Jamboree adds extra meaning to spring this year

I surely can’t be the only one excited for this weekend’s Spring Jamboree.

Like a child who can’t sleep the night before a special birthday, long-awaited vacation or team championship game, I feel the anticipation for the outdoor festival growing daily as Saturday approaches.

Not only is Spring Jamboree one of my favorite events in Boulder City (honestly, pretty much every one is a favorite), it’s the first large-scale event in town in more than a year.

After being confined to my house for most of 2020 due to pandemic and a broken leg, I’m looking forward to spending time enjoying the spring weather — temperatures are forecast to range from the high 80s to the mid-90s.

There is so much to look forward to. The Little Miss and Little Mister and Bark in the Park contests, car show, gem and mineral show, antiques, crafts, business expo, visiting with friends and more. And how can I possibly ignore the opportunity to indulge in the variety of tempting foods being dished up?

But more than just a way to spend an enjoyable day, Spring Jamboree is serving as a model for future events as organizers figure out the best way to host festivals while observing guidelines to protect attendees from COVID-19. While the guidelines and restrictions are loosening, no one wants to run the risk of the virus spreading further and going backward from the progress we are making.

To help boost the effort, the city’s fire department and emergency operations center is offering a vaccination station at the event. It is hoped it will reach an audience younger than those who went to a vaccination clinic.

Volunteers also have stepped forward to help with COVID-related health screenings and Moonwalker Cleaning in Boulder City has donated its expertise to help keep things sanitized and sparkling.

If things don’t run as smoothly as they did in the past, or if there is something new that you don’t like this year, please have compassion for the volunteers working the event. Not only was it planned in a fraction of the time — four weeks vs. four months — they had to adjust to requirements and guidelines from the county and state. And it’s all new to the event organizers, too.

Jill Rowland-Lagan, CEO of the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, which presents the Spring Jamboree, said they had to spend an extra $5,000 to purchase sanitizer stations, 10,000 masks, 20,000 wristbands and other items to comply with guidelines for holding events. There also were lots of extra reports to write and paperwork to file.

“But, if it makes people feel safer, we will do it,” she said.

She wants people to come, enjoy the activities and feel safe doing so. If they are not comfortable with the environment or rules, then she asks that they stay home.

She, like the many vendors that are traveling from throughout the Southwest to showcase and sell their wares, hopes, however, that you do not.

It’s a perfect way to celebrate spring, a time of light and joy after a period of darkness and gloom. Somehow, it seems all the more fitting that Spring Jamboree is the first event to return to Boulder City.

Hali Bernstein Saylor is editor of the Boulder City Review. She can be reached at hsaylor@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9523. Follow @HalisComment on Twitter.