It's a jubilee!

Cheney festival to provide draw during mid-July rodeo weekend

By BECKY THOMAS

Staff Reporter

Planning of the first—and annual if organizers have their way—Cheney Jubilee is well underway.

The event, coinciding with Cheney Rodeo weekend, has been in the planning stages for months now after Cheney Police Chief Jeff Sale proposed a barbeque cookoff in Cheney.

Sale was becoming a barbeque aficionado after he and Sgt. Kelly Hembach won a few categories in a Coeur d'Alene competition last summer, and thought a cook off would be a fun event for Cheney.

“That was the beginning of it,” Sale said. “We kind of spun it into the idea of a jubilee when we started adding things to it. We were looking to come up with just one premiere event for the city.”

The Cheney Police Department has been behind many city social events, and CPD leadership hopes the Cheney Jubilee can blossom into a flourishing, annual event that celebrates Cheney's assets while capitalizing on the masses that converge on Cheney for another annual event.

“One of the longest running events here is the Cheney Rodeo,” Cheney Cmdr. Rick Campbell said. “The parade here is an all-day deal, but then at the end of the parade, they have a few vendors in the downtown core but virtually everybody disappears. We have something that people are already coming out for and now if we build an anchor for them to stay, then they'll actually see Cheney.”

The Cheney Jubilee will offer events throughout the weekend, July 8-10, and be held in the Safeway parking lot at the corner of Betz Road and First Street. The barbeque cookoff will offer a large cash prize and is an official Pacific Northwest Barbeque Association event. There will also be live music, kids' games, a classic car show and a variety of booths hosted by local organizations.

Longtime Cheneyite Melanie Bell is coordinating the Jubilee planning. She said the response from local clubs and organizations has been “overwhelmingly positive.” Groups like the Rotary Club, Ice Age Floods Institute, Cheney Farmers' Market and Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge will host booths or events to educate the public about what they have to offer.

“It is an event for the people inside of the city and it is an event that will attract people from the city of Spokane, Idaho, Montana, Western Washington,” Sale said. “That's the kind of draw we're looking for.”

With less than six months to go before the Jubilee, organizers are still working out details and logistics. Bell said she is focused on launching an event website and contacting businesses to sponsor the event and contribute seed money to get things off the ground.

“Being the first time that we've done this, in subsequent years it's going to be easier and easier,” Bell said. “We just want to make sure we're doing all that we need to do in terms of this first time because we want this to be a true success in terms of a celebration of Cheney.”

Sale added that he hoped private groups and citizens take over the planning of the event in future years, ultimately creating a coalition of some sort that would contribute profits back to local charities.

“It's about exposure for the city and also just making the city a better place,” he said.

Volunteers and sponsors are needed to help plan and finance the Cheney Jubilee. For more information on how to get involved contact Melanie Bell at (509) 954-4242 or [email protected].

Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].