Dayton Daze celebration emerges from the smoky haze

After weeks of fighting the Elmo Fire, the local firefighters who put in many days working to squelch the blazes finally were able to take a deep breath and enjoy the Dayton Daze Celebration held in the Dayton Park.

Hundreds of people came to support the Chief Cliff Fire Department with donations and by their participation in the varied festivities.

Most of the activities were held in the park, however, en route to the park, a bazaar was held at the historic First Presbyterian church. In addition to the various handmade and donated items, the ladies of the church conducted a good, old-fashioned bake sale, with pies, muffins, brownies, fudge, cookies, and breads.

The park took on the theme of this year’s celebration which was Homesteading the West. Several locals dressed in period clothing and a stagecoach and Conestoga wagon were used to highlight the theme. In addition, saloon girls sold strings of 50-50 tickets and whooped it up each time someone bought a string.

A large collection of silent auction items could be bid upon or purchased at a buy it now price; a wine and beer garden attracted adults; games occupied the kids; and additional booths provided food and highlighted parts of the celebration as well as the history of Dayton and Dayton Daze. The food and drinks in the park were free, with donation boots or jars available for contributions.

Additionally, one booth had a rifle display and near the end of the day’s events, a drawing was held for the rifles. The winner could choose from two rifles or could receive $500 in cash.

The parade, which began at 2 p.m., temporarily drew people away from the park to the parade route which circled the block to the north. The parade itself strongly featured the firefighters with several fire vehicles including, a rough terrain vehicle, an ambulance, a water truck and an assortment of firetrucks from the Chief Cliff Department as well as from nearby communities.

Kids, at least some of whom were children of firefighters, had a great time riding one of the last trucks in the procession as it made its way down and around the parade route two times. The grand marshal of the parade rode aboard an authentic conestoga wagon pulled by a restored antique John Deere that was dressed up to be a horse. That didn’t fool anyone but did bring chuckles from the crowd that lined the parade route.

This year’s event marked the 31st year for the celebration. Locals with long memories shared how the annual celebration came to be.

As the story goes, Freddy’s, a new bar and restaurant had a pig roast to celebrate its opening. That night a fire broke out and burned the establishment to the ground. The firefighters in the community rallied to rebuild the new business and when it was completed another pig roast celebration was held to thank and honor the firefighters.

Not long after that, the owner of Freddy’s passed away and the new owner renamed the bar and restaurant The Idle Spur, now the Chuckwagon Bar and Grill.

Initially the celebration was held at the Idle Spur but as it grew and evolved into a fundraiser, it was moved to the park. The bazaar held at the church has been a mainstay from the beginning of Dayton Daze as has the riffle raffle.

The parade, which was begun a bit later, initially was just a couple of fire trucks and thus the tradition of going around the block 2-3 times was begun. The parade has grown considerably in part due to the increase in the fire department’s fleet of trucks and in part due to the addition of floats and other entries. It still circles the route twice.

This year will certainly be a memorable one for the fire department as the entire department was activated to fight the Elmo Fire. Many of the firefighters as well as other residents were evacuated from their homes as the fire threatened their houses and entered some of their yards. The department itself, lost one of its storage units in the blaze.

Because of this year’s fire, the resources of the department were greatly depleted. The support from the Dayton Daze Celebration will surely help, but if you were unable to attend or want to donate to the department, you can do so by sending funds to the Chief Cliff Fire Department P.O. Box 18 Dayton, MT 59914.