Carlton celebrates Fun Days

Carlton Fun Days will include a variety of activities Friday and Saturday, June 26-27, from booths and a beer garden in the park to a parade and plenty of music.

The traditional festival will be held mostly in and around Ladd Park, downtown. Other activities will be held in various spots, such as pancake breakfast in the fire hall, which will also serve as the starting line for Shanny’s Run; the With Courage cornhole tournament in the soccer arena; and the parade from Yamhill Carlton Elementary School to downtown via Third and Main streets.

“Fun Days is a great way to meet your neighbors,” said Brian Rake, former mayor and the volunteer in charge of vendors for the festival. “It’s Carlton’s celebration of itself.”

He grew up in Carlton and has memories of Fun Days back to the 1970s. He remembers helping in the fire department’s bingo booth and enjoying children’s games.

Rake said he’s happy that today’s younger residents are embracing the festival.

“It’s all about the community coming together,” he said.

Vendors will be open in the park from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 26, and again starting at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Big Larz Beer Garden, named after the late Mike Larson, will pour beverages from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

There also will be teen games in the park Friday evening.

Also in the park, musicians playing Friday night include Zach Abbe from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and the Double D T Band from 8 to 10 p.m.

The cornhole tournament will last from 4 to 9 p.m. at the soccer pitch. Entry is $40 per team, with proceeds benefiting With Courage, a nonprofit organization that helps people with breast cancer.

A kids’ area adjacent to the tournament costs $10 and includes a bounce house, face-painting and soccer. Food will be available there, as well.

Saturday will start with the pancake breakfast from 7 to 9:30 a.m.. Cost is $10 for those 11 years old and older; $6 for those 5 to 10; and free to children younger than 4. The event is a fundraiser for the Carlton Volunteer Firefighters Association, which is marking the 20th anniversary of the fire district this year.

Nearby, Shanny’s Run registration will start at 7 that morning, with runners taking off at 8 a.m. This is the last Shanny’s Run, which was started by the family of Shanny Fugere, a Yamhill Carlton graduate and champion runner who was serving in the Navy when she died in 2015.

Next year, the event will be organized by With Courage.

This year’s car show will open at 8 a.m. Saturday on Pine and Monroe streets and in the parking lot near Ken Wright Cellars. Entering costs $20; looking is free. Rake said owners of classic vehicles are encouraged to drive them in the parade, then park at the show.

With the theme “America 250,” parade entries will line up at 9 a.m. at the grade school. The parade will move out at 10 a.m., traveling north on Third, then west on Main through the downtown area. Walkers, horses, floats, heavy equipment and other entries are expected.

Families can demonstrate their singing skills with karaoke from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Karaoke was wildly popular last year, Rake said, so the time period has been extended this year.

Children can try an obstacle course at 11 a.m.

Helicopter rides by Jerry Trimble Helicopters, sponsored by Aileron Hospitality, will be offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reservations need to be made in advance at tinyurl.com/47r2a87a. Payment of $50 per person will be completed onsite, with proceeds going to With Courage.

Also Saturday, the Carlton pool will host a free swim from noon to 8 p.m.

Saturday’s musical line-up in the park includes local favorite Caden Livingston from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m.; Night Cap from 4 to 6 p.m.; and Johnny Wheels & the Swamp Donkeys from 7 to 10 p.m.