Preparing For Dayton’s Big Day

DAYTON - The Dayton community will show the best it has to offer and honor on Oct. 1 with its annual fall festival, Dayton on Tour.

"It's a celebration of our local talent and our local history," said Ginny Butler, one of the organizers of the event.

The festival is a joint project by the Dayton Historical Depot Society and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce.

The festival began in 1976 and included only historic home tours, said Cheryl Ray, also an event organizer.

For the past five years, the event has also included an art walk and recently, the event has been used to unveil public art. Also added are bus tours to local businesses.

"We're adding to it every year," Ray said.

The first event planned for Saturday is the Touchet Valley Tour by bus to four different locations. First, the bus will stop at the Monteillet Fromagerie for cheese tasting, then Dumas Station Winery for wine tasting, the jimgermanbar in Waitsburg and the Amo Art Gallery right next door for snacks, drinks and an art exhibit.

Ray said the tour stops in Waitsburg this year because of the businesses that have opened recently and because the towns work together to promote each other.

"You're our good neighbors and we like to promote you," Ray said about Waitsburg.

Tickets for this bus tour are $15 a person and the tour buses leave from the Historic Train Depot in Dayton.

Reservations are highly recommended. To make sure you have a seat on a bus, call 509-382-2026.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. is an art walk located in the depot and at galleries around town. Also, at lunchtime, stop by any local restaurant and find special menus dreamed up just for the special day.

"The event involves the whole town, including food and music," Ray said.

At dinnertime, local pubs, restaurants and the Liberty Theater will have specials and live music.

Liberty Theater will host jazz group The B Side at 7:30 p.m. Mace Meadworks will feature the Wicker Chair Winos, Larry Davidson and Paul Gregutt at 8:30 p.m.

From noon to 6 p.m., there will also be a beer and wine garden in the depot's courtyard. The garden will have Italian and German sausage sold by Country Cupboard and the Kiwanis Club.

To work up an appetite, take a tour of the historic homes and businesses. The Boldman House museum will be open as well as four renovated historic homes in the community.

Start at the depot to get tickets and maps. Tickets are $10.

Each year, the event has about 200 to 300 people stop by and tour the homes. Last year, the whole festival brought out about 400 to 500 people, Ray said.

A large piece of this year's event is the unveil- ing of the sign restoration project on the back of three Main Street buildings. The sign will be unveiled at 4:30 p.m. and an artist's reception will run until about 6 p.m.

In previous years, the event has been the setting to unveil the stationmaster at the depot and the Sacajewea monument.

In addition to all of these special events, most businesses will be open and offering special displays and sales, Ray said.

The money raised through the festival benefits the depot's operating expenses including utilities, office supplies and keeping the doors open for visitors year-round.

"Grants never pay for operating expenses," Butler said.

The main goal of the festival is to have fun, get everyone involved and let Dayton shine, Butler said.

" We try to celebrate what's local," she said.