STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Wagon Days offers a look back the days when Ketchum’s economy hinged on mining and the big Lewis ore wagons carried supplies to mining camps before loading up with silver ore for the return home.
But Hailey resident Carol Waller gave it a contemporary look when she created this year’s souvenir Wagon Days poster, which is available at the Ore Wagon Museum at Fifth and East Avenue.
The poster started with a photograph she took a few years ago of the parade Big Hitch ore wagons rolling down Sun Valley Road with Bald Mountain in the foreground. Waller added some painterly strokes to it via an artistic rending in an app.
“I organized Wagon Days for many years while I was with the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber and Visitors Bureau so it’s a great honor to be the poster artist,” she said.
Wagon Days will roll again this weekend 65 years after it was created in 1958.
The highlight, of course, is the Big Hitch Parde on Saturday, billed as the largest non-motorized parade in he Northwest. But there are also a variety of other activities, including a drone show following the Reckless Kelly concert at the Sun Valley Pavilion on Sunday and a performance by the Escaramuza Charra Riders in Sun Valley’s Festival Meadows Saturday morning.
Here’s the schedule of everything you need to know about this Wagon Days Weekend:
THURSDAY, Aug. 31
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Kemo Sabe Hat Pop-Up featuring grit hats, boots, buckles and jewelry on the Boiler Room Patio in Sun Valley Village through Sept. 4.
5-7:30 p.m. Free bicycle film screening at Limelight Hotel hosted by Giant Cycling and Adventure for All as part of Rebecca’s Private Idaho. Reserve your spot at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/adventure-for-all-queer-gravel-and-giant-bicycles-film-night-tickets-694094283687?aff=oddtdtcreator
FRIDAY, Sept. 1
9 a.m.-7 p.m. A Sip, Shop & Saddle Up will be held in Sun Valley Village through Sunday, Sept. 3. Local vendors will showcase bolo ties, turquoise and silver jewelry, silk scarves, custom hat bands and other western wear.
9 a.m.-6 p.m. Hailey Labor Day Antique Show in Roberta McKercher Park.
10:15 a.m. Free hour-long Sun Valley Story Tour looking at historic sites leaves via bus from the Sun Valley Visitor Center
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Ore Wagon Museum opens with information and souvenirs at Fifth and East Avenue and runs through Saturday.
1-4 p.m. Cowboy Poetry. Cowboys will tell tall stories and sing Western tunes at the Ore Wagon Museum on Fifth Street and East Avenue.
3-7 p.m. The community is invited to join Karl Uri and board members of the Sun Valley Culinary Institute for an afternoon of sips and shopping at J. McLaughlin, 520 E. 4th St. Fifteen percent of all sales will benefit the Culinary Institute during that time.
4-7 p.m. Mia Edsall will perform American-flavored music in Sun Valley Village.
5-7:30 p.m. Gallery Walk will be held at galleries around town.
5:30-7 p.m. Grand Marshal Reception honoring former Mayor Jerry Seiffert, who helped resurrect Wagon Days in 1976, will be held at the Ketchum Town Square at Fourth Street and East Avenue. There will be music and refreshments.
6-8 p.m. Be Good foundation Party at Limelight Hotel. Tickets are $100, available at https://shop.rebeccarusch.com/products/be-good-foundation-party-ticket with money benefitting the Be Good Foundation.
7 p.m. Sun Valley Resort will show a free screening of “The Princess Bride” on the Sun Valley Opera House Lawn.
SATURDAY, Sept. 2
7:30-10 a.m. Rebecca’s Private Idaho Be Good Ride will be a no drop ride for all comers leaving from Hemingway STEAM School parking lot at 8th Street next to Atkinson Park. There will be coffee and pastries.
8 a.m.-noon. Papoose Club Pancake Breakfast at Ketchum Town Square.
8:30 p.m. Sun Valley on Ice will present Olympic Bronze Medalist Jason Brown at the Outdoor ice Rink. Tickets are available at https://www.sunvalley.com/ or at 208-622-2135.
9 a.m. Free yoga class will be presented by Brass Ranch on the River Run Plaza.
9 a.m.-6 p.m. Hailey Labor Day Antique Show in Roberta McKercher Park.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Rebecca’s Private Idaho Welcome Party & Expo at Atkinson Park. Meet and Greet with Rebecca Rusch and poster signing and book signing at the Be Good tent at 1 p.m. Meet and greet with Rusch, Yuri Hauswald and other Live/Giant athletes at the Liv/Giant tent from 2-3 p.m. 3-5 p.m. Happy Hour with $5 Sierra Nevada drink ticket with proceeds going to the Be Good Foundation.
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Children’s activities in Ketchum Town Square include Wagons Ho chuckwagon experience, face painting, petting zoo, balloon animals and mini train ride.
10 a.m.-7 p.m. The Silver Car Auction will feature vintage cars, including sports, exotics, luxury and muscle cars on the Sun Valley Pavilion Lawn.
10:30 a.m. EhCapa Bareback Riders and Escaramuza Charra Riders will show off their horse riding skills at Festival Meadows on Sun Valley Road.
1 p.m. Big Hitch Parade will feature museum-quality buggies, stagecoaches and the tall skinny Lewis Ore Wagons pulled by a 20-mule jerk line along a route that starts at the Horseman Center on Sun Valley Road, turns down Main Street and returns via Highway 75.
2-5 p.m. Mark Mueller will perform music in Sun Valley Village.
2:30 p.m. Micky & the Motorcars perform alt country honed in the nearby White Cloud Mountains.
3-5 p.m. Rebecca’s Private Idaho EXPO and Be Good Happy Hour at Atkinsons Park in Ketchum.
SUNDAY, Sept. 3
8 a.m.-noon Papoose Club Pancake Breakfast at Ketchum Town Square.
8 a.m. Rebecca’s Private Idaho gravel bikers begin taking off from Festival Meadows on Sun Valley Road.
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Hailey Labor Day Antique Show at Roberta McKercher Park.
10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Rebecca’s Private Idaho Festival Day & Expo at Sun Valley ‘s Festival meadows features live music, food vendors, games and 4 p.m. award ceremony.
10 a.m.-7 p.m. Silver Car Auction continues on the Sun Valley Pavilion Lawn.
11 a.m.-2 p.m. Joseph Lyle will perform live in Sun Valley Village.
6:30 p.m. Reckless Kelly and Mickey & The Motorcars will perform at the Sun Valley Pavilion. A huge Drone Light Show presented by Zions Bank will fill the skies afterwards at about 10 p.m. Some lawn tickets and Tier 2 tickets remain available. A portion of each ticket goes to Blaine County Charitable Fund and Stella’s Shelter Fund.
Tickets are available at https://www.sunvalley.com/ or by calling 208-622-2135.
MONDAY, Sept. 4
Noon-Bellevue Labor Day Parade on Main Street featuring as grand marshals the Anderson family.
Noon-6 p.m. Live music by Doghaus, Parade of Bad Guys, Cruise Contreras and Tweaners at Bellevue Memorial Park. Food vendors on site.