All roads lead to Bayard for the annual Chimney Rock Pioneer Days to celebrate heritage and community pride with a variety of lively entertainment September 8-11.
The event is run by both committee and community volunteers, offering lots of free fun and competitive activities, food vendors and live entertainment for all ages.
The festivities begin Thursday at 6pm on the football field when the Bayard High School Tigers take on Perkins County. Opening ceremonies will take place at halftime, when the Pioneer Days King and Queen will be announced.
“We always choose someone established or prominent in the community, someone who has contributed to the community, a good citizen of Bayard who deserves some recognition,” said Bebe Shortall, a member of the event’s organizing committee.
The Pioneer Days celebration resumes on Friday at 8pm in the city’s Library Park with the opening of the beer garden followed by the street dance at 8.30pm. Music by DJ Prime will kick off the free entry dance.
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“It’s a fun time for people to come together, listen to music and enjoy lots of different breweries,” Shortall said.
Saturday morning activities include a breakfast, 5km run/walk and the parade. The free donation breakfast of pancakes, eggs and more is from 7 to 10 a.m. at the American Legion Hall.
“Usually it’s been a general pancake and eggs breakfast, but I hear they might change it up a bit this year,” Shortall said.
Registration for one of the Pioneer Days highlights, the “5K Mutt Strut,” begins at 7:30am, followed by the race leaving at 8:30am from Legion Park. Participating dogs will receive a bandana on race day and a chance to win fun prizes. The top three finishers will receive cash prizes along with dog-themed prizes. The 3.1-mile course covers both a sidewalk and a dirt path, with plenty of water stations for runners and dogs.
“It’s very relaxed and casual, nothing intense, a fun time to go out and run with your dog, but you’re not required to have a dog,” Shortall said. “We’ll have cash prizes for first, second and third with some fun prizes of dog-related stuff.”
After the race, parade check-in begins at 9 a.m. in the pool parking lot and begins at 11 a.m., north to south along Main Street in Bayard. Anyone is welcome to enter the parade which usually has a variety of local business and school floats, fire trucks, horses and more.
Festivities will move to Library Park, where the beer garden will reopen at noon and an assortment of food vendors will be set up throughout the park. The park will be the center of an afternoon of free activities including face painting, bounce houses, live entertainment and more.
“Everyone gathers at the library park, where there will be lots of food and craft vendors,” Shortall said. “There will be a lot of people to come and see.”
As for the competition, the horseshoe tournament will begin at 1:00 pm and the cornhole tournament will begin at 1:30 pm in the park.
“Amidst all this activity spread throughout the park, we’ve got all kinds of live entertainment going on from 1 to 5 p.m.,” Shortall said. “The stage will be constantly changing with different entertainment such as local singers and cheerleading squads.”
At 5:30 p.m., a big screen in Library Park will show the Husker football game when they take on Georgia Southern. After the game at dusk, the movie “The Bad Guys” will play on the east side of the pool park.
The street dancing will start again when Colorado’s Final Eyes Band plays at 8pm in Library Park with free admission.
Pioneer Days continues Sunday with the four-person wrestling golf tournament beginning at 10 a.m. at Chimney Rock Golf Course. Fun prizes will be awarded for the 18 holes and for the top finishers. Shortall said the donated prizes will range from prime rib dinners, gift certificates, a Yeti cooler and more. The tournament cost $280 to enter a team and includes 18 holes of play, a meal and golf carts.
“We call it the dog golf tournament because there might be people who can’t get out of bed from the night before,” Shortall said. “We’ll probably have an award for every hole, longest drive or longest putt, with some great prizes, it’s going to be a fun day.”
The final activity of the Pioneer Days, the trap shoot competition, will begin at 1:00 pm at the Chimney Rock Trap Club.
“Our motto has always been ‘all roads lead to Bayard,’ because it’s a very central town in the valley and this is just a great event for our little town to put on,” Shortall said. “It’s a lot of fun for everyone, we have good bands and we have a lot of fun at this small town festival that brings everyone out and offers everything. We invite everyone from the entire surrounding area to come and join the Bayard community for the festival.”
For festival information, search Chimney Rock Pioneer Days on Facebook or call Bebe Shortall at (308) 631-2751. For information about the golf tournament, contact Chimney Rock Golf Course at (308) 586-1606.
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