April - 2009
It is that time of year again to celebrate the East Texas Gusher Days, where the Oil Boom Days of the 1930’s come alive in Gladewater. This year marks the 24th annual event which is being held on April 11th, April 17th and 18th and April 25th. The festival starts off with the Gusher Golf Tournament (a four person scramble) on Saturday April 11th at Gladewater Country Club (check in and contests start at 7:00 am with an 8:00 am shotgun start). Downtown Gladewater is the site of the weekend festival on Friday April 17th and Saturday April 18th which includes Hip Hop Amusements; Karaoke night and a street dance night; the Chili Cook-off; a Mini Health Fair; Arts & Crafts; Commercial Vendors; plenty of food and drinks and much more. Then the festival winds up on Saturday April 25th with the Big Bass Tournament.
On Friday, April 17th, the activities start off with Dirty Neck Jessie’s Kick-Off BBQ Luncheon from 11 am until 1:30 pm in Jeter Hall at First United Methodist Church, 215 W Quitman St. Luncheon tickets are $8.00 and can be purchased at the Gladewater COC office or from an East Texas Gusher Days Director prior to the event. On Friday evening from 8 pm until 11:30 pm you will be entertained by Stephanie Van Houten’s Karaoke (sign up starting at 7 pm). This all takes place on the brick streets of E Pacific Ave in front of Dirty Neck Jessie’s Beer & Wine Saloon and Gusher Park. Hip Hop Amusements will back again with new rides and new games providing fun and games for the whole family on Friday evening from 5 pm to 10:30 pm and Saturday from 9:00 am until 10:30 pm.
Back again this year on Friday evening instead of Saturday will be Farm Valley Carriages, from Tyler with their beautiful carriage and carriage horse Fred. Owner and driver Kepen Gilliam will offer carriage rides around the streets of Gladewater for $5.00 per person.
Saturday April 18th activities begin at 7:00 am with the Christian Men’s Alliance Pancake Breakfast until 10:00 am at the Ken Bennett Pavilion on E Pacific. The GYM 101 5K Gusher Gallop (5K Run) starts at 8:30 am at the 200 block of E. Commerce with cash prizes to runners establishing 5K course records, trophies for the category and overall winners and ribbons to all finishers.
New this year is the Gusher Bike Rally which starts at 9:00 am on the SE corner of E Commerce and Broadway.
Once the two races get underway, it will be almost time for the Gladewater National Bank Heritage Parade which begins at 10:30 am with marching units, floats, West Pacific Pizza bicycle parade and more. There are cash prizes for first place through third place judging and prizes for the bicycle parade entrants. Another parade attraction is the line up of Classic Cars from the Gusher Days Car Show that takes place on Saturday. After the parade the cars will be parked for public viewing in the downtown area. The public is invited to vote for the Gusher Days Car Show People’s Choice award.
After the parade, stroll along on E and W Pacific Ave to take in all of the Arts and Crafts and commercial vendor booths or snack on the many food items offered by the food vendors. Don’t miss the Mini Health Fair which is held from 9 am to 3:30 pm on W Pacific to take advantage of all the health tests and benefits offered by the health Care Professionals.
Starting at 9 am with a break for the parade, there will be ongoing local entertainment at the main stage on E Pacific across from Dirty Neck Jessie’s Beer & Wine Saloon and Gusher Park. When the local entertainment ends around 5 pm, the stage will be set up for the 3rd Annual Word’s Best Hushpuppies Bark Off which starts at 5:30 pm. Sign up throughout the day on Saturday at Word’s Best Hushpuppies food booth (next to Dirty Neck Jessie’s).
If time permits, Karaoke will take over up to 6:30 pm when the entertainment for the Veolia Water Saturday night street dance band will need to start setting up. This year we have the Axberg Brothers who will perform from 7 pm until 11:00 pm.
The Gusher Days Chili Cook-off sponsored by Budweiser will be held Saturday in the 100 block of E. Commerce. CASI rules apply so all chili must be cooked from scratch on site. The public is invited to participate in the tasting for People’s Choice Award which will start around noon and the judging for the coveted showmanship trophies. The Chili awards will be announced at 4 pm. Past participants in the Gusher Days Chili Cook-Off have included winners at both the state and international competition held annually in Terlingua. For more information contact Brenda Brown at 903-374-1199 or 903-845-7690.
Don’t miss the Friends of the Lee Public Library Book sale Friday from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm at the library (312 W Pacific Ave).
The winning posters from the annual East Texas Gusher Days Poster Contest for Gladewater elementary school student ‘artists’ will be display in Gusher Park on Saturday.
Saturday April 25th starts bright and early at Lake Gladewater when participants in the Big Bass Classic Tournament begin wetting their hooks at 6 am. Final weight-in is set for 2 pm when the winners will be announced and the cash prizes will be awarded.
It is not too late to enter many of these events. Most allow same day entries. Entry forms, tickets and additional information regarding all events are available at the Gladewater Chamber of Commerce office at 215 N Main or call 903-845-5501 or 800-627-0315 and on this web site. .