Forebay hosts Salmon Float
With the Oroville Salmon Festival canceled due to COVID-19, others step in to ‘keep the spirit alive’
OROVILLE » Many people like Oroville resident Petrina Ladendorf and her friend Amber Reynolds attend the Salmon Festival each year in Oroville, bringing the community together to celebrate the spawning of the Chinook Salmon on the Feather River for the 26th consecutive year.
While the food and downtown gathering were not possible this year due to COVID-19 regulations, Salmon Festival Event Coordinator Ray Laager has done four things to, “Keep the spirit alive for the Salmon Festival next year.”
Things like the food vendors, the Friday night dinner and the downtown event were all forced to look for alternatives ways to engage the community of Oroville.
First, the Forebay Aquatic Center in Oroville hosted a Salmon Float on the Feather River beginning at the Feather River Hatchery and ending two hours later at Riverbend Park. It was the seventh year the Salmon Festival has done some type of Salmon Float, whether it be individual floats or group trips. Saturday and Sunday Floats began at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and both days sold out.
On Saturday Ladendorf filled the final spot available, learning of the event just 10 minutes prior the start. She and her friend
Amber Reynolds had planned to kayak at the Forebay, however jumped at the opportunity for the Salmon Float on a moment’s notice.
Most years the salmon spawning season lines up with the dates of the Salmon Festival. However Department of Water Resources Environmental Scientist Kyle Hartwigsen, who joined Saturday’s f loaters, said that this year is a little early and viewers have been seeing less fish. Harwigsen said that in about two weeks Salmon views can expect to see fish propelling themselves out of the water once again.
Laager said that due to the success of this weekend’s Salmon Float, the Forebay Aquatic Center is concidering doing the event againwhen the time comes.
He asked those interested to follow the Fore
bay Aquatic Center’s website, forebayaquaticcenter. com, to see when a new f loat may be scheduled. This weekend’s cost was $30 for adults and $20 for students K-12. The float is available for all ages and abilities as the river is not very fast moving in most parts. Tandem kayaks are available as well. Signs ups and waivers are available on the Forebay Aquatic Center’s website.
The second thing the Salmon Festival team is doing to keep the spirit of the Salmon Festival alive this year is they have continued their magnets for a 10th consecutive year. They are available at the Oroville Chamber of Commerce for those who may be looking
to collect one.
Another way the Salmon Festival has kept its roots in Oroville was the sold out Salmon Festival drive-in movie hosted by the Oroville Downtown Buisness Association Friday night. The event was “free”, however tickets were made available in a unique way. Those who spent $20 at downtown Oroville businesses were entered in a raffle for a chance to receive a ticket, and for each $20 spent another ticket was received.
“It is great because it puts money right back into the downtown and like everywhere else is struggling for COVID-19 and it helps support the downtown,” Laager said.
Lastly, the fish hatchery and the Salmon Festival have continued its tradition of donating salmon to be smoked and given to different organizations for fundraising opportunities. The only cost to the organizations is the price of packaging the 1-pound packages at the Chico Meat Locker and Sausage Company in Chico.
Organizations often sell the salmon to the public at farmer’s markets, while other organizations have call lists and should be available through October, Laager said. This year’s organizations that are being featured are: Optimist International, St. Thomas the Apostle School, the Forebay Aquatic Center and the Feather River Nature Center inOroville. If other nonprofit organizations or community organizations are interested in the smoked salmon go to the Oroville Salmon Festival Facebook page where you can private message Laager from the page.
“It is just something that we’ll continue to move forward and keep this weekend alive in peoples’ consciousness,” Laager said. “The Salmon Fest will be back and better than ever… just not this year.”