Vernonia Celebrates 70th Friendship Jamboree
Story and photos by Scott Laird
The Vernonia Friendship Jamboree and Logging Show has long since gathered Vernonians each summer to celebrate with friends and neighbors.
Held on the first full weekend in August, the Jamboree takes place August 7 through August 9 this year. The community will come together to celebrate the culture and people who make Vernonia a great place to live, work and play.
The 70th Friendship Jamboree sees the return of several popular events, Jamboree Committee President Natalie Swart says. The fishing derby is back at the Mill Pond on Saturday after a long hiatus.
“We’ve had a lot of community support to bring this back,” she says. “We’re definitely promoting catch and release, and we’ll have volunteers walking around with scales to record everyone’s catch."
There are prizes and raffle gifts for adults and children.
Also making a return are lawnmower races. Fans can once again catch all the excitement behind Blue Heron Apartments as lawnmowers across several categories race around the unique track.
The car show takes place at Mill Pond this year, a new location the committee is testing. Natalie is excited to bring back the children’s art contest this year. “We’ve had some really great submissions, and some of them are really cute,” she says.
The softball tournament and product and food vendors can be found at Spencer Park all weekend.
“That worked really well last year, and we got really good feedback,” Natalie says. Jamboree also features its regular schedule of events, starting with the parade Saturday morning featuring decorated floats and other entries from businesses and community groups, along with logging trucks to close out the procession.
Residents can still nominate community members for grand marshal, who heads the parade, and Citizen of the Year, an honored guest during festivities.
The motorcycle show Saturday afternoon is at Spencer Park. The Ridge Riders host their play day Sunday morning at the Anderson Park Horse Arena. To round out the weekend, the logging show Sunday afternoon is at Hawkins Park. Visitors can get a preview of up-and-coming loggers at the children’s logging show Saturday.
Natalie is also excited to have the chainsaw wood carvers back again this year, set up in the same location across from the Bridge Street Mini Mart. There will be seven to 10 carvers actively working on a piece, and each carver may display their work for sale. Each carver provides a piece for a raffle, which Natalie is hoping will be displayed on a trailer in the parade for everyone to see.
The Jamboree event guide, which Natalie worked hard to expand this year, will have the final schedule of events and times.
While Jamboree is a time to celebrate with friends and neighbors, Natalie recognizes a few neighbors who won’t be at this year’s Jamboree.
“Don Webb passed away this past year, and I think this might be one of the first Jamborees he won’t be here for,” she says. “Larry Wageman also passed away recently and was a pretty awesome guy who had a lot of history here in Vernonia.”
That’s really what Jamboree is all about— the people who make Vernonia great.