July Jubilee is Saturday
Preparations for the Holton/Jackson County Chamber of Commerce’s 19th-annual July Jubilee at Banner Creek Reservoir “are coming along nicely,” according to chamber director Ashlee York.
The annual event — which will celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States with food, games, live music and a patriotic fireworks display — will be held Saturday, June 27 at the reservoir grounds, where there’s no charge to attend but free-will donations will be accepted at the reservoir gates to help offset the event’s costs.
It’s part of a full day of activities at the reservoir grounds that starts that morning with the eighth-annual — and reportedly final — Ron and Scott Strader and Tom Davies Memorial Run, hosted by the Friends of Banner Creek Foundation.
Organizers of the annual five-kilometer run said the event has fulfilled its purpose as a fund-raiser for the new community building at the reservoir grounds, but they remain open to turning the event over to someone else to manage it in the future.
The reservoir gates will open at 4:30 p.m. that day for July Jubilee, and York said free-will donations can be accepted at the gates or online at exploreholton.com/community-resources/donate
At 5 p.m., Switch In Time, an eight-piece, Topeka-based rock band that performs classic rock from the 1960s through the 1990s, will perform on the Banner Creek Reservoir stage, it was reported.
Departure, also from Topeka, will take the stage at 7:45 p.m. to play, according to its Facebook profile, “anthem rock featuring four-part harmony with high energy.”
The event will conclude with a fireworks display starting at 10 p.m., provided by Jesse Kimmi of Everest and his crew. Kimmi has been providing July Jubilee’s closing fireworks display since 2021, it was reported.
Food and merchandise vendors will be onsite throughout the event, and York said a good variety of food options will be available to those in attendance.
This year’s July Jubilee will cap a full day of activities at the reservoir grounds, starting with the Strader-Davies Memorial Run; check-in begins at 8 a.m. and the event starts at 9 a.m. Printed registration forms may be picked up at the Chamber office, located at 104 W. Fifth St. in Holton.
Regular reservoir activities such as camping, swimming, boating, disc golf, fishing and kayak and paddle boat rentals will also be available that day. Fireworks will be on sale in Holton and the surrounding area for personal use by that weekend, but those who attend July Jubilee are reminded to leave their fireworks at home.
The first July Jubilee was held at Banner Creek Reservoir in 2007 after several years at Prairie Lake. The event has been held there every year except 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the event.
Anyone interested in volunteering to help collect donations at the Banner Creek Reservoir gates is invited to contact the Chamber office at (785) 364-3963 for more information.
