South Ogden Days- Wrap-up

Well I had this nice running blog going until the organization of South Ogden Days grabbed me and held me hostage for a couple of days. All told South Ogden Days is an 80 hour week for me and over a 100 hour week for Christy Love, our Special Events Coordinator.

Then you throw in a week of vacation after South Ogden Days and here I am trying to get everyone caught up. Let's recap:

South Ogden Days- Day 4
Thursday, June 26th

Thursday is probably our lightest day for South Ogden Days. We are busy at Friendship Park getting all the vendors set up and the only event is the 3-on-3 Basketball. This year was our second year to try this event. Last year we held it at Friendship Park on the tennis courts. This year we moved it to 40th Street Park at our new basketball courts that we put in last year.

The tournament started at 6:00 p.m. and we had all age groups represented. I never got the total number of teams, but we more than doubled last year. The tournament lasted until about 11:30 p.m that night. The weather was slightly warm, but it wasn't enough to discourage anybody.

Thanks to Lifetime Products for sponsoring this successful event for the second year in a row.

South Ogden Days- Day 5
Friday, June 27th

This is the start of two days of fun out at Friendship Park. The main event (and the one that I'm in charge of) is the Mud Volleyball Tournament. If you've never seen mud volleyball you need to put it on your schedule for next year. The tournament is held at the baseball fields at Friendship Park at 6:00 p.m. the Friday of South Ogden Days.

This year we had 22 teams sign up which is 6 over our limit. Once again our largest participation ever. We had teams from all walks of life. We had businesses, friends, family, even a group of six girls that were in their pre-teens. The mud was at their waist while it was at everybody else's knees. But they had a great time. You'll see more smiles at mud volleyball from participants and fans than any other event (mainly because their faces are so caked in mud all you can see are their teeth).

New Image Day Spa was the sponsor of this event. I think they give away a free mud bath to the winners. I'm sure their mud is much better than the mud volleyball pit.

"The Power of One" won the tournament for the second year in a row defeating "USA-Peru" in the final. I have to give a mini-shout out to the "South Ogden Fire Department" for finishing third.

South Ogden Days- Day 6
Saturday, June 28th

Saturday is the most action packed day for South Ogden Days. Two of the bigger event are the Car and Motorcycle Show and the Dodgeball Tournament. The Car Show has been around for years and there are always some pretty neat vehicles on display. We have trucks, cars, motorcycles and even had a boat last year. Les Schwab Tires is the sponsor for this event.

The Dodgeball Tournament was held in the afternoon. This was the second year we tried this event and I think it was successful. It's kind of fun to see the rejuvenation of a grade school P.E. game.

The crowning event is the concert. South Ogden City has committed to keep this free of charge to the public. This is made possible by the sponsors of the concert Crown Bedroom and Maceys. Because of them we can afford to bring in a recognizable name each year and not charge people to see it. This year's performer was Sammy Kershaw.

I'm not a country music type of guy, but I thought Sammy put on a pretty good show. The audience sure seemed entertained and he kept it pretty lively.

Last, but not least, of all the South Ogden Days events is the fireworks show. I would have to estimate that with the concert and all the people that come to the park for the fireworks that we have close to 10,000 people in the park. That might be a high estimate, but there are a lot of people there.

Overall I felt we had a successful South Ogden Days once again. A big "thank you" goes to Christy Love for making this event successful. Also a "thank you" to the elected officials who remain committed to making this a high quality event.

So pull out your 2009 calendar and pencil in June 22-27 for our South Ogden Days Festival next year. We hope to see you there!