Over the weekend, Samaria held its annual Samaria Days celebration, featuring a parade, Queen Contest, auction, and a number of other events.  Samaria is one of the oldest substantial communities in the valley, with John Evan Price and his two sons first settling it in 1868.  The town has always worked hard to honor and celebrate its long history, and Samaria Days are an iconic commemoration of that hard work, a weekend that brings those inside the community together with visitors who make their way to town to enjoy the events. 

On Friday evening, families began to make their way to Samaria Centennial Park for the annual weekend, appropriately observed near the Pioneer Day holiday.  As kids played games throughout the park, the major draw of Friday’s event was the Queen Contest, which establishes the local royalty to preside over the parade, auction, and other events throughout the year.  Although this year’s celebration fell within the same timeframe as girls’ camp, a skillful competition was nonetheless held, resulting in the naming of a Queen, Princess, and two Duchesses.  

The Queen Contest involved the following events: the Farmer’s Address, Barrel Racing, Artistic Expression, “Keep your nose to the ground,” Laundry Time, Watering Chickens, and “Up in the air.”  2007 Samaria Queen Cortney Olsen served as the emcee of the event, and brought humor and experience to the proceedings.  The events in the contest were designed to showcase the skills and talents of the competitors, though updated a bit from events of the past.  “You should have seen what the contest used to be like,” Luke Waldron said, a sentiment that was echoed by many of the attendees.  In the past, contestants would perform more conventional farming and homemaking tasks such as would be encountered on a working farm.  

The Farmer’s Address gave each young woman a chance to speak to the judges.  Contestants were judged on confidence, clarity, and poise.  Mending time gave each girl two minutes to sew a button onto a cloth.  Judging was based on how well the button was sewed within that timeframe.  Barrel racing found each girl racing around an obstacle course with their “horse” fo the fastest time.  In the Artistic Expression event, each girl was given seven minutes to recreate a picture.  Judging was based on how closely the final picture resembled the original.  The “stay grounded” event involved a race to the finish line with each girl pushing a small soccer ball with their noses.  Laundry time had the girls hanging clothespins on the fence in the fastest time possible.  Watering the chickens involved moving water from a smaller glass into an empty can decorated with a picture of a chicken, with the fullest can being declared the winner.  The last event was the “up in the air” event, where girls had to keep two balloons in the air as long as possible without letting one drop.

Because the contest involved both judged and timed events, the judges had a hard task cut out for them naming the winners.  Shawna Burgon, Sue Evans, and Marcia Stocks were the arbiters of the event, and after a period of consultation declared Addie Waldron the Queen, Alivia Waldron the Princess, and Whitney Waldron and Jillian Williams tied for the Duchess position. 

The Queen contest was followed by a S’Mores cookout, which brought everyone together around the fire pit, and then a showing of the “Super Mario Brothers” movie at dusk, sponsored by CWC in Malad.

Saturday began bright and early with the Blue Goose Chase 1 mile, 5K, and 10K Fun Run/walk, the community pancake breakfast, and the parade.

The parade has not been featured in the Samaria Days celebration since 2018, but according to organizers it was the kids in the community that wanted to bring it back.  The parade was open to ATVs, horses, cars, trucks, and floats, all of which were on display.  The American Legion and the Sheriff led the procession, which made its way through Samaria to Centennial Park dispersing mountains of candy as it went.  Organizers were pleased with how many people showed up to participate in and watch the parade, and they hope to increase the numbers even further for next year’s event.

The Frontier Auction, which began at 10:00 a.m. stayed busy throughout the morning, as donated items brought in hundreds of dollars and inspired some brief bidding wars.  Items such as quilts, Oxygen therapy sessions, tools, hats and clothes, artwork, gift certificates, appliances, food items, and much more were donated by many local businesses and individuals.  Samaria royalty helped auctioneer Lynn Livingston display and distribute items to the winners of the bids.   

Following the auction, Elder Linger from West Virginia delighted the crowd with his array of magic tricks.  Performing for a half hour, Linger demonstrated an impressive amount of skill with close up and crowd-involved magic tricks, delighting members of the audience both young and old.

Booths set up throughout the park featured games such as the ring toss, dart balloons, and others.  Water games were also set up to help fight off the heat on a warm July day in the park.

The Chicken Chase ended the afternoon, with 30 lucky individuals each returning home with a new chicken.

Samaria Days is a well-loved tradition in the valley, and this year’s success is a good sign that the celebration will continue into the future, hopefully for another century and a half at least.