NORTH COUNTY – This weekend brings a variety of events to the North County including Heritage Days and the Northwest Miners Rally in Oroville and the Garlic Festival in Tonasket.
The fifth-annual Oroville Heritage Days is presented by the Okanogan Borderlands Historical Society and features an Antique Tractor Show, a dance on Friday, the Heritage Walk, Farmer’s Market, Art in the Park and crafts demonstrations.
The Cascade and Columbia River Railroad will provide a train engine for people to check out at the end of the tracks on the east side of Main Street (Hwy. 97).
On Saturday, the Tractor Show includes an “Around the Block” procession, an extra slow race and a two block race. The general show is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16 with the Around the Block procession at 12:30 p.m. and the races beginning at 1 p.m.
Music featuring Kent Halverson and six other groups is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bruce Tweedy and his musical glasses will be at Yo Yo’s Restaurant at 10 am. and 2 p.m. Ice cream sundaes and Centennial cake will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The multi-talented Tweedy will perform his last ever fast draw demonstration at the Depot steps at 12 p.m. before permanently hanging up his guns.
The NW Miners Rally and Gold Festival is a three day event Aug. 15-17 at the City Park (behind the Visitor Information Center). The event, sponsored by the Resources Coalition, attracts small-scale and recreational miners from throughout the northwest, but everyone is invited to come and learn about prospecting, according to Mark Erickson, president of the coalition.
The rally, now in its sixth year, will include demonstrations of various techniques in small scale gold mining, as well as allow people a chance for some hands-on learning. A tour of Kinross’ Buckhorn Project is planned for Friday. The tour is on a first-come-first-served basis with just 20 tickets available and starts from the park at 9 a.m.
The Miner’s Rally itself will begin at noon on Saturday. “Prospector Ed” from Riverside will be among the guest speakers, according to Erickson.
The rally goes from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. There is no charge to participate and there will be free drawings for prizes three times a day on Saturday.
On Aug. 15 and 16, History Park will be the setting of the Okanogan River Garlic Festival, hosted by the Community Cultural Center (CCC) of Tonasket.
From noon to 8 p.m. on the 15th and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 16th, there will be arts and crafts booths, clothing booths, food vendors and lots of garlic.
The biggest change in this year’s festival from previous years is that there will be an entire booth dedicated to activities for children. These activities include a clown, face painting, storytelling, crafts and games.
The entertainment schedule for the festival will be posted at the CCC as well as the co-op and that anyone who has questions can call (509) 486-1328.
