Elgin event returns after hiatus
Jun. 16—ELGIN — Riverfest is set to roll again in Elgin this weekend after a one-year hiatus.
An annual event celebrating Elgin, Riverfest is set to return Saturday, June 19 after being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The centerpiece of Riverfest will again be its car show, to be conducted on a field near the Elgin Community Center. The car show is annually one of the first to be conducted in Northeast Oregon and draws at least 70 vehicles a year.
Steve Oliver, of the Elgin Lions Club, said 23 people have entered vehicles in the car show, more than normal four days before the show.
"Most of the people who enter come the day of the show," he said.
Oliver said entries in car shows around the Northwest are on the rise in the past month compared to 2019, the last year car shows were really held. He said this may indicate more people are anxious to get out and participate in activities after being forced to stay home for much of 2020 due to the pandemic.
Oliver and his wife, Kathy, president of the Elgin Lions Club, will again have cars displayed in the show. His car will be a 1965 Ford Thunderbird and hers a 1972 Volkswagen.
Another attraction to the car show is an Oldsmobile Tornado from five decades ago whose owner lives in Echo.
"You don't see that many around," Oliver said.
The car show is one of a limited number conducted on grass fields instead of asphalt lots or streets. Oliver said this makes it more popular because it allows it to be conducted in a cooler environment. Car show visitors, he said, and participants enjoy having the show in a field instead of on pavement.
Oliver is encouraging attendees to bring canopies to protect themselves from the sun and heat. The National Weather Service is forecasting sunny and clear skies on June 19 in Elgin and a high temperature of 89 degrees.
Kathy Oliver said it will be easy to hold the event at the site and meet social distancing standards for COVID-19. She said the field is spacious enough that vehicles can be at least 6 feet apart from one another. The car show also will have signs reminding people to practice social distancing.
The car show will open at 9 a.m., following the start of the Firemen's Breakfast at 7 a.m. The Elgin Fire Department will serve the breakfast, which will be served outdoors adjacent to its station through 11 a.m.
A quilt show will be held in Elgin High School's gym starting at 9 a.m. A new event this year will be an art show in the Elgin Opera House which will begin in the morning.
The Elgin Museum is another site that will also be open in conjunction with Riverfest. Visitors will also have a chance to visit an old restored jail outside the museum. The structure is one of Elgin's earliest jails, which the Elgin Museum and Historical Society renovated more than a year ago.
Visitors to Riverfest will also have a chance to go to many local yard sales. Copies of a yard sale map will be provided.
Dick Mason is a reporter with The Observer primarily covering the communities of North Powder, Imbler, Island City and Union, education, Union County veterans programs and local history. Dick joined The Observer in 1983, first working as a sports and outdoors reporter.
