Pinehurst Days turns 50+1!

PINEHURST — The streets of the Silver Valley's third biggest city will be busy with the sound of children's laughter and squealing tires come next weekend when the 50th annual (sort of) Pinehurst Days celebration returns.

"We're calling it a 50+1 Anniversary, which is where the theme comes from," said event organizer Jennifer Seig. "It's a family friendly theme and we wanted it to be a golden anniversary."

Pinehurst/Kingston Lions member and event organizer Bruce Rumpel explains that the three-day event will have activities running from Aug. 6 to 8.

"Right now, it's just a matter of, 'ya know what? we're getting to do something. Honestly, that's kind of how we are looking at it this year."

With last year's Pinehurst Days being canceled due to the pandemic, Rumpel and all of the many other organizers are excited to get back into the saddle.

"People are so fed up with not doing anything!" he said.

The fun kicks off on Friday with a geo-caching scavenger hunt. This specific geocache will occur from 4 to 6 p.m. and use GPS techniques, but caches will be removed at the end. All caches are hidden within the city limits of Pinehurst and along with trading tokens, participants can win prizes as well.

The geocache booth will be set up between the Tall Pine and the Larry Marek Memorial Basketball Court on event day from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. if anyone has questions or concerns during the event.

Also on Friday, the P/K Lions will hold a steak fry from 5 to 8 p.m. at their building at 106 Church St. The Lions will also serve breakfast the following day from 6 to 10 a.m.

To cap off the first day, Real Life Ministries Silver Valley at 708 N. Division St. will play host to an outdoor showing of "Herbie: The Love Bug" on their inflatable movie screen. Real Life will also be the site of a Kids Korner from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday where water activities such as a splash pad and bouncy houses will be offered for free.

To start Saturday off, a parade will make its way down Division Street starting at the Auto Kolor parking lot around 11 a.m.

Seig invites everyone to walk in the parade and they are still looking for bikes, ATVs, horses, etc., to be featured.

Pinehurst resident Jenny Duce has announced that longtime Pinehurst residents Bob and Dana Stovern have been chosen as the 2021 Grand Marshals of the parade.

"Every person in a community can make a difference!" Duce said. "Bob and Dana Stovern have devoted their time and energy to do just that. Thank you for your part in making Pinehurst and the Silver Valley great!"

Roughly when the parade wraps up at noon, the Silver Valley Fuller Center for Housing will start their Golf Scramble up at the Pinehurst Golf Course. Four-person teams will be accepted and early sign up is only $40 until July 30 or $50 after that date leading up to the event.

Making a triumphant return to Pinehurst Days this year is the Comancheros Car Show, which was a prominent fixture for the celebration for years, but was absent in 2019.

Rumpel said that the show, being held near Our Savior Lutheran Church at 15 S. Division St. at 2:30 p.m., is expected to feature 150-200 classic cars this year and everyone is invited to bring their rig. Registration for the show will be held from 7 to 10 a.m. that same day.

Those who want to witness some local barbecue masters do their thing are invited to check out the BBQ Wars competition at 3 p.m. at the Tall Pine.

Seig said that there is still time for competitors to sign up.

"People really missed out in 2019! They took the grilled meat from the competition and people could purchase it and take it home. It was really good!"

Later that night from 7 to 10 p.m. is the main event — the Pinehurst Days Burnouts.

Held on the dike road (Silver Valley Road), organizer Nick Elam explains that registration will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m., "then we'll be ready to start the show."

Prizes will be awarded for winning one of multiple categories such as crowd favorite, nicest car, first popped tire, most creative, and many others.

"I think it's going to be a great turnout and a great show! Elam said"

To wrap up the weekend, the traditional kids BMX bike race will be held at the bike track at 10 a.m. Participants are asked to come register at 9:30 a.m.

Around 15 vendors will be set up between the BMX Track and Tall Pine on N. Division on both Friday and Saturday.

"The only way it doesn't happen is if the National Guard comes in and shuts us down because we've already got everything set!"

Rumpel also would like to thank the many volunteers that have come together to make the event possible.