Chugging Along!

Have you seen the Railroad Days Placemats yet? They are out in local businesses and we are working on the second printing. Call us if you need some – they have the schedule of events for this upcoming Railroad Days (August 23-26). You can also find the schedule on the website, www.PortolaRailroadDays.com.

One additional attraction just added is a Stagecoach ride pulled by 4 horses. This will really compliment the gunfighters who are setting up their own storefronts in the City Park this year, right alongside the gold panner!

The Western Pacific Railroad Museum has just added information on the website about how to enter the Railroad Days Photography Contest. The 2 categories are Color and Black & White. Minimum size is 8 x 10, but it does not need to be mounted or framed. The only caveats are that it must be an original image taken by the photographer who submits the photo (i.e. you can’t use someone else’s photographs) and it must be a railroad related subject (people, trains, bridges, track, etc.). Entries are due by Saturday August 24 at 4 pm with judging at 5 pm.

The Railroad Days Softball Tournament is back. Wendy Selvaggio is organizing the tournament for us and it is going to be a fundraiser for the Portola Softball Team.

Get your parade floats ready – there is going to be a lot more competition this year! The parade looks like it will be bigger and even better than last year – can that be possible?

Kick-off Dinner Tickets are going on sale soon and will probably sell out this year. The live swing band music of Leep Entertainment’s “World’s Most Dangerous Party Band” will be back and they were one of the biggest hits of last years event. Dinner this year will be Mexican style and will be great! Tickets will be $35 each. We will also have some limited edition "25th Annual Railroad Days" Posters, signed by the artist, Susan Arterburn for sale during the silent auction. Anyone who wants to donate an item for the silent auction can contact me or anyone on the committee.

If you look around town, you will be able to see the beautiful quilt done by the Cabin Fever Quilters for this year’s event, and get your Quilt Raffle Ticket, or see the “Copper Train”, created by Jerry Todd, and buy a raffle ticket for that, or just to buy a 25th Annual Railroad Days Button.

Speaking of buttons, this year the “button raffle” is back and for prizes we are getting some very interesting donations from Railroad Museums across the country – from pins, to t-shirts, to books, to posters. Each button will have a number on the back. Drawings for these wonderful prizes will be done at 10:00 and 3:00 on both Saturday and Sunday, but the only catch is that you must be present to win! Plus this year, your Railroad Days Button will be the price of admission for each of the street dances (Friday and Saturday)... $2 is pretty cheap admission for the high quality entertainment you will find at each of the street dances!