Today (Friday) marks the last day of the second, week-long Girls on the Run summer camp held at the Chippewa Valley Museum. Girls on the Run is a national program for 3rd-5th grade girls that blends physical activity with life skill development. 

Campers used the museum's auditorium as home base, 9am-1pm Monday through Friday, and were involved in activities in and around the museum. It's been fun watching and interacting with energetic kids excited to be day camping here.

Next week will have a different level of excitement because it's finally time for....

US Open Chainsaw 

Sculpture Championship

Thursday, August 1. Free event admission this day only. Regular admission applies for museum visits.

10am: Competition carving starts

5pm: Pre-Championship Party starts. Includes Meet and Greet with carvers, music, live auction of selected pieces

Friday, August 2 

10am-5pm: Sculpture carving, museum exhibits included with event admission

12pm-4pm: Log House and Schoolhouse open

6:30pm: Live auction - small sculptures

8:00pm: Concert - Andy Hanson opening for Irie Sol

Saturday, August 3, Family Day

10am-5pm: Sculpture carving, museum exhibits open

12-4pm: Family Day activities - front lawn

6:30pm: Live auction - small sculptures

Sunday, August 4

10am-12pm: Sculpture carving, museum exhibits open

1:00pm: Awards

2:00pm: Live auction - competition and small sculptures

Complimentary ear plugs will be provided

Buy Tickets at the Gate

One Day: $18

Full Event (Friday-Sunday): $25

Children 12 & under are FREE

Echoes of Eau Claire: A Walking Tour through Lakeview Cemetery

August 8 OR August 15, 6:00 - 7:30

Veteran guides Robert Gough and Greg Kocken venture into Lakeview Cemetery for this summer's cemetery walking tour. There are just a few spots left for both tour dates, so sign up today.

Start location and other details will be emailed to registrants the day prior to the tour. Rain date: Aug 22.

Cost: $12 Adults, $10 Seniors, $5 Students. $2 Member Discount [must log-in for discount]

Campfire Stories and Sing Along

with Ken Szymanski and Derick Black

Wednesday, August 21, 7:00-8:30

Get this on your calendar because it is sure to be a good time. Ken Szymanski and Derick Black will help us celebrate Chippewa Valley Museum's 50th anniversary in Carson Park with an end-of-summer campfire storytime and sing-along. Ken will lead off with a summer story and then we’ll open the mic for anyone to share a family-appropriate tale. Derick will lead a sing-along ending with Happy Birthday.

I know you've heard quite a bit about the US Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship lately. It's a very big deal because the money raised from admissions, auctions, food and beverage sales, t-shirt sales, and donations goes directly towards museum operations and programs. The more we raise, the more the museum can do. The opposite is also true. 

I'm asking for your help to make this event a smashing success. Let's do it!

Peace,

Carrie Ronnander
Executive Director, Chippewa Valley Museums

PS - It's county fair season. Dunn, Eau Claire, and Buffalo/Pepin County Fairs are all happening right now and they all wrap-up Sunday, July 28. St Croix County Fair took place a few weeks ago. Pierce County Fair runs August 8-11. I thoroughly enjoy county fairs, especially the animal projects.

Eau Claire County Fair is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. One hundred years ago the fair was held at the Augusta fairgrounds which had been built in 1893. By 1900, Augusta's fairgrounds boasted a covered grandstand, livestock barns, and the only one-mile racetrack in Wisconsin. The famous Standardbred Dan Patch even made a celebrity appearance at one of the Augusta harness races. 

The above photo shows the Eau Claire County Fairgrounds in 1929. Entertainment that year included ball games, vaudeville acts, Ferris Wheel, and a three-ring circus. Below is a closeup of the posters lined up along the back fence.

The Eau Claire County Fairgrounds were located just west of Augusta. Below is a 1930 plat map showing the fairgrounds in the lower left corner of Section 32. Augusta Public Schools have occupied that space since 1976.

There were plenty of fairs across Eau Claire County prior to 1924. The Eau Claire Agricultural Society organized in 1859 for the purpose of hosting a county fair.  Eau Claire had a fairgrounds with an oval race track at the top of State Street hill from the 1860s through the early 1900s. 

Close-up of the "Dick Feeney Map" showing the county fairgrounds in the lower left. Dick Feeney was a local historian who made this fantastic map of historic locations in Eau Claire. 

The Eau Claire County Fair became a 4H fair in 1924. Although it started in Augusta, the Eau Claire County 4H fair hasn't been held there since the late 1930s. Volume One ran an article about Eau Claire County fair's past and present in one of its June issues.

Fair history runs deep in all the counties in this region and each county fair has its own identity. Nothing beats a county fair when it comes to food and wholesome fun.