Retooled Scappoose Outdoor Fun Festival will entertain all ages June 8

With the help of the Scappoose Public Library, the Scappoose summer festival will take on a new look and feel this summer.

It will officially be called the Scappoose Outdoor Fun Festival — a departure from the previous name Scappoose Adventure Festival — and will be held 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 8, at Heritage Park.

“It’s based on the idea that I had years ago about having some kind of an outdoor festival that could really focus on summer activities, very family friendly activities, activities like camping, hiking, kayaking, bike riding — stuff that people can do outdoors in the summertime, that really is meaningful,” JJ Duehren, who has been on the Scappoose Parks and Recreation Committee for eight years, said.

Duehren said the June 8 event will include a campfire storytelling tent, a kids outdoor nature art show, lots of live music and prizes, which will include the grand prize of a tandem kayak for two. The kayak prize will be given away at 4:30 p.m.

At the Scappoose Outdoor Fun Festival, guests can learn some outdoor skills.

“We’re going to have demonstrations of things people can actually do just to be more functional in the outdoors,” Duehren said, noting that skills include setting up a tent and choosing the right sleeping bags.

The festival will also feature a rockhound who will talk about rocks and crack a geode.

“A geode is a rock you typically find, they’re called thunder eggs,” she said. “He has a geode-cracking machine, so you crack it in half, and it’s really fun to see what’s inside.”

The forestry department will be on hand to talk wildfire prevention, and you might just run into Smoky Bear, himself.

Also, look for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Marine Division, that will be on hand with their boat, talking about boater safety. Oregon equestrian representatives will be on hand to talk about horseback riding.

The city of Scappoose decided late last year to slim down the city-run Scappoose Adventure Festival in favor of giving the event to someone else. With that, the city donated $10,000 to the library as a sponsor. The idea was to rebrand the festival on a smaller budget.

“The library has to put in on and pay for it, basically,” Jeff Weiss, library director, said. “We’ve gotten grants and donations to cover the cost.”

Weiss added, “After last year’s Adventure Fest, the city wasn’t really interested in putting on an expensive event again.”

The total cost is expected to be around $15,000, according to Weiss, who said the city had dropped the event planner who had run the Adventure Festival.

“The city gave us a $10,000 grant and the rest of it is small-level sponsorships,” he said.

Duehren said of the event, “What’s also fascinating is that this is the only event like this in the Northwest. There are sportsman shows, but there’s nothing about something that is solely dedicated to summer outdoor activities … Really, it’s outdoor fun.”

Comparing the Adventure Festival with this summer’s version, Weiss said, “We’re really concentrating on the outdoors in Columbia County, hopefully, as a tourism destination.”

And for those who visit the newly-minted festival on an empty stomach, Duehren added, “We’re bringing back the Scappoose Sauerkraut Sandwich, which was really popular when they had the Sauerkraut Festival.”