After seeing limited Heritage Days events in 2020 due to the pandemic, the community celebration returned full force last week, attracting large crowds of people to join in the fun.
Alliance Chamber of Commerce Director Susan Unzicker said she is glad to see the interest in Heritage Days.
“Heritage Days went great,” said Unzicker. “We had a lot of people come out. I was talking to Frazier Shows of America, and they said we sold the exact same numbers of presale tickets as we did in 2019. With that and the tickets they sell, I think we were up a little bit in ticket sales.
“Every time I came downtown, there seemed to be a lot of people out and about,” said Unzicker.
Unzicker explained being able to return to normal with Heritage Days was positive for the community.
“It was good to have the carnival back and food vendors back, and just to have people out on the streets socializing, and being able to visit with people and reminisce about old Heritage Days,” Unzicker said. “It was good just to be able to hold Heritage Days.”
Some of the major events that were featured this year included the parade, which replaced last year’s Cruise the Butte, Sunday in the Park and the carnival.
This year, DeeDee Behm, Head of the Memory Support Unit at Highland Park Care Center, was named as the Grand Marshal.
The winners of this year’s parade included the Scouts BSA Troop 2516B, which took first in the youth division. The Box Butte County Bad Boys took second in the youth division. The Box Butte County Royalty took first place in the non-commercial division, with St. John’s Preschool taking second. In the commercial division, first place went to Highland Park Care Center and second went to 7th Street Dance Studio. Box Butte General Hospital and Farmers State Bank were honorable mentions in the commercial category.
Unzicker said she is already excited to plan for next year, noting a wrap up meeting that was hosted on Tuesday.
“We are discussing things that went well this year, and things that we need to add next year,” said Unzicker. “Hopefully we can add a few more things that were in 2019 that we can add back in 2022. I just want to thank the community for coming out and supporting Heritage Days. We’ll see everyone in 2022.”
