By Kalin Krohe, Panhandle Post
The 45th annual "Fur Trade Days" festival in Chadron runs July 8, 9, 10 and 11.
The four-day celebration is full of great events for the whole community including history, food, music, a carnival and more.
"The schedule is packed, it's more packed then we've ever had it," says Fur Trade Days Board President Dave Hockenbary. "Starting Thursday the carnival is going off at 5 p.m. There's 'Bands on Bordeaux' that starts on Thursday at 6 p.m. [The Bar Flies at 1st Street, between Main & Bordeaux streets], the Buckskinners camp starts on Thursday. Friday is going to be such a great time. We got our downtown family fun events going on. So we got some presenters with the Nebraska Humanities who are going to be putting on a couple things. We got a trick roper [Joan Wells] and she's going to be here doing her thing. We also got The String Beans that night [Dawes County Courthouse Gazebo], we got a band called Second Avenue playing downtown that night [Downtown Plaza, Main & 2nd streets], we got Tripwire going on a 9 p.m."
Saturday is full of events for Fur Trade Days as well.
"We're going to fire off with our parade," Hockenbary said. "Actually before the parade, there's going to be a parade of puppies, which is kind of a new thing this year. That is where if you've got a pup that you want to show off then you can sign up for that on the website [furtradedays.com] and come on down...and show off your doggie. The parade starts at 10 a.m. [10th & Main to 1st & Main streets]. After that there's a whole day of stuff. Some of the highlights would be The Bald Mountain Rounders at the courthouse lawn. There's going to be 'Nebraska Putt Putt on the Fly' downtown. There's going to be a demolition derby out at the fairgrounds. Mac's carnival is going to continue Friday and Saturday. Dylan Bloom is going to be downtown from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Another new thing we're doing this year is the firework show."
For a full list of events you can visit www.furtradedays.com
Panhandle Post asked Hockenbary how Fur Trade Days benefits the community of Chadron.
"We focus a lot on families...anything that we can do to provide entertainment for the entire family," Hockenbary said. "So when people are starting to make their travel decisions and their plans, they don't have to worry about what they're going to do with the kids...we've got that built in there for them. We're doing everything we can to get not just one or two people in, we're trying to get the entire family into town."
There will also be reunions for the Chadron High School classes of 2020 and 2021 happening during Fur Trade Days.
Another popular event is the Rotary Colter Run that will be on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. The Team George Running Club has been involved in this for 13 years.
All team members and participants are encouraged to wear their race shirts in honor of former Chadron State College Legal Studies Professor George Watson.
"So Jen [Tomka] and I have been coming back to Chadron for probably 30 plus years and most of the 30 years we have ran in the Colter Run," Team George Scholarship Co-Founder Nikki Masek said. "George Watson was always present. He was part of the Rotary Club that coordinates the entire run and he also was a participant. Every time I ran my goal was to keep him in my sight and that way I knew I was going to get a pretty decent time. He was just always there until 2008."
Watson then started having health problems.
"We found out that he had pancreatic cancer...so he was not at the race that year," Team George Scholarship Co-Founder Jen Tomka said. "We decided in his honor that we would get shirts that just said 'Team George' just to cheer George on and wish him well.
"Jen and I and my sister Lindsey; who's a family friend of George's son, just ran down to Outlaw Printers and had them print up three tank-tops...and we wore those that year in his honor," Masek said.
In 2009 the Team George Scholarship fund was created.
"George was back then and walked in the Colter Run that time and that was an awesome year for him," Tomka said.
That year there were over 100 runners wearing the Team George shirt.
"What was awesome was after the race; during the Fur Trade Parade, most of the runners kept their shirts on," Masek said. "Mr. Rishchling's high school band purchased shirts for all his band kids. So they were marching down the street in Team George shirts as well. It was just a great year to establish the running team."
Watson passed away on June 28, 2010. In his honor, the Team George Scholarship Fund has continued and shirts are still sold each year.
Proceeds from the run help fund annual scholarships for CSC Justice Studies students to participate in the Study Abroad Program.
"Over the years we've probably raised over $20,000 in proceeds to go back to the scholarship fund," Masek said. "Each year we sell a few more shirts and a few more dollars into the fund. We kind of want to keep it a good foundation there so that they can continue to offer that and hopefully take some students in 2022. We hope that people continue to wear their shirts this year and anybody that wants to purchase a shirt can do so as well. We always have a table set up at the Colter Run registration area."
Another new event this year is the Demolition Derby. That will be held at the Dawes County Fairgrounds on Saturday at 1 p.m.
"This is the first year so we're pretty excited," Demolition Derby organizer Kevin Wohlers said. "Hopefully it is going to be a good turn out. Me and my buddy were talking about it and thought that Chadron needed to get one again because it's been probably 20 some years since we've had one. We approached the fair board and they thought it was a great idea. There's going to be food vendors there. The Chadron High School will be doing the vending for the Washington, D.C. trip so that's a plus."
Panhandle Post asked Dave Hockenbary what his favorite part about Fur Trade Days is.
"There's so much to Fur Trade Days," Hockenbary said. "Being a musical person myself I always enjoy that aspect of it. But I'd probably have to say the carnival man, the carnival is fun."
Hockenbary said planning Fur Trade Days is hard work.
"It really is a ton of work," Hockenbary said. "There's a fantastic group of people who come together for the Fur Trade Board. We've spent essentially the last two years planning this because last year we didn't have it. A lot of our entertainment was already booked last year so we were able to carry that over for this year such as Dylan Bloom and the carnival. It's literally an entire year of planning and scheduling...and booking and trying to piece things together so that it all flows."
Hockenbary said carnival tickets are still available. He urges the community to purchase tickets from the local banks in Chadron or order them at furtradedays.com.