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McKenzie Valley Events |
FEBRUARY
Overnighters are allowed for the Hoodoo Ski Area's Carnival, which is always the weekend before President's Weekend. The carnival is expected to last all weekend. Saturday will have the normal activities including kids games, the dummy downhill, and a BBQ. New activities planned for Sunday this year will include tube racing on the Autobahn and in the works is snowmobile drag racing under the lights on Sunday evening.
MARCH
Atta Boy Dog Sled Races
The Atta Boy 300 Oregon World Cup Race for Vision is a stage race that is run in seven timed legs on seven consecutive days. The total mileage of the seven stages is 300 miles. The race is part of the World Cup racing circuit where mushers acquire points based on their finishes in sanctioned World Cup races. The overall Champion of the World Cup circuit is computed at the end of each year by adding the points accumulated by each musher. The International Federation of Sleddog Sports (IFSS) oversees the World Cup standings.
APRIL
Craig Race
The John Craig Memorial Race, also travels over Highway 242. The event consists of classic and freestyle races ranging in length from three kilometers to 30km. Children's events and a non-competitive tour of the course are included in the schedule.
The race, which has been held off-and-on since 1934, honors John Templeton Craig, a mail carrier who died in the winter of 1877 while carrying the mail on foot from the Willamette Valley to Eastern Oregon. For 25 years Craig manned the route, carrying mail by horseback in the summer and on his own back in the winter.
JUNE
Free Fishing Day at Leaburg Hatchery
Every year the Leaburg Trout Hatchery, on the McKenzie River near Leaburg, hosts an event hthat as proven to be very popular from its inception, attracting hundreds of participants.
LTD buses shuttle everyone to the hatchery free of charge from the Leaburg ball field near the fire station on Leaburg Drive. All participants must register before boarding the LTD bus.
The hatchery offers different fishing options according to age and interest. Some of the trout weigh up to three pounds. Free fly-fishing lessons for kids of all ages are offered and stations provide information on how dams generate power, how to be safe around water, and what kind of insects and fish live in the river.
McKenzie River Home & Garden Tour
People can tour exceptional sites throughout the Valley The 2004 McKenzie Home and Garden Tour featured 7 beautiful homes and gardens and was a great success. All proceeds went to the McKenzie River Clinic.
Check in May of 2005 for information on next year's tour with all new homes and gardens.
JULY
Cascade Cycling Classic
Over 200 cyclists usually take part in this longest running stage competition in the U.S. The Deschutes Brewery Road Race is an epic stage that travels over the Old McKenzie Pass and its twisting switchbacks. After traveling through lava fields and over the Pacific Crest, the course dives along narrow roads into the western tourist town of Sisters, finishing with a surprisingly steep ascent for an uphill finish at the base of the Middle Sister. Riders climb 6,000 feet along the 70 mile stage.
AUGUST
Leaburg Summer Festival
The daylong Leaburg Summer Festival is held the second Saturday in August 14th, starting with an 8 am traditional blueberry pancake breakfast. Admission to the McKenzie River Lions Club sponsored family event is free, and parking is available.
Entertainment goes on all day, and includes demonstrations by community groups and agencies. A longtime favorite, the Smilin' Baby Contest kicks off at 11 am on center stage. Babies must be registered for the event by parents or guardians. Any child up to 30 months old is eligible. An hour of laughs encouraged by parents and friends.
A varied food and drink menu is available, ranging from Bar-B-Que chicken to garden burgers to hot dogs.
Dogs of another kind are welcome as well during the Pet Parade, trick demonstrations and the always wet competition for canine "Best Kisser."
SEPTEMBER
McKenzie Arts Festival
The Arts Festival features the work of many other local artists on Labor Day Weekend at the Tokatee Golf Club.
The event showcases the work of potters and glass artists, as well as garden art, basketry, photography, jewelry, paintings, and fiber art. Some offer attendees hands-on lessoins in making pottery or other craft items for a community arts project or mosaic garden stone. Also featured is a Farmers' Market with local produce, blueberry syrups and jam, baked goods, and candy.
Walterville Fair
The annual Walterville Community Fair is held on the second Saturday in September 11.
Starting at 7 am, exhibitors and vendors set up at the George Millican Community Hall at 39259 Camp Creek Road.
The fair officially starts with the Boy Scout flag raising ceremony at 9 am. Judging will begin an hour later, when parade entries will also begin staging at the Walterville fire station.
Hungry fairgoers are fed by the Grange Women's Association members, who serve lunch from 11 am through 1 pm. Kids games and a carousel are up and running after lunch.
Other activities include blue grass music and a late afternoon chicken dinner followed by a drawing for door prizes at 6 pm.
Redsides Rodeo
The Redsides Rodeo for white water boaters draws crowds for the last weekend of September as competitors and spectators flock to one of the best "low water" holes in Lane County.
The two day event will run from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday and from 10 am to 1 pm the following day.
Canoeists and kayakers will compete in six different categories according to skill, age and gender. The site is located on the McKenzie River, just east of community of Blue River.