Remember When?

30 YEARS AGO • JULY 21, 1994

SUMMERFEST TO ENTERTAIN CITY THIS WEEKEND

A wealth of activities await residents and visitors who attend the first Thompson Falls Summer Festival this weekend.

From sidewalk sales beginning Friday, a melodrama and variety show Saturday and the final event Sunday, the weekend promises to offer something for everyone and all should have a great time.

The festival will hopefully develop into an annual event, says organizer Larry Hull. He and others have been promoting, planning and getting ready for the three days of fun and entertainment for several months. He says they’re ready to go.

Friday’s events kick-off with sidewalk sales down Main Street of Thompson Falls and at the same time an “Early Bird Craft Fair” will be run along the north side of Main Street. A barbecue dinner sponsored by the Thompson Falls Woman’s club will be served from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. that evening at the Rose Garden park and following that, bed races will be held down the alley between the Black Bear and LaRock’s Bar. The day will end with a street dance in the parking lot adjacent to the First State Bank. Music will be by the Night Light Band.

Saturday will be the main day of the festival, and gets started with more sidewalk sales, a continuation of the craft fair, food booths and arrests in the Old Jail Museum. The latter promises to have a lock on fun as festival officers serve warrants and round up the community’s nefarious and notorious criminals for a short stay in the antique jail cells. Bail from the incarceration will come after a short stay or by buying one’s way out. Organized by the Old Jail Museum supporters, the arrested individuals will appear before Judge Nippert (played by Joe Sullivan), hauled up to a cell and then for $5 the jailbird can have his or her picture taken in one of the county’s old jail cells. Anyone can have someone arrested by filling out a warrant and paying a small fee.

Scheduled activities begin with a loggers breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. sponsored by the Sanders County Search and Rescue. The breakfast will be held at the Rose Garden Park in downtown Thompson Falls.

The more athletic minded can complete in a fun run beginning at the intersection of Ferry Street and Preston Avenue at 8:30 a.m. and running through the streets of town. Sign-ups for the race can be made on a form included in this issue of the Ledger. A softball tournament will also get underway Saturday.

Following the run, the festival parade will get started at 10 a.m. across from the Town Pump. Honored as the Grand Marshall for the event will be K.A. “Doc” Eggensperger, a long time resident and former publisher and editor of the Ledger.

Following the parade, the local chapter of A.B.A.T.E. will be holding a fundraising poker run for motorcyclists to begin at 11 a.m. Also at 11 a horseshoe tournament will get underway near the Thompson Falls Senior Citizens Center.

At 1 p.m. bingo is slated to begin on the lawn near the courthouse, sponsored by the Thompson Falls Senior Citizens. Logging demonstrations will also be held.

At 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. country music will be offered at the parking lot near the bank with the Night Light Band and local talent performing. At 3 p.m. more logging demonstrations will be offered.

From 4:30 to 6:30 a barbecue dinner will be offered in the Rose Garden Park, this time sponsored by the Thompson Falls Lions Club. At 5 p.m., drawings for prizes and awards will be presented.

Saturday’s prime entertainment will be the production of The Cleanest Town in the West, a 30-minute melodrama performed by the Old Jail Museum Players and staged at the Thompson Falls Junior High School Gymnasium stage. Following that presentation, a variety show emceed by Larry Wadsworth will cap off Saturday’s entertainment.

Sunday’s activities conclude with the softball tournament final, and a barrel float sponsored by the Thompson Falls Rural Fire District. In that final event, participants will guess the amount of time it takes for a barrel to float to Thompson Falls from a designated location up river.

All in all, the weekend promises to provide a festival full of fun for all participants.