Good days for the community

Almost 20,000 hit Steamboat park to make Oahe Days a big success

By David Montgomery
Capital Journal staff
Published/Last Modified on Monday, Jun 22, 2009 - 12:23:36 am CDT

PIERRE — Laurie Gregg took her family to Steamboat Park this weekend for Oahe Days — and said the activities there can’t be beat.

“We were here all three days. We loved the weekend,” Gregg said. “The kids got to try out the kayaks. And we loved the motocross. That was the kids’ favorite part.”

Gregg and her family were among almost 20,000 people to attend Oahe Days, according to organizers. That’s an increase of approximately 30 percent over last year.

David Montgomery | Capital Journal
Balloon twister David Lucas (from left) creates a balloon animal while Jazzlyn Rombough, 3, and Joslynn Parmely, 6, watch during Oahe Days this weekend.
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“I think Oahe Days is becoming a bigger and bigger event,” said Oahe Days chair Scott Olson. “We’re looking at increasing it every year, refining it and making it a bigger and bigger success.”

The event also helped impact the local community. Both vendors at Oahe Days and local businesses saw an increase in traffic this weekend.

“It’s been quite a bit busier,” said Mike Row, assistant manager at DJ’s Clark convenience store. “There’s been more boats and traffic and people coming up from the park.”

Melody Beierle, desk clerk at the Days Inn, said her hotel was packed.

“We were full,” Beierle said. “We were very busy all weekend.”

Frank Denton is a Pierre native who set up a vendor tent for his Great Dakota Bowl Company at Oahe Days. He said he sold almost 30 pieces of shaped wooden bowls — or 10 percent of what he’ll sell in typical year.

“For me it’s been good,” Denton said. “This is my home town. A lot of the locals know me and they collect my stuff.”

The impact on many local residents was the opportunity to have fun doing events which rarely come to Pierre. Evelyn Putzier went to Oahe Days with her family and said the children with her loved the motocross stunt riders.

“We came down for the motocross, and that was excellent,” Putzier said. “The kids really enjoyed that.”

One new event this year was a golf contest where people could try to chip golf balls into an offshore boat. Winners got to fire off a black powder rifle, and proceeds will benefit the South Dakota Discovery Center & Aquarium. Kristie Maher, executive director of the Discovery Center, said the golf event was a big success.

“It’s been really popular,” said Maher. “We were really swamped for a while. People have been having fun — and coming back.”

Maher said more than 30 people managed to hit a golf ball into the boat. The event raised about $1,000 for the Discovery Center.

“We’ve had 3-year-olds all the way up to way past that having fun doing this,” Maher said.

Gregg said her family wishes Oahe Days wasn’t just once a year.

“I think this is absolutely one of the best ways to spend a weekend,” Gregg said. “It’s a gorgeous weekend, and so many activities for everybody.”

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Comments

14 comment(s)

Bill wrote on Jun 30, 2009 6:20 PM:

" What a great time ! I wish people would have been more considerate where they tossed their trash tho ! "

Hoople Head wrote on Jun 30, 2009 1:23 PM:

" Oahe Days was a success, and thanks to the VOLUNTEERS who worked during and before hand to make it so! I really liked that there was some live entertainment in the tent before the bands. Good job! "

citizen wrote on Jun 30, 2009 12:18 PM:

" Awesome weekend, what would it take to bring in a bigger name for entertainment... Judd H. was great but saturday night was lacking. Why not Korey and the Fireflies again...just food for thought. "

Sarah wrote on Jun 29, 2009 8:17 PM:

" I had a great time and so did my children. I wish that Pierre put on more activities like this throughout the year. Thank you to the organizers, I know you put in tremendous effort to pull Oahe Days 09 off. Yes, the food is over priced and some more vendors would be great but that is how these things work. I do miss the raft races though, we always had a good time entering that. "

Thankful wrote on Jun 24, 2009 9:44 PM:

" Our family attended the festivities all had a great time. I have only one suggestion. PLEASE re-think who the vendors are next year. The craft vendors were all pretty cool and had unique items but there needs to be more of them and also more food vendors with LOWER prices! $12.00 for a plate of "greek" cuisine?? $7.00 for an indian taco that had no meat, just refried beans? $3.00 for "fresh squeezed lemonade" that was nothing more than water with a hint of lemon?? Please do better in this department next year! "

Had Fun wrote on Jun 24, 2009 3:58 PM:

" The Oahe Days event was full of activities for the whole family! The weather was great all week-end - we were down there most of the week-end. The evenings were beautiful along the river. We did think there were more vendors-food & otherwise-last year though but that could be the economy playing a role. We packed alot of our snacks/drinks b/c the prices of food & drinks down there was quite high! There were signs suggesting no coolers but it's hard to afford to buy everything at those prices for a family of 6! We look forward to it everyear! "

Great Time wrote on Jun 24, 2009 3:54 PM:

" Our family attended Oahe Day activities all week-end. We all enjoyed the motorcross - wow is all we could say!! The addition of the free kayaking & golf was awesome! My husband, son & nephew fished in the shore tournament on Sunday - that is a great activity! Our 5 yr old walked away with a nice tackle box & was so excited to have his name called! They all came away with gift bags full of great stuff! The committee & sponsors deserve great applause! We look forward to this even every year! "

Thankful wrote on Jun 24, 2009 11:00 AM:

" I'm thankful that Oahe Days pulls in people from across the state. I know there were a huge number of people from Sioux Falls area that attended and from the Hills area. Thankfully we can count on these people to support our growing festivities. Thanks to those who support and enjoyed Oahe Days!! Let's shoot for 30,000 next year! Why can't some locals just be happy and supportive and not questionable? "

To Great Event wrote on Jun 22, 2009 5:16 PM:

" I don't mean anything negative about this but I was one of the people who said I would not be at Oahe Days. I was recovering from a back problem. With only a hundred people saying they wouldn't be there I feel it is probably a pretty accurate count of those who just had something else which stopped them from being there. Maybe nothing negative was intended by anyone. I hate to have us go into negative all the time. "

To Great Event wrote on Jun 22, 2009 3:41 PM:

" I am a local, and I am one of many people I know who did NOT attend any events last weekend, for a wide variety of reasons. How did they get their attendance figure of 20,000? It's not like they had to sell tickets to the thing. Even assuming every single citizen of Pierre and Ft Pierre attended, that attendance figure is questionable at best. "

Kate wrote on Jun 22, 2009 12:43 PM:

" I agree that Oahe Days is a great event. Wish we could have concerts in the park every month in the summer! Also wish more venders would come to this event. Was a little disappointed with so few.. let's encourage more of these people to come if we can! Would love to see this event continue to grow! "

KJ Lemonade wrote on Jun 22, 2009 12:08 PM:

" What a wonderful festival! We have a great time with all of the activities and music! You have started a wonderful tradition of fun for all! The committee members should be proud of the hard work they have done to make this a huge success! Thank you to all! We hope to be invited back in future years! "

Great Event wrote on Jun 22, 2009 10:27 AM:

" It was no suprise to me when they took a poll last week on Cap Journal that there was over a 100 people that said they where not going to attend Oahe Days.. Just goes to show that those polls mean nothing... Most people are just negative when they write in or vote. Thousands of people took advantage of great entertainment. This was a great event and I was proud to be apart of it. Thank you to all of those people that took time to be involved. "

a Parent wrote on Jun 22, 2009 5:59 AM:

" To those of you that organized Oahe Days, Great Job, it was good family fun. More activities like this would be wonderful. "

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