Cider Sunday presses on

TUMWATER - Budget cuts brought major changes to Cider Sunday, an annual event that celebrates pioneer heritage.

The event was the first in eight years not associated with the Tumwater Falls Harvest Festival. The city of Tumwater cut funding for the festival this year.

Organizers did pick up a new partner, a group of parents from the Tumwater School District, which is dealing with its own budget challenges. The parents sold baked goods in an effort to send their children to an outdoor education camp. The district will cut funding for the camp visit next year.

“We had strong parent support saying we want the chance to try to save this,” said Marnie Prandi, who hopes to send her son Owen to the Cispus Learning Center in Gifford Pinchot National Forest next year.

The group of parents needs to raise $30,000 by Jan. 1. The parents will schedule other fundraising events.

Tumwater sixth-graders attend the camp. Prandi said it not only teaches them about nature, but also the people they meet and friendships they build during those three days helps their transition to middle school.

In its 20th year, Cider Sunday evolved out of the state centennial celebration. The Tumwater Historical Association and the Tumwater Middle School Homesteader Program sponsor the event.

In 2001, it joined with the city’s harvest festival that also marked the return of salmon to the region. Cider Sunday, which had rotated to several sites around the community, found a home at Tumwater Falls Park.

Attendance grew with the city’s backing and marketing, live music and numerous vendors.

“It made it a big community festival for a while,” said Don Trosper, the historical association’s president.

The Olympia Tumwater Foundation, which owns the park, allowed Cider Sunday to remain after the city’s departure.

The event was a return to the not-so-distant past for organizers of Cider Sunday. People milled about as middle schoolers dressed in pioneer clothing pressed apples or helped children braid rope, compete in tug-of-war or race with hoops and sticks.

The historical association and Tumwater Cispus parents each took home half the proceeds from the cider press and bake sale.

Bob Cooksey, an instructor for the homestead program, held out hope that the return of a larger event could be on the horizon.

“If we can continue this, when the economy turns around we might be able to bring something like that back,” he said.

Christian Hill: 360-754-5427

chill@theolympian.com