New Franklin will hold its annual Santa Fe Trail Days celebration on September 17 and 18. This is a special year, as it is the bicentennial of the Santa Fe Trail, as well as of Missouri. This celebration also marks the return of the event, which had to be canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This 46th Santa Fe Trail Days celebration is packed with nearly two days of events. The fest opens at 6 p.m. on Friday the 17th with a cruise in that lasts until 8 p.m., a bounce house that stays open until 9 p.m., and a beer garden that stays open until 1 a.m. Saturday.

The event, on Main Street in downtown New Franklin, includes a teen dance from 8-11 p.m. “It’s just good music and kids get to kind of stay out late,” said the organization’s secretary/treasurer, Amanda Gunn.

Also on Friday night, local band Suthurn Justus will perform live in the beer garden, and Burn Circus will entertain crowds with fire spinning and juggling performances. 

Saturday events kick off early with vendor booths opening at 8 a.m. and a baby, and Little Miss and Mr. contest signups at the same time. There will be a silent auction with baskets of goodies donated by local businesses up for grabs; proceeds from those will help fund next year’s fest. 

New this year are a free gold fishing contest for kids ages three through 12 on Saturday morning, and a log sawing contest that begins at 5 p.m. Saturday, for teens and adults ages 16 and over. Winners of the log sawing event will receive custom trophies engraved on log cross-sections. 

Saturday afternoon at 12:30, “we’ll have the VFW come out and do a salute,” Gunn said, “and the parade follows right after that.”

Afternoon events include vendor booths, the beer garden, a second gold fishing contest, a corn hole tournament, and bounce houses. 

One favorite from past Santa Fe Trail Days celebrations is back this year: the adult tricycle races. “It is pretty darn funny,” Gunn said of the event. “We did it in 2019 and we had a group of younger men, and we also had the officers who were actually helping with the event participate in it; it was pretty cool.”

There will be a frozen t-shirt contest at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. “In most people’s minds, they think of a wet t-shirt contest,” Gunn said with a laugh, “but we have a gentleman who helps us with our event who tightly folds t-shirts and then wets them and freezes them.”

Individuals or teams are handed out the frozen, folded shirts at this event, and the object of the game is to thaw the t-shirt and put it on “over your shirt,” Gunn clarified, “and the first person who can actually get one melted and on is the winner.” 

Evening events on Saturday include bands Hootin Annie and Second String, the raffle drawing, and another appearance by Burn Circus.

The fest organizers include high school students in the planning and execution of the event; one of the concession booths and the bounce house - the use of which is donated by Gunn and her husband Tom Gunn - are run by students. Proceeds go to the students to help them fund traditions such as the senior prom and senior skip day.

Getting involved in the event benefits the teens in other ways, too. “They need to get out and have face-to-face interactions with the public,” Gunn said. “They need to learn how to deal with money, and it’s customer service…so getting those life lessons is good for them.”

The Santa Fe Trail Days organizers try to give back to the community in other ways too; sometimes by funding more ambitious community projects. Gunn said they are looking into attempting to get the caboose in downtown New Franklin repainted. “It’s been really difficult with COVID as far as trying to find the right people, because it has to be sandblasted all the way down to the metal.

“Our goal is towards that, but that’s going to be around $4,000-$5,000,” she added. 

Bounce house wristbands are $5 on Friday evening and $10 on Saturday. Registration for the baby and Little Miss/Mr. contests is $5. More information about the event and items being raffled can be found on the Santa Fe Trail Days Facebook page. The page will also include a finalized schedule of events.