Lamar Days, 126 Years of Prairie Proud

The carnival is in town, for the start of Lamar’s birthday celebration. Crabtree Amusements Carnival started putting up stakes at the north end of Willow Creek Park, taking advantage of the sunshine and hoping it stays that way for their opening this Friday evening at 5pm.

By late Thursday afternoon, some of the contestants in the annual Wild West BBQ Coo-off and Backyard Grillers Competition were picking out their assigned sites in the park, just south of the carnival. The annual cook off competition will be held Friday and Saturday, for local grillers who are defending the traveling trophy, to the commercial contestants, who will vie for the big bucks in various BBQ categories.

Following the “Wake Up Lamar” breakfast at the Elks Lodge, hosted by the Lamar Chamber and City of Lamar, the barbecued foods will continue to cook, ready for the public later that day. Other Friday activities include the “No Booze Cruise” with Cops, starting at Sonic on North Main Street at 6pm and the Spring Shoot Out, stock car race is set to start at 6:30pm at Lamar Speedway.

Saturday will feature the annual Lamar Lions Breakfast from 6:30am to 9am, downtown at the Masonic Temple on South Main Street. Parade entries should start lining up by 9am on East Olive Street in the vicinity of Safeway and Rancher’s Supply for the 10am start. This year’s parade theme is Prairie Proud, featuring Bill and Dottie McCaslin as this year’s King and Queen. Residents can shop the 8am sidewalk sale until 2pm, head out to the park for the 17th annual Rod Run Car Show and take advantage of all the bargains from all the vendors in the park for the weekend.

The Senior Center Ham and Bean lunch is set for the Center on East Olive at Noon, a 1pm pie auction will be held at the park pavilion, All the Right Moves Dancers will provide entertainment from 2 to 3pm. At 3pm, a Fashion Review will take place at the park gazebo and the Colorado Junior Rodeo will be underway at the fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 3pm.

The annual Poker Run starts from the park on Sunday at 8am and at 1pm, the Lamar Rotary will conduct their Ducky Dash at Lamar Canal and Main Street.

Area residents will need to be on their toes, because, as luck would have it, the weatherman is not going to cooperate for the weekend. The forecast calls for a 40% chance of rain for Friday night, increasing to 60% for Saturday, 50% for Saturday night and Sunday.

Download the Complete Lamar Days 2012 Schedule by clicking HERE!

By Russ Baldwin