Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Forest Festival Set For This Weekend

By JOHN MILLER

Gurdon's 17th Annual Forest Festival is shaping up to be one of the best ever.

Freddie Horne, chairman of the Forest Festival committee, told Gurdon's Rotary Club, during its regular weekly meeting Thursday, Oct. 16, 109 booths have been registered to date, with the War Memorial Park Carnival rides contracted to be on hand as well.

Along with the arts and craft booths, including food vendors, and the carnival, there will be plenty of music to keep everyone on hand entertained throughout the day. The musical acts, Horne said, include the LeMay Family, Sammy Crosley (an Elvis impersonator), the Hawkins Family, Crystal King doing bluegrass, and plenty of local talent.

The local entertainers include Terry Hughes, Elizabeth Sheppherd, LeAndra Jester, the Heaven Bound Trio and the Ouachita River Bottom Band, among others.

The Mountain Dew Band will be on tap to play at Saturday night's street dance.

And, there's still more for visitors at the festival to do. Terry Norris is again in charge of the antique car show, with a large group expected again this year.

Horne said he has traveled the state with Norris, visiting other car shows inviting the best of the best to the Forest Festival.

While making the rounds of the car shows, Horne and Norris also advertise the festival, while looking at other shows and events that may be of interest to Gurdonites.

Once again, the festival will kick off early with the Kiwanis Club Pancake Breakfast. This will be held at the Senior Adult Center, starting at 7 a.m.

When the visitors are fully fed, they will have plenty of opportunity to work off their breakfast with the activities of the day.

These activities include the festival jail to lock up unruly tourists, mini-train rides to keep the feet from getting to tired and sore, and plenty of arts and crafts booths.

International Paper Co. is helping with the log loading contest on Front Street at noon. This is a good time to see how the big boys handle timber.

Also at noon, the festival will officially open, with the welcoming speeches on Main Street. These will be followed by political speeches, should any politicians show up and want to talk. Also, the Gurdon High School Band will be performing in front of the stage on Main.

Other events at the festival include the parade at 10 a.m., the log sawing contest, the CD&E Auction at 4 p.m. and the Halloween costume contest judging at 5 o'clock.

Those wanting a souvenir can purchase tee-shirts for $12. Horne said the CD&E Club is taking special orders for smaller adult sizes and children's sizes. Otherwise, the shirts will be large and bigger.

He said the money raised by the festival is returned to Gurdon. This is done in the form of CD&E scholarships, sending students to Boys' and Girls' State and purchasing equipment for the Gurdon public schools.

Some of the equipment the CD&E Club has bought includes a video lab for the GHS speech department, video equipment for the business classes and a television and VCR for the primary school.

Horne said the festival attracts visitors from across North America, all coming to Gurdon to have a good time.

He said the Hoo Hoo International Snark of the Universe is scheduled to appear at this year's festival as well.

According to Horne, other cities have called asking for advice on how to run their festivals as successfully as Gurdon's Forest Festival.

His response is to work hard at it. The festival, Horne said, is for the entire county, not just Gurdon, as it brings visitors to Clark County for the weekend.

An added attraction at this year's festival will be a dunking booth. Gurdon Mayor Rick Smith has agreed to sit in the booth to help raise money for the South Clark County Rescue Unit, as the proceeds from the booth go to the unit.

For the runners in the crowd, there is the Eric Griffin Memorial Run for students up to age 12. The money raised from this event will be used for the Eric Griffin Scholarship.

As Horne said, Gurdon's Forest Festival is a people's festival. There is literally something for everyone to do and have a good time.