The city of Orangeville has set the theme for its annual celebration this year entitled “Blame it on my Roots” which is set to begin on Thursday, July 20 running through till Saturday, July 22. Castle Country Radio was able to speak over the telephone with Council Member, Carol Stilson to get all the details.
The city celebration has taken place for many years as Stilson explains, “I called a dear friend, Pat Jones, who has lived here all of his life and he gave me a pretty good history about it. He said, after they settled Emery County, he said there was a 24th of July celebration, and they always use to celebrate both the fourth and the 24th. He figures the celebration probably started about 1897.” The Orangeville Days celebration has become a long-standing tradition in the Emery County area.
Thursday starts things off with a Trap Shoot at 6:00 pm at the Emery County Shooting Range. Then on Friday, July 21 things begin at 4:00 pm with a kids bike parade where children are invited to decorate their bikes and ride down to the park for a bike rodeo. “We end the bike rodeo and go right in to the beginning of our Lamb Fry. Now we have had this Lamb Fry for years, years, it’s the Humphrey Lamb Fry and it’s very famous with our scones, and the lamb fry. They set up early in the morning, and start cooking all day long. The Lamb Fry actually starts from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm there in the Orangeville Park and it’s $7.00 a plate,” said Stilson. There will be pie and baked goods auctioned off at 7:00 pm. Then closing out the night will be a movie in the park called Epic that is being presented by the Orangeville Youth Council.
Saturday, July 22 is the big day full of activities and events scheduled all day long inside the Orangeville City Park. “We begin with a 5K Run at 6:00 am, that starts at the city park, and anyone is welcomed to run, there is no fee for that. Then we move into a breakfast and this is from 7:00 am to 9:00 am, there’s a $3.00 fee for that. Right after breakfast, we go into the parade at 10:00 am down Main Street. Then right after the parade, we’ll end down at the city park,” stated Stilson. There will be several events taking place all afternoon like games, water slide, dunk tank, corn hole tournament, talent show, ice cream social and teen dance. The night will close out with a firework show at the city park.
“So it’s a fun filled great day, we’ll all be tired when we get done, but it’ll be so much fun to just come together and celebrate,” said Stilson. To see a full schedule of events, visit the Orangeville Facebook page.