A change of venue and activities on Friday and Saturday, July 19 and 20, at the 4th Dust Bowl Days (DBD) Farm and Ranch Festival in Sayre reversed a trajectory of declining attendance to one of solid participation.
Lead Planner Kay Allen said the purpose of the festival is, “To showcase the farming and ranching industry in our area. Celebrating the love of the land.” She estimated attendance at 825 people.
On Friday night, 25 antique tractors cruised on Main Street. The Broadway Center, North Broadway Street, filled up as the community ate dinner and played bingo.
Afterwards, folks relaxed on lawn chairs listening to Joe Merrick, Jesse Oborne and Chuck Milner play guitar and sing. Children played corn hole, watched the moon through telescopes and ate s’mores crackers. Visitors strolled through the Shortgrass Coun- ty Museum.
Allen said the planning team moved most events away from Sayre Park because “We felt we weren’t accomplishing our goals of bringing the community to the festival.” Staci Diltz of Sayre agreed. “The closer we keep this to Main Street, the better,” she said.
On Saturday, about 300 people watched the Northfork Electric Farm Company’s parade (a major sponsor) on Main Street at 10:00 a.m. The 33 entries included Sayre’s Police and Fire Departments and Public Library, Northfork Electric, and Centennial Farm families (Tuckers, HICs, Drakes, etc.).
Afterwards, the community gathered again by the Broadway Center. Scores of children played on giant inflatables, families climbed on a 1979 Farmrail locomotive and shopped with 14 vendors.
Inside the Trinity Church Youth Center on Main Street, families visited the National Park Service and learned about the Dust Bowl days through the Oklahoma Conservation Historical Society and 1930s recipe displays.
The Mayor of Sayre, Gerald Sherrill, and his wife AnnRose, said “It (festival) honors the farmers that stayed through the Dust Bowl Days.”
Allen is thrilled with this year’s outcome. “We’re trying to build this festival on rock, not sand…I felt for the first time we were a community.” She thanked the 12 DBD planners and all sponsors.
