The festival, which is held on the high school campus, is currently on tap for June 4 and 5.
Judy Martens, chamber executive vice president, expressed her excitement about the upcoming festival as she spoke about the entertainment line up—country singer Keith Anderson.
“We are excited to have him!” Martens said.
Anderson is an Oklahoma native singer and Grammy-nominated songwriter. He will be performing on stage June 5 at the 2010 Diamond Daze Festival. Some of Anderson’s songs include “Pickin Wildflowers,” “Podunk” and “I’ll Know When I Get There.”
Other entertainment scheduled for June 4 includes Stacy Barnes’ band Lost Highway, who are local, and a band from Joplin, Mo., Live Wire.
But they won’t be the only ones performing. Local talent will be featured in the Tori Mills Talent Showcase, which Martens said has become an annual event. The talent show is named in memory of the late Tori Mills, a Sallisaw resident and high school student who died of cancer.
“We plan on increasing the contestants in the show and we are hoping more local talent will enter,” Martens said.
Martens said Chad Jasna would be in charge of the talent show, which would more then likely begin at 10 a.m. She said more information and the sign ups would become available as the festival gets closer.
“We are really expecting a huge crowd this year,” Martens said.
The carnival will begin June 2 and close June 5. Martens said last year’s event had eight food vendors and she is expecting 15 for this year’s event.
Saturday marks the Kansas City Barbeque Society kick off, and the car show. Arts and crafts and other food vendors will be at the festival as well.
There will be no entrance fee for the festival, only a parking fee. Martens said the parking fee would be a little different for this year’s festival. On June 4 and 5, the parking will be $5 until 6 p.m. June 5. The parking fee will go up to $10 after 6 p.m. June 5. Martens said she thinks that’s a reasonable price to see the country singer Keith Anderson.
“The $10 price is for a car load of people. A lot of people can be crammed in a car to see Keith Anderson,” Martens chuckled.
So far so good
“We are very thankful for the sponsorships we’ve received. With the way the economy is right now, it’s amazing to see all the sponsors we have,” Martens said.
“As of right now, we are in good shape going into the Diamond Daze Festival,” Martens said. “We still need sponsorships. There are a few we are waiting to see what happens.”
Martens said the Platinum sponsors of this year’s Diamond Daze so far are the Cherokee Casino in Sallisaw and the Grand River Dam Authority.
Gold sponsors include Wright Home Services, Blue Ribbon Auto Group, and the Sequoyah County TIMES. Silver sponsors are Arvest Bank, National Bank of Sallisaw, Armstrong Bank and Peters Agency.
Bronze Sponsors include State Farm Insurance, Aaron’s Bargain Center, The Journey Church The First National Bank, Sonic Drive-In, People Inc., US Lime Co. St. Clair, Health and Wellness, Total Eye Care, The Family Clinic, Clif’s Pharmacy, Sallisaw True Value Hardware, Sallisaw Ford, Charlie’s Chicken, Dr. Bob Wells, Mallory Martin, Cookson Hills Electric, Law Office of Fourth Scoufos, Bob Hammonds, CPA, Sallisaw Lumber, Valley Land Title, Western Sizzlin, A Clean Pott, The Fillin Station, Casey’s Service Motor Sports, Aroma’s and Dan George Law Office.
Other chamber events
The Chamber current program events and activities include,
• Character Council
• SIC (economic development)
• Home Builder’s Association
• Diamond Daze Festival
• Junior Livestock Show
• Christmas events
• Veterans Day
• Women’s Fair
• Retirement Fair
• Fourth of July activities
• Farmers Market and
• Bassananza Fishing Tournament
