Yosemite Sierra Visitors Guide 2008 - (Page 55) Festivals • Indian tacos and cowboy cattle drives. • Pancake breakfasts and vintage boat shows. • Hors d’oeuvres and art. • Sno cones and bronco busting. • Cold beer and ax throwing. • Wine and chocolate. February’s Fresno Flats Ragtime and vintage Music Festival warms up Oakhurst with jaunty rhythms and old-timey fun. Yes, we’ve got cowboys. In April, they drive cattle right down one of Chowchilla’s main streets, then rope and ride and get a little rowdy at the fairgrounds for five days. The little town of Raymond throws a parade in April. The parade goes right by the town’s big attraction, a general store with a tin ceiling and well-known burgers. When May hits, the calendar really fills up. The Coarsegold Rodeo is more than sitting in bleachers and watching guys in hats throw steers. It’s the best sno cone you’ve ever had served by the 4-H club, queen candidates waving and sellers selling hats. Fishing can really pay off at the Bass lake Fishing Derby. They plant tagged fish in the lake and if you catch the right one, you can win $25,000. The Chowchilla-Madera County Fair, at Chowchilla Fairgrounds, has everything you might imagine - baking contests, a midway, lots of animals and produce to look at, a parade and food, food, food. A pancake breakfast served lakeside opens the Bass lake Antique and Classic Wooden Boat Show. Memorial Day weekend is a shopping wonderland in the mountains. Oakhurst and Coarsegold have peddlers fairs where the wares range from copper weather vanes to Santa dolls with Pepsi belts and ’60s-era phones to furniture made from wine barrels. In June we settle into serious summer. There’s something to see, buy or eat most every weekend, but the big deal is in the cozy town of North Fork. You’ll see saws as the former lumber hub salutes its heritage with the logger’s Jamboree. Bombs burst in air and are brightly reflected at the Bass lake fireworks show on July 4. In August, Madera throws a Moonlight Madness dance, auction, steak dinner and overall good time until midnight, to catch the coolest part of the day. Street rods take over the Oakhurst Community Park in early September with spiffy paint jobs, amazing accessories and the vrrrrrrrrrrrr of engines purring under loving hands. The Run for the Gold isn’t just a car show, it’s a place to show off what you’re driving. Proceeds benefit local schools. Fresno Flats (the original name of Oakhurst) Historical Park comes alive for a weekend in September with Mountain Heritage Days, featuring demonstrations, candle making, a parade, costumes and tales from the old days. continued on page 57 Discover (left) Paul Mullins© - Looking up the Merced River at Yosemite Falls (above) Christophe Testi© - The Tenaya Bridge, coming back from Mirror Lake in Yosemite N.P. (559)83-43-YosemitethisYear.com 55 http://www.yosemitethisyear.com
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