Lawnmower races are just one of
several events at the McCleary Bear Festival.
McCleary Bear Festival
back in early July
Check out their website for this year's events: http://mcclearybearfestival.org/
By Craig Murphy
Vidette Associate Editor
This article first appeared in 2002
If it's July, it must be Bear Festival time in McCleary.
The 44th annual McCleary Bear Festival runs from Friday, July
12 through Sunday, July 14, 2002. (It's July 7-9, 2006)
The event began in 1959, as the Second Growth Festival. Former
McCleary Mayor Ellsworth Curran, now with the McCleary Historical
Society, was involved with the festival when it began.
In 1955, then-Mayor Ralph Roser called for the formation of a
Community Action Study Committee, and selected Curran as the
chairman. The following year, the committee recommended an annual
community celebration be started.
The first festival took place in 1959, and immediately became
known for one event: the bear hunt. "Bears would destroy
young trees," Curran recalled. "So the tree companies
would hire trappers to kill the bears. A lot of people came to
hunt bear."
Newspapers from New York, Seattle, Los Angeles and other places
soon picked up on people who were protesting the killing of the
bears. "They picked up on protests by people who didn't
want the bears killed," Curran said. "That got us a
lot of publicity.
"There was a group of protesters who came and were named
the SOB - Save Our Bears - group," Curran said with a chuckle.
"So some local residents had a counter group, SOT - Save
Our Trees. A lot of media came for the event."
Curran said the event and the surrounding publicity changed the
image of McCleary. "People knew McCleary as the town with
the Bear Festival," he said. "People here had a lot
more pride in the city."
The bear eating contest was later replaced with bear stew. Kathy
Elofson, who has been involved with the Bear Festival from the
beginning, said the McCleary Fire Department volunteers cook
the stew all night Friday. Some 500 gallons will be made, with
McCleary resident Sue Michalak adding the seasoning.
Bear stew will be cooked in a new location this year. Fire departments
volunteers donated their labor to put up a new park kitchen,
completing the outside structure of the building in mid-June.
The rest of the kitchen is expected to be done in time for the
Bear Festival.
In addition to the regular bear stew, there will be a pot of
vegetarian stew for the first time this year.
Activities taking place on Friday include an "Instant Art"
activity at the park, sponsored by the library. There is Kids
Day in Beerbower Park from noon-4 p.m. with music by Perpetual
Motion, a carnival beginning at 4 p.m., and a baseball tournament
later. At 7 p.m., the Queen's Coronation for the McCleary Bear
Festival royalty court will be held at the McCleary School. The
evening's festivities will wrap up with a street dance from 8:30
p.m.-midnight at Beerbower Park with music provided by Perpetual
Motion.
Saturday starts with a breakfast and silent auction at the United
Methodist Church from 7-10 a.m. and then the "Run from the
Bears" at 8 a.m. Following that will be baseball at the
park at 9 a.m., and a book sale and children's program at the
library starting at 10.
The children's parade begins at 11:45 (participants can register
that day at the library), followed at noon by the grand parade.
The Bear Festival float will be going to other parades during
the summer as well.
Once the parade is over, the bear stew will be served from 1-3
p.m. in Beerbower Park. Entertainment will be provided. At the
same time, that morning's silent auction continues at the VFW
Hall down the street, and the VFW Auxiliary is also putting on
a bake sale from 1-4 p.m. Grocery bingo is set for 2-4 p.m.,
also at the VFW Hall.
A soap box derby is tentatively scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
The day finishes with a family movie, sponsored by McCleary Video,
on 4th Street from 8-10 p.m.
After the 7-10:30 a.m. Sunday breakfast at United Methodist Church,
there will be baseball in the park at 9 a.m., along with the
arts and crafts and carnival going all day. A motorcycle show
takes place at the McCleary Texaco from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. From noon-2
p.m. in the park the library is sponsoring a senior reading table.
Other events on Sunday include music by Bruce Hughes outside
The Coffee Shop from noon-2 p.m., lawnmower races at the school
starting at 1 p.m., and afternoon entertainment at the park stage.
There will also be a McCleary Hometown Reunion at the McCleary
Museum from 1-4 p.m.
Festival buttons can be purchased for $2 from local businesses,
royalty court members or festival organizers, and allow admission
to most activities.
The Bear Festival attracts an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people
a year.
|
