Paonia Cherry Day
... to secure lights for the football field. The celebration met with such success that has continued to present day. For a number of years the Cherry Day Association, made up of local residents handled the plans and currently, the Paonia Chamber of Commerce is in charge of the big event.
In the beginning, one of the features of Cherry Day was free bags of cherries, carefully sacked by the local fruit houses for distribution during the event. These were well received by the throngs of people coming to Paonia to celebrate the harvest of the delicious, dark red Bing and Lambert cherries and the colorful yellow Royal Anne varieties.
Through the years, the parade was always well attended with people four deep lining Grand Avenue. One of the highlights was an amusing musical rendition presented by the Lions’ Clown Band. The original clown suits were made from World War II parachute fabric dyed bright garish yellow with an intervening red piece of fabric completing the costume. The antics of the clowns matched their colorful garb.
As with many community events, the day wouldn’t be complete without enjoying a meal with friends and family so a pancake breakfast was added to the tradition to feed the hungry early birds before the parade.
In the fifties a summer band, recruited mostly from high school and middle school students, marched in the parade. Floats were always an important part of the line-up, as well. Many service clubs spent the week before the Fourth decorating their float entry in keeping with the theme selected for the day and horseback riders completed the entourage.
No Cherry Day parade would be complete with out royalty so Cherry Day Queen candidates riding on antique, classic cars or sleek new models were showcased on the big day. Everyone waited with excitement and expectations, to see who would become Cherry Day Queen and the tradition was that the announcement was made at the park after the parade. Jeannie Carrington was the first Cherry Day Queen in 1947 and there has been a Queen every year since, except in 1951. As time passed and traditions changed, the Queen was joined by, first an Escort and later, the official Cherry Day King.
Activities at the park have varied through the years. Bavarian dancers entertained several years, an afternoon talent show was enjoyed by the crowd and a carnival was added to entice the younger ones. Many booths competed for attention with offerings of local food or other handcrafted items. Traditionally there has been a place to buy a cherry pie by the slice and the pies were historically baked by Lion’s Club wives. The local Rotary would sponsor a bingo booth and in recent years a community barbecue offered the crowd a delicious lunch. Many people would just bring a picnic to enjoy and afternoon in the park.
Other events have included softball games, a coal shoveling contest, a backhoe rodeo and many more community competitions. Come evening, you’d usually find a dance that would often be followed by fireworks but in recent years, dry conditions have prevented the fireworks display.
Whether the evening ended with fireworks or just a slow dance with your sweetheart, it’s a long standing Paonia tradition to celebrate Cherry Day with family, friends and community, each year on the 4th of July.
In the beginning, one of the features of Cherry Day was free bags of cherries, carefully sacked by the local fruit houses for distribution during the event. These were well received by the throngs of people coming to Paonia to celebrate the harvest of the delicious, dark red Bing and Lambert cherries and the colorful yellow Royal Anne varieties.
Through the years, the parade was always well attended with people four deep lining Grand Avenue. One of the highlights was an amusing musical rendition presented by the Lions’ Clown Band. The original clown suits were made from World War II parachute fabric dyed bright garish yellow with an intervening red piece of fabric completing the costume. The antics of the clowns matched their colorful garb.
As with many community events, the day wouldn’t be complete without enjoying a meal with friends and family so a pancake breakfast was added to the tradition to feed the hungry early birds before the parade.
In the fifties a summer band, recruited mostly from high school and middle school students, marched in the parade. Floats were always an important part of the line-up, as well. Many service clubs spent the week before the Fourth decorating their float entry in keeping with the theme selected for the day and horseback riders completed the entourage.
No Cherry Day parade would be complete with out royalty so Cherry Day Queen candidates riding on antique, classic cars or sleek new models were showcased on the big day. Everyone waited with excitement and expectations, to see who would become Cherry Day Queen and the tradition was that the announcement was made at the park after the parade. Jeannie Carrington was the first Cherry Day Queen in 1947 and there has been a Queen every year since, except in 1951. As time passed and traditions changed, the Queen was joined by, first an Escort and later, the official Cherry Day King.
Activities at the park have varied through the years. Bavarian dancers entertained several years, an afternoon talent show was enjoyed by the crowd and a carnival was added to entice the younger ones. Many booths competed for attention with offerings of local food or other handcrafted items. Traditionally there has been a place to buy a cherry pie by the slice and the pies were historically baked by Lion’s Club wives. The local Rotary would sponsor a bingo booth and in recent years a community barbecue offered the crowd a delicious lunch. Many people would just bring a picnic to enjoy and afternoon in the park.
Other events have included softball games, a coal shoveling contest, a backhoe rodeo and many more community competitions. Come evening, you’d usually find a dance that would often be followed by fireworks but in recent years, dry conditions have prevented the fireworks display.
Whether the evening ended with fireworks or just a slow dance with your sweetheart, it’s a long standing Paonia tradition to celebrate Cherry Day with family, friends and community, each year on the 4th of July.