Every spring, when the snow starts to melt in the Tobacco Valley and the sun shines on the waters of Lake Koocanusa, the folks in Eureka gear up for a rendezvous.
Eureka Rendezvous Days is celebrating its 38th anniversary. The annual community event runs from April 29 to May 1 and features concerts, a fun run, a parade, bed races and everything in between.
“Rendezvous Days really has something for everyone. If you don’t want to run in the race, you can go to the parade. If you don’t want to do that, you can go to the black powder shoots,” said Kim Kilroy, who has organized the fun run for the last few years. “It’s a homegrown event. It has that great small town feel and I think people gravitate towards that.”
The event dates back to an annual gathering of black powder shooters in the 1970s. Tammy Lawler, president of the local chamber of commerce and one of the primary organizers, said the event grew from that small shooting event to the three-day festival it is today. She said it’s a great way to shake off the cabin fever blues of winter.
“It’s morphed into a huge event with a concert, a keg toss competition, a quilt show and a parade. There’s something for everyone,” she said.
The highlight of this year’s event is a Friday night concert at the Lake Koocanusa Arena featuring High Valley, a Canadian country band originally from Alberta who has made it big in Nashville. The band has put out four albums and won numerous country music awards.
Saturday’s festivities kick off at 7 a.m. with a community breakfast at the senior center. A few hours later the Rendezvous Fun Run starts and the flea market and craft show open at the county fairgrounds. The parade through downtown Eureka kicks off at noon and is followed by one of the most unique events of the entire weekend, the bed races down U.S. Highway 93. Chamber Vice President Holly Vanbemmel said teams of five people decorate and push their beds down the street. Saturday’s events are topped off with the annual arm wrestling championship and keg toss.
Festivities continue Sunday with the craft fair, quilt show and antique car show. While organizers pride themselves on offering a wide variety of entertainment, Kilroy said the highlight of the event is running into old friends. For many, Eureka Rendezvous Days is almost a community reunion, she said.
“It’s the one time of year where everyone comes out and you get to see people that you may not have seen in years,” she said. “It’s a wonderful event.”
For more information visit www.eurekarendezvousdays.com.