as night fell. At 10 p.m. the band finished playing and the
countdown to fireworks began.
“Five, four, three, two, one,” the crowd chanted, then cheered as
the fireworks lit up the night sky.
After the excitement of the night before, Sunday seemed much
quieter. The carnival rides had been taken down and the vendors in
the park were gearing up for one last day of selling their wares.
From fire engine red Chevy Novas to bright blue Model A Fords, the
Festival Cruise In and Car Show featured almost 150 cars.
“We were originally expecting 200 (cars), but because of the
weather, a lot of people from Portland did not show up,” an
organizer said, explaining that because of the expense of the
restoring the cars their owners couldn’t chance damaging their cars
in bad weather.
By 5 p.m., most vendors were packing up their unsold merchandise
and taking down their booths. The festival was coming to a close.
The 2006 Old Fashioned Festival ended with the traditional hymn
sing. Led by Jim Ringseth, pastor of Open Bible Church, the hymn
sing has been a part of the festival for almost 30 years.
This year was Ringseth’s last year leading the hymn sing. whatever
his title is Al Blodgett presented Ringseth with a NFD T-shirt.
Ringseth assured the crowd that the hymn sing will continue to be a
part of the Old Fashioned Festival.
“The hymn sing will close the festival every year,” Ringseth said. |
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From
Aug. 2,
2006, Newberg Graphic
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