Groveland Is Ready To Celebrate 49er Festival

It is the largest annual event of the year in Groveland. The annual 49er Festival and Chili and Salsa Cook-off will take place this Saturday.

Earl Wright with the Yosemite Highway 120 Chamber of Commerce, was Wednesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.

Saturday’s events begin in Groveland at 7 AM with a pancake breakfast at the Community Center hosted by the Lions Club, followed by the the annual airplane flyover at 8:45 and then the community parade will take place on Main Street (Highway 120) beginning at 9 AM.

After the parade, most of the events will move to Mary Laveroni Community Park with music, vendor booths, kids activities, live and silent auctions, beer, wine, the famous chili-cook-off, a salsa cook-off and other food choices. The event comes to an end at 5 PM.

A mixture of events earlier this year proved to be economically difficult for Groveland, which relies heavily on tourism. This was mostly due to the heavy precipitation during the winter months and the long term closure of the road that leads to the Yosemite National Park Valley Floor from Highway 120. Highway 120’s Tioga Pass itself, wasn’t able to open until just before the 4th of July weekend.

According to Wright, tourists have returned and the entire community is ready to welcome visitors to the town for this Saturday’s events.

For more information regarding the ’49er Festival, Chili and Salsa Cook-Off, view http://49erfestival.blogspot.com/

The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 AM.