Quincy Chamber of Commerce Announces the 72nd annual Plumas County Fair Parade
This year, the Quincy Chamber of Commerce will show its appreciation and gratitude for the Plumas County Fair with the 72nd annual Fair Parade on Saturday, Aug. 12. The parade will commence at 10 a.m. with the annual Anvil Opening Ceremony.
David Adrian and family have been starting the fair parade with the boom of an anvil for at least the past 30 years.It is one of the pieces of local history that makes this parade unique.
According to Adrian, “There are those in the secret Clamper association that would say that no one knows how this was started because no one has a sufficient recollection of the inception of this ritual.”
In fact, Adrian brought this ritual to Quincy from Weaverville where the anvil ceremony used to kick off the 4th of July escapades at 6 a.m. That tradition began with Archie Arbuckle in 1918.
In 1963, when Adrian was a business teacher at Quincy High School, he and Vernon “Duke” Aaserdue thought that the vocational arts and college prep program should do something of a unique nature to kick off the parade in Quincy and the anvil start was born.
Another time-honored tradition is the presentation of the colors by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The VFW dates back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service to the country.
Today, Quincy VFW Post 3825 continues the tradition of providing services to veterans and honors the American flag with the presentation of colors every year at the head of the Fair Parade.
The organization of the fair parade is no easy task and requires many hours of service by the chamber board and the Fair Parade Committee headed up by Cheryl Kolb. Kolb started with the chamber in 2012 as a part-time administrative assistant and worked with Rose Dembosz on Fair Parade planning. The following year, Cheryl took up the charge and has been effectively leading her team since.
“This year we have a great group of people helping, bigger than I’ve ever had, which has been a huge blessing,” said Kolb. The Fair Parade team this year consists of Lisa Kelly, Jennifer Bromby, Kris Miravalle, Scott Cash, Janice Haman and Susan Scarlett.
“Planning takes a tremendous amount of time and effort and requires coordination between the Plumas-Sierra County Fair, Plumas County Board of Supervisors, Plumas County Department of Public Works, Caltrans, CHP, Sheriff’s Office, Quincy Volunteer Fire Department and the numerous individuals who donate their time and energy to make this happen,” noted Kolb.
“The committee starts planning around January. As always, you will see Cheryl dash about coordinating activities, entries and events with the help of her children: Alyssa, Sydnee and Kaela, who have been helping me at the registration booth for the last two years,” said Kolb. “Sydnee and son Logan have both also helped with the Fair as Chipper.”
The parade itself is limited to 100 entrants. Parade entries are organized into six divisions and within each division are unique categories.
The chamber invites the community to come down and watch the parade — bring lawn chairs or merely sit on the curb or the courthouse lawn.
Prizes await the most dazzling fair parade entrants. Cash awards are given to first, second and third place in the three major divisions as are ribbon awards for first, second and third place in all divisions. For more information on the Fair Parade, visit the chamber website at quincychamber.com, go to Plumas-sierracountyfair.net or call Kolb at 375-0086.
