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| Madman presides over the memorial service held at the Hobo Cemetery in 2007 |
City gears up for Hobo Days 2008
By Mary Loden, Of the News-Tribune
The 108th National Hobo Convention will convene in Britt August 8-9 and hobos from all across the nation are already making their annual pilgrimage.
To kick start the weekend a Hobo Gospel concert and supper will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 6 at St. Patricks's Catholic Church. Proceeds from these events will go towards the renovation of the National Hobo Museum.
A chicken croissant and salad bar supper will be served from 5:30 to 6:45 and wll be catered by Mary Jo's Hobob House.
At 7 p.m. there will be a Hobo Gospel concert featuring Luther the Jet and the Serenity Sisters . The cost is $6 for the supper and concert and $4 for the concert only.
Hobo SLC's Kiddie Parade is back on the agenda after being missing the past few years
The parade, for children 0-11, will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7, in front of the Hobo Museum. Every child will receive a treat and prizes will be awarded to the best dressed boy and girl hobo. The parade is sponsored by Hobo SLC and the Hobo Foundation.
The official lighting of the Jungle Fire at the Hobo Jungle will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7 and the following morning hobos and townsfolk alike will pay their final respect to seven hobos who have caught the westbound since August of last year.
“I actually look for a lot to come this year because of the number being burried. They'll want to pay their last respects,” said Mary Jo Hughes, Hobo Foundation treasurer.
Although all seven will be honored the ashes of Slo Freight, Whittler, Jungle Jack and Liberty Justice are returning to Britt to be burined in the Hobo Cemetery, the east portion of Evergreen Cemetery.
Linda Hughes, Foundation Board President and currator of the Hobo Museum explained that Side Door Pullman, Gas Can Paddy and Jungle Jack were all “bridgers,” which means they made the transition from steam engines to disel trains.
“Sidedoor's friend from Arizona called me,” Linda Hughes said. “He said Sidedoor always said he had a convention to go to but they never knew til after he died and they saw it in the paper that it was the Hobo Convention in Iowa.”
Hobo Days may be all about the hobos, but the whole town has joined to make it one big festive event.
Darcy Eisenman, Deputy City Clerk and Hobo Days coordinator was surrounded by paperwork and maps last week as she mulled over where to place the tables for the upcoming flea market.
It is also her job to line up volunteers for the inflatables games and rides, coordinate activities lined up by other committee members and figure out where everything needs to be placed.
“We (Hobo Foundation and City) work well together so it all combines into one big happy weekend,” Eisenman said. “Its' always fallen together in the past.”
Planning for such a huge event takes most of the year. “It takes me a couple weeks after to tie up the loose ends and file tax reports into September.,” she said. “Then it slows until I start again in February with the sending out of applications or invitations.”
For the parade Eisenman said she sends out hundreds of invitations to local businesses and anyone who has ever participated before in srrounding towns.
Sheltered Reality, a Christian drum corp., was new to the event last year and wll make another appearance. “They are very entertaining and after them the Ministerial Association in Britt will provide music. They do just as nice a job as hiring out a band,” she said.
“I always think I'm pretty well prepared, then the last few weeks I feel like I'm on a really fast slide,” Eisenman said.
But more things are being taken out of her hands each year and she feel greatful. “Farmer's Trust has taken over the Walk/Run. That is one less thing I have to deal with,” she said. “Todd Hughes handles the car show and Phyllis Steinberg does the crafts. They take over. I'm just here for advertising, copies and advice and that helps alot.”
“It does get to be difficult to get volunteers. So many have done this so many years and they're getting burned out,” Eisenman said.. “But I've been lucky, a lot of people just keep coming back.”
She agreed the whole event is definitely a community effort. “The parade alone requires 10 people to get things lined up. Mulligan Stew is cooked and served by the After Prom committee and the West Hancock Cheerleaders clean all the vegetables.
Different organizations such as Ichurch groups, Boy Scouts, cheerleaders, the volleyball team, FCA and the Junior Class, usually man the giant inflatables and get paid an hourly wage for their efforts. But each inflatable may require up to three people. So, when broken into four-hour shifts, that is 12 people times 13 inflatables per day. It requires a lot of workers and helper Eisenman said. and it is up to her to see that every time slot is filled.
The food and concessions is another applicaton process that Eisenman oversees and getting a wide variety of food is no easy task. Then there is the far-to-numerous-to-mention electrical conncections required by all the food vendors, inflatable rides and the flea market. “It's just all those things you don't think about,” Eisnman said.
“The first year I was pretty overwhelmed - and the second and third year,” Eisenman said with a wry smile. “I'm still pretty overwhelmed, but at least I have a grasp on it. It's taken awhile.”
Story created Jul 29, 2008 - 12:49:48 CDT.
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