Blue skies and sunshine welcomed several hundred people to Chamois Day last weekend and organizers are thrilled with the enthusiastic response to the event’s return after being canceled due to COVID in 2020.

“It was a hot one but even with the warm weather I felt we had a great turnout and it was so nice to be back to normal,” said co-organizer Jessica Hackmann, who estimates 300-400 people were present at the peak of the day. “A lot of people spent time under the trees throughout most of the day but I feel that probably helped a lot of our vendors since they were there as well. I think most of our food vendors were out shortly after lunch, which was great.”

Some of what the committee planned was changed just before Saturday’s event but the end result was a positive experience.

“I think it is safe to say each of us committee members lives our personal lives one day, one moment at a time and we have to be flexible,” said Hackmann. “The day was pretty well planned and then we decided about a week and a half before the event to change our whole main stage area and opening ceremonies to be a tribute to America and all our local military heroes who have served, are still serving and the ones we lost.”

Chamois graduates and veterans Chloe Holloway and Blake Bockting lit candles in front of the main stage in honor of veterans — including the 13 service members killed recently in Afghanistan — as the National Anthem was performed by the Pirate Pride Band. 

“I heard so many compliments about our tribute to Veterans and our current and retired military,” said committee member Becca Mehmert. “I think everyone really appreciated that and the boys that played Taps (Waylon Carter and Ethan Halbert) did a great job.” 

Members of the Linn VFW Color Guard led the parade and stood under the American flag during the tribute.

“That to me was the best decision or change in the day that I had gotten to be a part of since joining the committee back in 2013,” said Hackmann. “I truly hated to miss that part of the event since I was going to be helping get the parade in order and lined up and going.”

Mark Mehmert recorded a video of the tribute and added it to the Chamois Day Facebook page. “I was able to watch it Saturday evening,” Hackmann said. “I think this change was something the community felt was good because we had so many people tell us they enjoyed that and appreciated us remembering those who have served and those we have lost.” 

Chamois Day founder Rhonda Mitchem told the committee Saturday morning that Friday was POW/MIA recognition day. “She provided the POW/MIA flags on our main stage,” Hackmann said. “Funny how everything works together without you knowing or how or why.”

Hackmann added that she had been wanting to do something for years to incorporate the relationship that Chamois and Morrison have together along with their fire departments. 

“I have witnessed as a volunteer, wife, sister-in-law, and friend of members of these two departments, as they have worked together on calls or even sat in a room with them as they try to understand and come to terms with a recent tragedy,” said Hackmann. “When we decided we wanted to do a tug-of-war between the two departments, I wanted to make sure we took it a step further and make it fun but try to raise a little money for each department. We didn’t raise much money for them but that is okay because we got to see them laugh and have fun together and the community got an opportunity to throw a little water on them.”

Fire boots were available for anyone who wanted to donate to either department, with each donation earning a water balloon, which was thrown at firefighters during the tug-of-war.

“This also gave our little community an opportunity to see the individuals who leave their family supper table or their child’s school event to take care of others in their time of need,” said Hackmann. “And who knows, maybe one day when that community member sees one of those volunteers they will stop them on the street and say thanks for their service. Maybe that will be the 2022 Chamois Day theme.”

As it stood, the tug-of-war was a perfect representation of the Chamois Day theme, “Together Through it All.”

Morrison collected $36 and Chamois received $44 in donations. “Those guys were really good sports about competing and then getting pegged with water balloons while doing so,” said Mehmert. “The biggest takeaway that I had from the tie in the tug of war was that we’ve got some strong guys who are there to step in at a moments notice when we need them the most.”

Chamois Day featured a parade with a theme of “Nursery Rhymes” that included students from each grade in addition to the Tiny Pirates Preschool. Unlike in years past, floats were not judged this year.

“I think the parade went really well,” said Keilholz. “It was different not having all floats but it was neat to see what the kids and parents came up with for each class.”

From the PTO side, Keilholz said she was very thankful for all the other parade entries and new parade participants such as Conservation Agent Chad Gray, Osage County Collector Denise Nolte, Osage County Clerk Nicci Kammerich, and 4J’s Towing. 

“It is always good to see the Osage County Sheriff’s Office, Osage Ambulance District, Chamois and Morrison fire departments, Schollmeyer’s old cars, and State Rep. Aaron Griesheimer,” Keilholz added. “I think Jessica Hackmann and Julie Keilholz did a good job spreading everything out.”

“The band sounded great and I was impressed with the floats despite there not being a competition this year,” Mehmert added. “It was nice to have these long-standing traditions live on and I hope they will continue for many years to come. It seemed everyone was just happy to be out and able to mingle with folks they haven’t seen in a while and it was a great day for reminiscing and making new memories.”

Of 30 vendors signed up, 27 were able to make it Saturday, offering a wide array of goods, services, and food.

Live music was performed by Osage Angels.

“They were absolutely fantastic and more than one person commented to me on the range of music they played and how much they sounded like the original artists,” said Mehmert. “I hadn’t heard them before and was thoroughly impressed with their range and I saw lots of little kids dancing.”

Making a return to Chamois Day was the hot dog eating contest, sponsored by Jerry’s Stop & Go. The event was won by Robbie Bates as Austin Redford took second, and Neal Johnson was third. 

In the water-balloon toss, MaKenna Wuelling and Katie Keilholz combined for first, Oliver Carter and Trevor Bottoms took second, and Jorja Kempker and Kenzy Hackmann finished third.

A free-throw contest was held with the following results. In the grades 4-6 division, Peyton Peters took first, followed by Levi Weed, and Rex McKague; in the grades 7-9 division, Kenzy Hackmann and Skyler Bottoms tied for first, and there was a four-way tie for second between Trevor Bottoms, Jorja Kempker, Kylie Peters, and Max McKague; Zac Dodson was the lone competitor in the grades 10-12 division; and in the adult division, Tommy Weed won, while Chloe Rhoden and MaKenna Wuelling tied for second, and Jeremy McKague finished third.

Throughout the day, hayrides were offered by Bockting Equipment, Dale and Lana Hackmann, and Rodney Frey, and a kids’ corn play box was well used at Chamois City Park.

“All in all I thought the day turned out great,” said Hackmann. “We had a few hiccups throughout the day but that’s okay because we are humans and hiccups allow us to grow and become better. We truly appreciate everyone that came down and enjoyed the day with us and showed patronage to our vendors. We know the day would not have been possible without all of the volunteers who helped us prepare for the day, helped throughout the day, and cleaned up once the festivities were over. Thank you to the Chamois Lions and PTO organizations for continuing to work together to keep the Chamois Day tradition alive.”

Mehmert agreed. “All in all, I think it was a success and I’m very happy with the turnout,” she said. “I think we were all sweating it a little bit prior to the event because of having to cancel last year and it seemed we hit a lot of roadblocks in the planning phase, but when it came down to it on Saturday, we had a great event. I’m always impressed with the people in our community who are willing to step up and lend a hand to make sure that things go smoothly.”