This year’s Burney Basin Days Parade went off well and there were some great floats. I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves.
Before I do however, I want to thank all of those who entered the parade displaying this year’s theme: “You know you’re living in the mountains when…” Thank you for the work and planning you put into making your floats, preparing your vehicles, etc.
I also want to thank all of the volunteers who helped line up the floats, direct traffic, monitor the parade route, etc. And thanks to all who came brought their families out to watch. Cause in the end, that’s what it is all about.
I also want to commend and recognize some of the ,people who spent months planning and coordinating Burney Basin Days for the past half year.
Beginning in February, a group of people representing the Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club, Soroptomists, Boy Scouts, Pit River Casino, Burney Fire Department, Sierra Pacific, US Bank, Tri County Community Network, Friends of the Pool, the VFW and VFW Auxiliary, and Pit River Country.com met once a month to plan and coordinate the events that make up Burney Basin Days. In June they met every week to work on final details.
Most of the organizations involved were busy organizing their own special events. At these two hour meetings however the technical and logistical details of securing permits, recruiting and training volunteers, choosing the Grand Marshall, organizing the Honorary Mayor’s Race, designing T-Shirts, planning the Ice Cream Social, registering parade entries, providing necessary funds, creating the Burney Basin Days poster and generating publicity were tackled.
Burney Basin Days is a big joint undertaking. Communication and coordination each year are key elements. At these meetings volunteers transcended the individual needs of their own organizations sharing creative ideas and problem solving skills to make sure that all the monkeys got the right bananas.
Jen Luck, Office Manager for the Burney Chamber of Commerce, did a wonderful job leading each meeting and facilitating communication and organization between meetings. Johnny Ospital and his wife Deanna helped to secure volunteers, floats, and permits, Sandy McCullar performed numerous roles taking care of details and securing rides for VIP”S. The new Fire Chief for the Burney Fire District, Monty Keady, was a wellspring of creative ideas and resources as was Keith Greenwood from Sierra Pacific. George Chapman represented both the Lions Club and the Scouts. Dotty Sales and Ron Harschman represented the Veterans, Lola Harris and Evalee Nelson provided a lot of organizational wisdom. Mike Avelar and Evelyn Maldonado from Pit River Casino provided immeasurable support in many ways. Alex and Linda Colvin helped to organize the Mayor’s Race and Alex Colvin wrote articles and press releases to provide publicity.
So I want to recognize and thank all of those involved in the general coordination and planning.
At the same time, I want to applaud all of the work planning individual events that was done by each of the separate organizations, including the Kid Fit Track and Field Event, the Ice Cream Social, the Lions Club Chuck Wagon Breakfast, the VFW Barbecue, The Soroptomist Craft Fair, The Pit River Strong Man Boxing, live music and horseshoe tournament, the Rex Club Friday Night Social, Swimming at the Raymond H. Berry Community Pool, and the Rotary Club’s fantastic Fireworks program at the Burney High School.
This year’s Burney Basin Days is a wonderful example of how individuals and groups can work together to create a great event.
Pit River Country 