Posted 11:14 pm Thursday, September 27, 2012
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Pow Wow fest could draw thousands
CHANDLER – About 6,000 to 7,000 people are expected to attend the Chandler Pow Wow, a community gathering scheduled Oct. 13 and the biggest event of the year in Chandler.
Attractions will include a new horseshow tournament, the return of a street dance, a parade, food, live music, a chili cook-off, a quilt show, arts and crafts.
Chandler Area Chamber of Commerce and the city of Chandler will present the festival, while Chandler Lions Club will stage the parade. About 30 people will assist with presentation of the cooperative production.
“It's something that everybody loves to come to,” Sheila Haskins, city administrative secretary, said.
The festival showcases the town and boosts local businesses, John Camper, the chamber's board president, said, noting that festival-goers spend money with vendors and local businesses.
The city participates out of a desire to support the town, Ms. Haskins said.
Most festival attractions will be in Winchester Park, a city facility.
Festivities will begin early in the morning and run until late at night, Camper said.
Vendors are expected to be set up in the park by 7:30 a.m., some of them serving breakfast, and there will be activities all day, Ms. Haskins said.
The festival will climax with an evening street dance at 5 p.m. in front of Wade's Restaurant, featuring live bands. It has been several years since the Pow Wow featured a street dance.
A new attraction will be a horseshow tournament in the city's new nine-pit horseshoe lay out in Winchester Park. Sign-up will be at 8 a.m. and the tournament will start at 9 a.m.
“We expect probably 50 players from all over, not just the area, but people will be traveling from all over the state for this tournament,” Ms. Haskins said. There will be cash prizes.
“Freedom is not free” will be the theme of a parade at 10 a.m., which will have wounded warriors who are Purple Heart recipients as grand marshals.
More than 100 parade entries are expected, including floats of elementary children, bands, cub scouts, the lions club, football team, cheerleaders, dance studios, the mayor and many others.
Attractions will include a new horseshow tournament, the return of a street dance, a parade, food, live music, a chili cook-off, a quilt show, arts and crafts.
Chandler Area Chamber of Commerce and the city of Chandler will present the festival, while Chandler Lions Club will stage the parade. About 30 people will assist with presentation of the cooperative production.
“It's something that everybody loves to come to,” Sheila Haskins, city administrative secretary, said.
The festival showcases the town and boosts local businesses, John Camper, the chamber's board president, said, noting that festival-goers spend money with vendors and local businesses.
The city participates out of a desire to support the town, Ms. Haskins said.
Most festival attractions will be in Winchester Park, a city facility.
Festivities will begin early in the morning and run until late at night, Camper said.
Vendors are expected to be set up in the park by 7:30 a.m., some of them serving breakfast, and there will be activities all day, Ms. Haskins said.
The festival will climax with an evening street dance at 5 p.m. in front of Wade's Restaurant, featuring live bands. It has been several years since the Pow Wow featured a street dance.
A new attraction will be a horseshow tournament in the city's new nine-pit horseshoe lay out in Winchester Park. Sign-up will be at 8 a.m. and the tournament will start at 9 a.m.
“We expect probably 50 players from all over, not just the area, but people will be traveling from all over the state for this tournament,” Ms. Haskins said. There will be cash prizes.
“Freedom is not free” will be the theme of a parade at 10 a.m., which will have wounded warriors who are Purple Heart recipients as grand marshals.
More than 100 parade entries are expected, including floats of elementary children, bands, cub scouts, the lions club, football team, cheerleaders, dance studios, the mayor and many others.
The 50-minute parade will begin on Martin Street behind Winchester Park, move north along Martin Street to Farm to Market Road 315, turn south and proceed into the park.
More than 100 vendors of food, arts and crafts and other items are expected to set up in Winchester Park. “We had about 90 last year and there's more interest this year,” Ms.
Haskins said.
Food booths will offer egg rolls, sausage on a stick, funnel cakes, fruit sorbets, hamburgers, barbecue, tacos, cotton candy, popcorn, jelly, jams and baked goods including pies, cakes and cookies.
About 30-35 arts and crafts booths will display a wide assortment: jewelry, purses, homemade items, custom designs, flower arrangements and items for Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Booths will be operated by churches, businesses, scouts, health care providers and others.
Anyone interested in setting up a booth may call city hall, 903-849-6853.
The Pow Wow will feature “a lot of things for kids,” Ms. Haskins said. Besides the parade, there will be bounce houses, a dunking booth, face painting, photography and free train rides.
Throughout the day, live entertainment and talent will perform.
Festival-goers will be able to see the University of Texas versus Oklahoma University football game on a TV furnished by Northland Communications.
The city will sponsor a chili cook-off, with proceeds to benefit Chandler Historical Museum. Cooking will begin at 11 a.m. and judging at 1 p.m.
A quilt show will be 1 to 5 p.m. in Chandler Community Center.
The chamber uses funds raised during the Pow Wow to fund scholarships and donations to community causes, such as Keep Chandler Beautiful and Keep Brownsboro Beautiful, Camper said.
More than 100 vendors of food, arts and crafts and other items are expected to set up in Winchester Park. “We had about 90 last year and there's more interest this year,” Ms.
Haskins said.
Food booths will offer egg rolls, sausage on a stick, funnel cakes, fruit sorbets, hamburgers, barbecue, tacos, cotton candy, popcorn, jelly, jams and baked goods including pies, cakes and cookies.
About 30-35 arts and crafts booths will display a wide assortment: jewelry, purses, homemade items, custom designs, flower arrangements and items for Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Booths will be operated by churches, businesses, scouts, health care providers and others.
Anyone interested in setting up a booth may call city hall, 903-849-6853.
The Pow Wow will feature “a lot of things for kids,” Ms. Haskins said. Besides the parade, there will be bounce houses, a dunking booth, face painting, photography and free train rides.
Throughout the day, live entertainment and talent will perform.
Festival-goers will be able to see the University of Texas versus Oklahoma University football game on a TV furnished by Northland Communications.
The city will sponsor a chili cook-off, with proceeds to benefit Chandler Historical Museum. Cooking will begin at 11 a.m. and judging at 1 p.m.
A quilt show will be 1 to 5 p.m. in Chandler Community Center.
The chamber uses funds raised during the Pow Wow to fund scholarships and donations to community causes, such as Keep Chandler Beautiful and Keep Brownsboro Beautiful, Camper said.
Talk about starting the Pow Wow surfaced in 1987, recalled Dorothy McHam, Martha Copeland and Rosie Bussman, who were instrumental in the effort.
Other communities had events, such as the Jacksonville Tomato Festival, and organizers of the Pow Wow decided Chandler should have its own, they said.
In 1988, the Chandler Cherokee Pow Wow was launched by volunteers, with the name partly inspired by Cherokee Indian-Union battles in the early 1800s in the Chandler area.
But complaints came from the Cherokees that the festival was not an official Cherokee Pow Wow, so the name was changed in 1990 to simply the Chandler Pow Wow.
It was amazing how everybody worked together to initiate the Pow Wow, and still do, Ms. McHam, Ms. Copeland and Ms. Bussman agreed.
The Pow Wow was downtown for many years, but eventually grew too big for the site and was moved to Winchester Park.
Other communities had events, such as the Jacksonville Tomato Festival, and organizers of the Pow Wow decided Chandler should have its own, they said.
In 1988, the Chandler Cherokee Pow Wow was launched by volunteers, with the name partly inspired by Cherokee Indian-Union battles in the early 1800s in the Chandler area.
But complaints came from the Cherokees that the festival was not an official Cherokee Pow Wow, so the name was changed in 1990 to simply the Chandler Pow Wow.
It was amazing how everybody worked together to initiate the Pow Wow, and still do, Ms. McHam, Ms. Copeland and Ms. Bussman agreed.
The Pow Wow was downtown for many years, but eventually grew too big for the site and was moved to Winchester Park.
