Merle and Vickie Morford, who’ve chaired Chadron’s Fur Trade Days Committee for more than a decade, say they’re stepping down.
The couple announced their decision last week at the celebration’s “debriefing” meeting, which brought together representatives of the various groups and organizations who help with Fur Trade Days by providing services or running specific events.
Morford told the meeting that he and his wife felt they’d done what they could for the celebration and committee, and were ready to turn it over to someone else.
No volunteers have stepped forward yet, but Chamber of Commerce administrative assistant Karyn Snook and city staffer Barb McDaniel have agreed to serve as Fur Trade Days contacts to help coordinate some of the early planning for next year.
The general consensus of the debriefing for this year’s celebration was that, although attendance was down slightly, it was still very successful with well-managed events that were well-received by the public with everyone having a good time.
The most positive report came from the car show sponsored by the Corvette Club. The show moved from downtown to the upper loop of Wilson Park and saw the number of entries nearly double with attendance possibly more than doubling.
Visitors most frequently cited greater parking and shade as the biggest advantages from the downtown location, leading to a consensus that the show should stay in the park next year.
Also on the positive side was the Chadron Rotary Club Colter Run. It drew a record number of runners for the 5-K and 10-K runs…possibly the result of moving up the start time slightly.
The event drawing the most debriefing concern was the Friday night historic fur trade era flag ceremony at the Courthouse gazebo. Organizer and Museum of the Fur Trade director Gail Potter said attendance was down sharply, with options for a different time or location to be explored.
Since the Fur Trade Days locations and events don’t lend themselves to charging admission or entry fees, finances have always been shaky, and Morford told the meeting that some type of fund-raising needs to be implemented for next year.
Among the ideas discussed are raffling a buffalo robe or trade blanket, a dinner theatre, memberships, sponsorships, and souvenir items. A committee will be named to pursue the issue.
The parade drew about 90 entries, similar to most years and in the mid-range of parades in other area communities so far this summer. The post-parade Chamber Buffalo Burger BBQ served about 600…also similar to most years…and attendance for the second year of the Cemetery Tour was comparable to last year.
Numbers at the Buckskinners’ Rendezvous were down 2 or 3 camps from last year, but the number of people taking advantage of the free Saturday afternoon shuttle to the Rendezvous dropped sharply with each of the 3 vehicle making just one run each.
The Courthouse Square flea market drew 34 vendors, about a dozen of them providing food, and organizers hope to see the overall vendor numbers increase next year.
Keep Chadron Beautiful director Susan Hucke told the meeting that the cleanliness of the Courthouse area…which hosted events Friday and Saturday…drew many compliments during the celebration, and gave she much of the credit to the volunteers who helped with disposing of trash and recyclables
The Fur Trade Days Commission is asking that anyone looking to sponsor events for next year to get them the information as quickly as possible to facilitate publicity, and that anyone wanting to help with planning and implementation contact McDaniel at city hall or Chadd Arner at 430-2392.