The History of Damboree
In 1939, the need for a school for Central Valley and Project City inspired three local businessmen, Lee Griner,
Clyde Akin, and Earl Wiggins to sponsor the original community celebration, Hell's Gulch, to raise money needed
to start construction of the schools. It featured such goings-ons as shot-gun
weddings, street dances, contests and burning the casket of Old Man Gloom. The second celebration was held to raise money for a fire truck to relieve the Bucket Brigade, which had to draw
water from shallow, hand-dug wells that often went dry in the summer. Again, the celebration was successful and
Central Valley's first fire truck, a 1921 4-cylinder REO Speedwagon was acquired. World War II brought an end to the celebrations, and it wasn't until 1948 that Hell's Gulch was revived. This time
it was a mass celebration to commemorate completion of the $150,000 water system by the newly formed Shasta
Dam Area Public Utility District. This was not a fundraising affair. It was a fun affair and featured such western
hi-jinks such as hanging the lone man who voted against the water bonds (in effigy, of course). In 1951, under the leadership of Mrs. Cleo Tenney, the civic organizations were banded together and
incorporated under the name Shasta Damboree Delegation, and inaugurated a fish derby as the featured event. In following years, the celebration added several events such as carnivals, kiddie parades, hobby shows and
various contests. In 1952, Sylvia Bernardino was crowned the first Queen of the Shasta Damboree. She was later sent to San
Francisco to advertise our community as a Sportsman's Paradise. In 1953, a Water Carnival and Regatta were
added attractions.
1954 had a Coronation Ball, and the formal dedication of the new Central Valley Fire Hall. And in 1960, our first
area residents, the Native Americans, featured a cultural dance exhibit. In 1979, a special event was added to showcase our honored citizens. These were the people who came to find
work and then stayed to build a community. They brought many talents with them. Some were well-educated, and
some were coarse in speech, but they all had a zest for living and enjoying life in this area to the fullest extent. Most of all, they had the ability to see what needed to be done and the perseverance to follow a project to the
end. We owe a special salute to our many citizens and volunteers of the past Damboree committees for making sure
that this wonderful celebration still lives and thrives today. No one can quite appreciate the past members hard
work as well as the ones who follow them. Through the years, the events have changed with the times and we're always adding new attractions, but the
same spirit lives on in our community which has enabled us to plan this year's Damboree. The support of the
community has been the sole reason the celebrations have carried through the years, and have been such a
success. To paraphrase the 1956 delegation, "We, of the 2010 delegation, are striving to match the efforts and spirits of
the men and women before us, to put on a bigger and better Damboree for the promotion of our area."
