The rain and the cold succeeded in reducing the number of spectators and
entries for Saturdays Wagon Days Parade in Ketchum, but its unclear what the
economic impact the weather had on the entire three-day celebration.
The Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber of Commerce reduced its spectator and
parade entries estimate on Tuesday from what it reported in a press release before the
parade on Saturday.
The press release reported there would be almost 100 parade entries, five
high school marching bands, 1,000 participants, and an estimated 15,000 spectators.
Yesterday, event coordinator Wendy Jacquet revised these figures to 75
parade entries, four high school marching bands, 900 participants, and 7,000 spectators.
There were six outright parade contestant cancellations; the other 15
no-shows opted not to participate the morning of the parade.
Asked about what she thought the economic impact the weather had on the
celebration, Jacquet said that the chamber didnt do a study of how local businesses
do over the Wagon Days weekend. She added that those numbers could not be pulled out of
local option tax figures because they are tallied monthly and not weekly.
But she did say the impact was "not nearly as bad as people thought
it might be. People were going inside from out of the rain and spending money."
The Ketchum Ranger District office reported that .35 inches of rain fell
on Ketchum on Friday, and another 1.18 inches fell over Saturday and Sunday.
Several lodging managers said the weather had both negative and positive
effects on their occupancies.
Beverly Barney, manager of Bald Mountain Lodge, said she had guests
leaving early, but that the vacancies were quickly snatched up by campers coming in out of
the weather. She said the lodge was always full over the Wagon Days weekend.
Stuart Campbell, manager of the Clarion Inn, said it was business as usual
for a Wagon Days weekend.
"Some people were disgruntled by the weather," he said,
"but we were booked months ahead of time. We did have some cancellations, but they
were quickly filled."
The Ketchum Korral Motor Lodge, the Lift Tower Lodge, and the Knob Hill
Inn also said they were full for the weekend.
Newly instituted this year was a shuttle bus from River Runs parking
lot to Main Street. Terry Crawford of KART reported that the park-and-ride buses carried
504 people Saturday morning.
Ketchums Papoose Club was forced to cancel the remainder of its
annual pancake breakfast at Giacobbi Square on Saturday after two hours of attempting to
cook in the rain. Fortunately, the cooks had only prepared a small amount of food. The
unused food will either be sold back to the purveyors or donated.
Janet Fugate, co-chair of the breakfast event, reported 47 people were fed
on Saturday and another 661 on Sunday. Additional donations of close to $700 were made as
well by sympathetic folks.
"People felt so sorry for us" Sandra Caulkins, the other
co-chair said. "We just wont be able to give what weve given in the past,
[in charity donations]."
The Papoose club reported it lost approximately $4,000 to $5,000 dollars
in expected sales.
"We need the rain," said Papoose Club president Chris Reinemann.
"We just wish it had come on another day."
No everyone was dismayed by the weather.
Dave Gertman, 50, an Idaho Falls engineer, enjoyed a plate of pancakes on
Saturday with his three young girls, ages 4, 10 and 12.
"Its fine," he said of the chilly weather and light snow
in the mountains. "This is a family vacation, its about being out together and
doing things. And its a family reunion of 18 people."
Due to the abbreviated pancake breakfast, many people had nowhere to eat.
The few restaurants that were open were absolutely full.
Roosevelt Tavern on the strategic parade corner of Main Street and Sun
Valley Road reported over an hour wait for a table at 11:30 a.m. when they opened.
Starbucks on Main Street was also slammed with folks trying to find food
and shelter from the drizzle. Starbucks was also busy supplying coffee to the drenched
parade participants prior to the parade at the muddy staging area on Sun Valley Road.
Keith Perry of Perrys restaurant, two blocks off Main Street, said
his business is typically slow during the parade. This year, he said, he was swamped with
people coming in out of the weather.
He added that he closes at 4 p.m. on Saturdays, but every seat in the
restaurant was full at 3:45 p.m.
Jack Sibbach, spokesman for the Sun Valley Co., reported that the weekend
was "not the best ever" for Sun Valley, but he didnt yet have a comparison
with last years sales.
He said sales relating to outdoor activities such as golf and mountain
bike rentals were poor, while restaurant, retail and lodging sales were fair.
Sun Valley Co. owner Earl Holding and his wife drove a small carriage in
the parade and were greeted by a cheering crowd.
Events that traditionally occur simultaneous to the pancake breakfast,
such as the train ride and the petting zoo, had a lot of action, while the new carnival
from Nevada, set up at the old Louies parking lot, did less well.
According to Jacquet, the employees scheduled to work the carnival
canceled at the last minute, leaving the proprietor short-handed.
As for the parade, except for losing 15 participants, it went off without
a hitch.
"We have such a wonderful volunteer and chamber staff who rose to
another level," Jacquet said. "They found creative ways to come up with
solutions.
"I dont think we could have done better than what we did."