Tara’s
Takes
Looking downtown today, you’d barely be able to tell that the streets held a midway, a street dance and a pickleball tournament last weekend. The 99th annual Box Car Days has wrapped up and it’s time to start working on 100!
Behind the scenes, while it is a fun weekend, it is a lot of work. Months of planning, meetings, follow-ups and more have to come together for Box Car Days to run somewhat smoothly.
A huge part of that is the volunteers.
From set-up, beer tent, the many activities and take down, it is much more than the committee of seven can do alone. Over 150 volunteers take time to contribute to the success of BCD. Whether it is setting up the bingo tent on Wednesday, working a shift behind the bar, running an activity or helping clean up when everyone is ready to call it a day, these volunteers are why Tracy has such an amazing town festival.
Even when Mother Nature changed plans, the volunteers showed up. The pickleball tournament moved inside the VMC. While we couldn’t have the inflatables up or continue the mud volleyball tournament due to lightening, we were able to move the pedal pull under the picnic shelter to finish it off. When that decision was made, parents quickly helped move picnic tables. While our disappointment matched that of several of the kids as the inflatables came down, the parents were understanding. The mud volleyball players were the same, and some had traveled quite a distance to play but were gracious in the change of plans. Even the midway shifted their plans, and once they were able to open on Sunday, let the Sunday arm bracelet run until rides closed that night.
Some parts of Box Car Days we can pivot and make changes; sometimes Mother Nature changes things for us.
Miss Tracy had a huge crowd Sunday night, and rightfully so! This year, 11 girls showed off their talents, confidence and poise. After spending hours rehearsing this summer, every one of them deserved a crown because that show was amazing. And again, countless volunteer hours were spent all summer prepping the girls, making decorations, working on talent and building the confidence of the 11 participants.
There have been many suggestions for the 100th Box Car Days, and we really hope to be able to incorporate many of them. But we also will need to incorporate more volunteers into the mix. Even a few hours of your time makes a huge difference.
Once again, a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who helped make the 99th BCD a success — we couldn’t do it without you!
