SantaCaliGon Days is a good time

by Katie Weant

Every year a festival takes place in the streets of historic Independence Square: SantaCaliGonDays, which celebrates the meeting point of the three trails, the Santa Fe, the California and the Oregon.

SantaCaliGon usually includes many craft tables, art tables, food booths and the opportunity to watch plenty of live music. Along with the arts and crafts booths and music, there are also carnival rides available for people of all ages. The festival offers a fun time for everyone.

MCC freshman Krystal Potter said she likes to search through the tents of booths, just to see what is on sale.

“I look at the tables if it looks interesting or even if it looks goofy,” said Potter.

As someone who works at a booth, Justin Kirn has his own thoughts on all the booths. Kirn and his family are new to the Santa-Cali-Gon Days festival. This year they opened a deep-fried Oreo booth.

“Fifty thousand people come through here in a matter of three days. Making money isn’t a bad thing,” Kirn said.

Another booth owner, LeAnn Zoe, said she enjoys her job, too. She and her family own a few of the food booths that are open in the rides part of the festival.

“It’s a good fair,” said Zoe. “You’re never in one place too long. You move around a lot so you see plenty of families and different faces.”

Potter also takes in the capabilities of people watching.

“It’s fun. It’s very entertaining to watch people,” said Potter.

Booth workers have a lot of responsibilities while on the job. They are responsible for setting up their booths at 8 a.m., making sure they have plenty of supplies for the day, handling the customers, and then closing up shop at the end of the day. Friday and Saturday evenings the end of the day is literally the end of the day.

“Working from eight in the morning until midnight is kind of a pain, but it’s worth it,” said Kirn.

Sometimes the owners of the booths need a little break, though.

“It’s enjoyable to both work the booths and tour the other ones,” said Zoe. “Touring around is fun, but it’s nice to be behind the booth.”

Working the booths and touring them are pluses of attending SantaCaliGon. Another plus is the live entertainment. Musicians are set up all around the festival playing all different types of music, including rock, country and even gospel. All the music makes the festival more upbeat and fun.

“It grabs people’s attention. Music always makes people more lively and happy,” said Potter.