Camas Days, the city’s massive, two-day festival, set to celebrate its 50th anniversarySubscriber Exclusive

Camas Days will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year on July 24 and 25. But perhaps the most remarkable thing is that this massive, two-day festival — which attracts roughly 15,000 people — is entirely organized by the Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce’s only two employees: Samantha Horner, who works part time; and the chamber’s executive director, Camas City Council member Jennifer Senescu. The two of them plan the festival over six months while fulfilling all their regular job duties, Horner said. It’s hard work but worthwhile when the festival is finally underway.

“People love this festival. They say it’s the best festival we do,” Horner said. “They have no idea that Jen and I are behind the scenes scrambling. That’s such a compliment to me because I’m like ‘Really? We pulled it off!’ ”

Camas has a long history of hometown pride, stretching back to the 1940s and ’50s, when the Crown Zellerbach paper mill hosted the Camas Paper Festival street fair and parade featuring paper floats and costumes. That particular festival fizzled out in the ’60s, Horner said, but in 1974, the Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce took up the mantle and hosted the first official Camas Days. (If you’re scratching your head at the math around this year’s anniversary, that’s because the chamber of commerce doesn’t count the two years during the pandemic when the parade was canceled, Horner said.)

Horner and Senescu might be in charge of getting the ball rolling, but they also have a lot of help. The festival requires a small army of volunteers to help run its various components as well as business sponsors and local civic organizations that step up on festival days to oversee individual events. For example, the Camas School Board manages the Grand Parade at 11 a.m. Saturday, and The Assistance League of Southwest Washington directs the Kids’ Parade at 12:15 p.m. Friday. Shawood homebuilders is a main sponsor, and Georgia-Pacific — which has owned the paper mill since 2000 — is another longtime sponsor. And Blairco Heating and Air Conditioning sponsors the port-a-potties.

The Camas Light Brigade, which installs and maintains the LED lights that line the streets and rooftops of downtown Camas, heads up the wildly popular Bathtub Races, in which three-member teams race down the street in wheeled cast-iron bathtubs full of water. Two team members push the tubs, while the third sits inside and steers, water sloshing everywhere.

The crowds love it, but there’s a lot of work behind the scenes, Horner said. The same two tubs are used in all the races, she said, and the tires and brakes have to be checked every year to make sure they can safely handle the weight of water and people. The tubs are different sizes, so Randy Curtis of the Light Brigade worked out the precise volume of water each tub can contain to make sure it’s a fair race. The Camas-Washougal Fire Department fills the tubs — and the water is very cold, Horner said. (Between races, firefighters also let kids and young-at-heart adults run around in the spray.) The heavy bathtubs are stored in a Riverview Bank facility during most of the year, but they have to be wheeled across town before the parade.

“We round up some big, strong guys; we wheel them over the hill and store them behind our office,” Horner said.

The Grand Parade, which usually has between 70 and 80 entries, features floats, a high school band, go-carts and other groups like car clubs and the Lions and Shriners (usually dressed as clowns and riding kids’ bikes, Horner said). Anyone can apply to join the parade, she said, as long as their entries are deemed acceptable — meaning family-friendly, upbeat and nonpartisan, though people who hold or are running for elected office may join.

“We do allow politicians in our parade, but we try not to do too many,” Horner said.

The themed floats often are the highlight of the parade. The Camas Lions Club always has an “amazing, over-the-top” float, Horner said, but last year’s first-place winner by The Flyit Academy featured a real airplane with a lion in the cockpit. The float, called “The Fly-in King,” was a pun on “The Lion King” and a tongue-in-cheek exemplification of the theme, “Broadway Comes to Camas.”

Volunteers also play an important role in the parade as “float spotters.” Each spotter walks alongside a group of 10 floats, keeping them on pace and making sure that float operators abide by parade rules.

The parade’s grand marshal this year is Barry Lutz, who will be joined by his wife, Rosie. Barry Lutz was the longtime owner of Lutz Hardware, a Camas landmark celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. He bought the business from his father, George Lutz, before passing it on to his son, Aaron Lutz, in 2005.

Last year, the honor went to Richard Mancini, who was retiring after a long career leading the Camas High School band. It’s this type of deep connection to the Camas community that is important when choosing a grand marshal, Horner said.

It’s a Camas Days tradition for the paper mill to end the parade by tossing out rolls of toilet paper to the cheering crowd. What people might not know, Horner said, is that “golden tickets” are hidden inside 20 of the rolls. Those who get the tickets can come to the mill and get a free case of toilet paper, she said. (Now that’s good for your bottom dollar.)

Horner said she has instituted one new tradition: a Young Entrepreneurs section, which she added three years ago. This year, young vendors will staff their own tables under a 30-by-30-foot canopy located across the road from Kids’ Street. She started out with five vendors, but this kids’ market has now expanded to 14 vendors ranging in age from 9 to 16.

The festival might have grown and changed over the years, but one thing that won’t change is the amount of space available in downtown Camas for vendors, attractions and attendees. Horner said the festival is at capacity.

“I’ve got about 50 vendors on the waitlist right now,” she said.

Horner said she’d love to accept more vendors and welcome more visitors but there’s no place to put them. Parking remains a perennial problem (though C-Tran will provide free shuttle service from Camas High School on Saturday), and most festivalgoers are shoulder-to-shoulder when walking around downtown streets, she said.

But maybe popularity isn’t such a bad problem to have. After all the work is done and Horner is making the rounds on festival days, the smiles on people’s faces make it all worth the effort.

“It’s almost like having a baby,” Horner joked. “You black it out after, because you wouldn’t do it again otherwise. It’s so much work, but it makes people so happy. Everybody loves it.”