Boulder City celebrates spring with annual jamboree

Stephen Sylvanie / Special to the Sun

Elizabeth Anderson, 4, answers a question from hostess Anna Lawson while participating in the 2009 Little Miss and Mister Boulder City pageant during the Spring Jamboree on Saturday. Anderson was awarded second-runner up during the contest.

By Jean Reid Norman (contact)

Saturday, May 2, 2009 | 2:09 p.m.

When she was 2, Olivia Swan chose the Gazebo at Bicentennial Park in Boulder City for her parents, John and Morgan, to get married.

This year, she took the stage herself for the Little Miss and Mister Boulder City contest, and walked away with a crown.

Olivia, now 5, won the Little Miss Boulder City portion of the event, one of dozens provided as entertainment during the 2009 Spring Jamboree, an annual festival sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce to draw visitors to Boulder City.

One of the highlights of the jamboree will be a street dance at 7 p.m. Saturday night, which will feature Brazzo's River Band performing country music. The festival continues from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Sunday.

The festival fills five city blocks of parks and roads in downtown Boulder City with a carnival, booths by artists, antique dealers and food vendors, and a classic car show. The car show, which began Friday night, has drawn 300 vehicles.

The Little Miss and Mister Pageant was the first slice of entertainment after opening remarks by Mayor Roger Tobler, and it was complete with a production number by preschool dance students dressed in duck costumes.

Little Mister winner Samuel Werkema, 3, grew weary of the pressure and shed tears as he accepted his prize. Runners-up were Gage Calton, 3, and Bryan Coleman, 4.

Olivia wore her crown proudly and delighted in being on stage with her friends. Runners-up were MacyAnne Rosequist, 4, and Elizabeth Anderson, 4.

Winds that gusted to 30 mph overnight blew some of the tents down before the festivities began, but Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jill Lagan called vendors during the night, telling them they might need to come early to repair the damage before setting up.

Marty Landers of Mystik Dreams, a magnetic jewelry seller, received one of those calls. Two supports on his tent had broken as the wind blew the tent down.

"It's part of this type of business," he said. "I do a lot of shows, and the winds the past six to seven months in Las Vegas have been worse than ever before."

He said he was grateful to get a call so he had a chance to try to fix things.

Lagan said she was pleased with the turnout of vendors.

"I was under the impression with the economy that we would see fewer people display," she said. "It's been the exact opposite of my assumption. More people are coming out on the weekends to supplement their incomes."

A new feature at this year's Spring Jamboree was Clothesline Art, an area for students from Boulder City's four public schools to display their artwork. The turnout of artwork was slight, but Friends of the Arts trustee Bruce Anderson said the group had an alternative plan. Seeing the low turnout, they went and bought art supplies for children to create work on the spot, and as the day progressed, that art was displayed.

"Kids need a way to express themselves," Anderson said.

Also making its debut at the jamboree was the Nevada Office of Veterans Services' new mobile office. Deputy Director Carole Turner laid out fliers with information about services for the state's veterans and talked to vets as they came by. Within the first hour and a half, she said, she had been able to help 10 veterans. Some had been able to start or restart claims at the office, she said.