July Jubilee is Saturday
Banner Creek Reservoir will be the place to be on Saturday, July 1, when the Holton/Jackson County Chamber of Commerce will hold its 16th-annual July Jubilee event, it has been reported.
Chamber director Ashlee York said this year’s event will feature plenty of Fourth of July-themed fun, including live music, food vendors and a fireworks display provided by Jesse Kimmi of Everest, who’s providing the “red, white and boom” for the Jubilee for a third year.
“We love their work,” York said of Kimmi and his fireworks crew.
July Jubilee will again be a free event, but free-will donations will be taken at the reservoir entrance gates to help cover the cost of fireworks and other Chamber events and programs. York said volunteers are needed to help collect those donations at the gates this year.
“We need all the help we can get,” she said, inviting area residents to contact the Chamber office at (785) 364-3693 to volunteer.
The reservoir gates will open at 5 p.m., and live music will begin on the recently-constructed reservoir stage starting immediately with The Copper Petals, a “modern folk” band featuring Chris Heineken and Shelly Will of Holton.
They’ll be followed at 6:30 p.m. by Undercover, an ‘80s rock cover band featuring Holton High School band teacher Jayme Malsom and Royal Valley music teacher Melissa Kimble. At 8 p.m., Wilder Horses, a Topeka-based band featuring Tim Strathman, will play country music from the 1970s and 1980s on the Banner stage, followed by Kimmi’s fireworks display at 10 p.m.
For those who’d like some refreshment with their entertainment, York said a handful of food trucks will be present for the event, including local favorites Trails Cafe and Willcott Brewing Company, the latter of which will have a “beer tent” at the Banner grounds.
Other food vendors planning to be in attendance include Kansas Snack Shack of Manhattan, Sweet Kernels Kettle Corn and Lemonade of Topeka, Grub on Hubs of Eudora, Premier Shaved Ice of Shawnee and We’re So Icey of Junction City.
Other vendors visiting the Banner grounds for the event will include Netawaka Family Fitness Center, which will provide a bounce house for the kids, and VBH Toys, York said.
This year’s July Jubilee will wrap up a full day of activities at the Banner grounds, York said. The fifth-annual Ron and Scott Strader and Tom Davies Memorial Run/Walk will begin with check-in at 8 a.m. and the run and walk at 9 a.m.
A sand volleyball tournament is also planned for that morning at the reservoir grounds’ sand volleyball court, and regular reservoir activities, such as swimming, boating, disc golf, fishing and kayak and paddleboat rentals, will also be available that day.
