80th Gyro Days/Lead Creek Derby next week

WALLACE — Since 1942, The Wallace Gyros have been taking bets on the large, multicolored leather Gyro Ball and how long it will take to get from the drop-in point at Last Chance Bridge in Mullan to the Sixth Street Bridge in Wallace.

After taking a break in 2020, due to COVID-19 restrictions, last year proved to be a rousing success. The 80th iteration of the annual celebration is set to take place next week and promises to be a doozy.

“We’ve got the same great carnival again this year that we have enjoyed the last few years. They will have rides and games, and we encourage everyone to come to Wallace,” said Jimmy Striker, Gyro president.

The festivities will start Wednesday, June 15, with a Facebook Live event taking place since former AM radio station KWAL is no longer available for Radio Day. The event will take place Wednesday afternoon on the sidewalk in front of the Wallace Elks. Event chairmen, Chase Sanborn and Greg Bosen promise lots of jokes, games, food, beverages, Lead Creek Derby tickets, and much more. The public is invited to stop by and enjoy a beverage or a hamburger.

Thursday will hold the only carnival to visit the Silver Valley this year on the streets of downtown Wallace. Thanks to several Silver Valley businesses and individuals, once again this year the Gyro Club has provided free passes to elementary school-aged children of Mullan and Wallace.

Friday night has some added excitement as the Wallace Elks Drum and Bugle Corps will parade around town playing from their large repertoire of cheerful tunes. The band will start at the 1313 Club around 6 p.m. and the public is highly encouraged to follow them as they tour all the Wallace watering holes.

The Lead Creek Derby will begin at noon on Saturday as the ball is dropped into the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River in Mullan.

The honor of dropping the ball into the creek this year is being awarded to the family of Dave Rounds, longtime coach at Wallace High School, and chairman of the Wallace school board who tragically passed last October.

Dave was also a valued member of the Wallace Gyro Club.

The Gyros are currently selling tickets that will each be assigned a computer-generated time that it will take for the ball to reach Wallace. The buyer of the ticket with the assigned time that is closest to the actual time wins the first-place prize. First prize is 50 Silver Rounds. There are 13 additional cash prizes paid, so people are encouraged to purchase tickets from Gyros, or at local merchants or restaurants in Wallace, Osburn and Mullan. The sale of these tickets is how the Gyros fund the scholarships and the various other civic and youth activities every year, as well as provide financial support for the carnival.

The Wallace Gyros contributed to this article.