Council’s 4th a Success - Thanks to Volunteers
The 250 year Independence Day Celebrations drew huge crowds to Council this year over a two day span of events. The Council Chamber of Commerce started expanding the Fourth of July celebrations to a two day event last year, and continued the format this year. It was a huge success, thanks to the amazing network of volunteers who helped to put together all of the different events over the Fourth of July weekend. “I thought it went amazing” said Chamber of Commerce President Katie Church, “I thought it was a fantastic weekend.”
The festivities started on July 3 with the Farmers Market and Vendor Fair, which continued through July 4. The Chamber also hosted the second annual Soap Box Derby Race downtown. The Soap Box Derby race garnered national attention, and pictures were featured on the front page of the New York Times’ July 4 paper. There were 18 custom cars and 54 contestants that entered into the race, which was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and volunteers David Church, Eric and Shani Smith, and Sarah Warner. In the evening of July 3 the Chamber also hosted a street dance with live music by Rancho Notorious, which was a lot of fun for everyone who attended.
The Fourth of July started off with the Flag Raising Ceremony at City Park and a Community Breakfast hosted by the Council Community Church, which fed hundreds of people before the parade. This year it did not rain on the parade, In fact the weather was stunning. There must have been thousands of people gathered in downtown Council to watch the parade. Lauren Harris with the Chamber of Commerce coordinated the parade, which had a lot of participants, in part due to the large prizes offered this year for the best floats, thanks to the parade sponsors, the Adams County Republican Central Committee, Ancora Health Services, and Western Skies Wellness and Primary Care. The Central Committee also sponsored the Chamber’s Storefront decoration contest which helped the whole downtown look beautiful and inspired a wonderful welcoming and festive environment. Wilson’s Lounge won first place for the storefront decoration contest. followed by Huptye in second and M&W Market for third. The car show also received many entries this year and was a huge success, it was organized by Kaycee and Brayden Harris.
This was the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but in Council it was also the 55th year of racing porcupines! The Porcupine Races also had a lot of contestants, 15 porcupines entered the race, and it was a wonderful event! The winning porcupine this year was He’s a Big Dill, with the proud handlers Allie and Maddie Harrington, who couldn’t have been happier!
There were two events this year going on at the Boise Cascade Park, the Council Loggers Jubilee moved to the park this year, having outgrown the space downtown with the addition of their new events, and there was also a co-ed Softball Tournament taking place at the park, which was organized by Josh Thurlow with Adams County Parks and Recreation. The softball tournament had three full teams participating, one from Council, Cambridge, and Cascade, as well as a fourth pick up team. The Windy Acres Design Shop team from Cambridge won the tournament. They also did a Home Run Derby which was won by Aaron Priddy, who donated his winnings back to Parks and Rec. Dorri Gipe won the girl’s division of the Home Run Derby. All the proceeds from the tournament are going towards the Parks and Rec Baseball programs. Josh Thurlow is excited to do it again next year. “It’s something I’m wanting to build and definitely get bigger,” he said.
The Council Loggers Jubilee added several new events, including Log Birling, Cross Cut Saw, and Choker Set. They also brought back the Tug of War from last year. “The events went phenomenally, I could not be happier,” said Trina Jokela, president of the Jubilee board. The new setting offered more space to spread out, and they brought in more food vendors and several logging trucks set up as well, setting the mood for the events. The city of Council and Adams County both helped prep the site, and both Jokela and Thurlow thanked each other for being great neighbors. Thank you to the whole Jubilee board and all of the spongers and volunteers for this amazing event!
After the Log Birling event, the children all jumped into the pond and had an absolute blast playing on the log! Next, The Jubilee is preparing to award scholarships for the year with some of the funds raised. “We want to be able to give back to the community that raised us, and you, know, raised our children,” said Jokela.
The evening ended in fireworks, both from the Chamber of Commerce and private celebrations. They lasted throughout the evening.
So many different volunteers, businesses, and community members helped to make the weekend events possible for this Independence Day. Several business owners took time off or hired extra staff so they had time to help with the events, such as David Church with the Decoration of Creation, and Shani Smith with Huptye. Bill Brown with Wilson’s Lounge donated all of the trash cans and a dump trailer and took responsibility for all of the trash and cleaning up downtown after. So many different businesses and organizations sponsored and donated time and resources to the different events. One person, however, really stands out for her dedication. Council Chamber of Commerce President Katie Church, together with her husband David Church put in countless hours organizing, planning, decorating, and helping make sure everything went smoothly. “It takes a whole community,” said Katie Church, “I just appreciate our team for the dedication to see it through, the time, the talent, the energy.”
