The Courier
News A 103-Year-Old Party in the Park
103rd Camas Pioneer Picnic!!! July 17, 2016! Fairfield City Park! Noon to 4 ~ Dining at 1 from Marshall Ralph
History repeats itself again! Again! One of the West’s greatest historic outdoor potluck picnics will be held this weekend, and it’s Free! The Camas Pioneer Picnic Association has dedicated this program to a celebration of the centenary of Fairfield’s founding (in 1916! Do the math!), observations by Judge Varin about the evolution of order and law on the Camas Prairie, and a progress report on the ongoing restoration of the George Carrico informational sign at the Johnson Hill overlook site - the carving mysteriously disappeared some years ago. Other activities will include a performance by the
Idaho Old Time Fiddlers, and a performance of the Camas anthem, “O Camas My Camas,” written by the late Ralph Croner. The Picnic will also feature the big Camas history timeline exhibit! The first Camas Pioneer Picnic was held in 1913 in the then-bustling town of Soldier, Idaho, just two miles north of today’s bustling town of Fairfield, now the Camas County seat. Since then, the Camas Pioneer Picnic, organized by the Camas Pioneer Picnic Association, has taken place every summer, in foul weather and (mostly) fair, to celebrate the first inhabitants of the Camas Prairie and their contemporary successors in a big community potluck! It’s a 103 years of potluck picnic perfection, an unbroken chain of three-bean salads, roast beef, startling jello dishes, brownies, cookies, green salads, mac and cheese, scalloped pota-
toes, etc., reaching back to the young years of the 20th Century! Imagine! Think about it! The Camas Pioneer Picnic has survived annually from the age of horse and buggies and steam tractors, through the age of the automobile, to the space age, into the computer age, and into whatever age comes next! Over all that time, the Camas picnickers have seen good harvests and lean, peace and war, bounty and depressions, birth and loss, industries go, and industries arrive. The Pioneer Picnic has survived, giving Camas Pioneers old and young a summer afternoon dedicated to honoring together those have come, and who have passed, in our high Idaho valley beneath the sun. The picnic is free, and all are heartily invited. Chicken, beef and drinks will be provided, and picnickers are requested to bring a salad, dessert or side dish for the big table. Picnickers may wish to bring chairs or stumps or something to sit on, though a fair amount of seating will be on site in the park.
See you at the picnic on
July 17 in Fairfield!
July 13
,2016
Volume 40 ~ Number 28 News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
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Timmerman Junction Meeting
The Idaho Transportation Department will hold a community advisory committee meeting Thursday (July 14) to gather additional input about potential future safety improvements for the U.S. 20 and Idaho 75 (Timmerman Junction) intersection. Comments from the meeting will be used to further develop safety alternatives for the project. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at 10 a.m. at the Blaine County Courthouse (206 1st Ave. South, Suite #300, Hailey, ID 83333). During the meeting, ITD will present and gather input on potential safety improvements being studied for the Timmerman Junction. This will be the second meeting of the Timmerman Junction study advisory committee. ITD introduced the study and alternatives at the first advisory meeting in April. A third advisory committee meeting will be held this fall. All meetings are open to the public. To learn more, visit http:// itd.idaho.gov/projects/d4/