Chamber of Commerce gears up for Moulton Jamboree

The Moulton Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for its annual Moulton Jamboree beginning Saturday, July 26.

“I encourage all citizens from Moulton and the surrounding areas to attend,” Moulton Chamber President Anna Bartos said. “Our event is a family-fun event and it’s not high pressured. We welcome anyone to the Moulton City Park to have a good time. We have good music and a lot of great sponsors who have brought free music. We serve burgers all weekend. We have about seven food vendors lined up right now which is amazing. We’re working on getting our arts and craft vendors in. It’s a fun time. Overall, we are welcoming, and we invite our guests to have a good time at the friendly little city with the heart as big as Texas.”

The schedule for the Jamboree is as follows:

Friday

Barbecue cookoff participants will be setting up shop at the Moulton City Park and there will be a barbecue head cook’s meeting at 8 p.m. at the Moulton Community Center.

Saturday

The official Jamboree will kick off with a softball tournament happening at 8 a.m. at the Moulton City Park. A parade will also bring in the beginning of the Jamboree at downtown Moulton at 10:30 a.m.

There will not be any royalty for the Moulton Chamber this year; however, there is an ambassador program.

“Last year, we had to cancel our pageant because we had no interest,” Bartos said. “We do find people who want to ride our floats in a different way, so last year we switched to an ambassador program. It’s been a success so far. We’ve had Moulton represented in different neighboring communities and their festivals. They’ll definitely be at the Jamboree to help welcome people and take pictures and show their hospitality.”

The deadline for turning in barbecue will be on this day with bean turn in beginning at 11:30 a.m., chicken at 1 p.m., ribs at 2:30 p.m., and brisket at 4 p.m. The awards will be announced at 5:30 p.m. at the Moulton Park pavilion. There will be a sign-up sheet for those interested in being judges. Be on the lookout at the Moulton CoC Facebook page for more information.

There will be many bands performing on Saturday. The first performance will begin at 11 a.m. and will feature Kenneth Kristynik and the Lavaca County Line. The famous Shiner Hobo Band will bring polka music to the forefront at 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. Moulton’s very own country music star Brandi Behlen will be performing at 6 p.m. and ending the night will be Beyond Shiner opening for The Emotions from 8 p.m. until midnight.

“These bands are crowd favorites,” Bartos said.

The Moulton Jamboree tradition of the tractor pull will start at 7:30 p.m. Arts and craft vendors and food vendors will be setting up shop all day. There will be a kids’ zone as well.

“We’re trying to up the game with our kids’ activities,” Bartos said. “We don’t have the carnival anymore; however, we have interactive kids’ games. We have bouncy houses, baseball and soccer games, and sand piles that they can play on. We’re working also on bringing in a magician this year for a show or two. We also may have a man come in who has a snake demonstration. That’s the first time we’re doing that. We also have interactive inflatable games. Last year, we had such crazy weather for July because it was 80 degrees and stormy. The kids still loved the playhouses last year, but we’re hoping for dry weather here.”

Sunday

Starting Sunday morning at 9 a.m., a car and tractor show will be held first thing. The famous pie contest will begin at 9 a.m. and last until noon.

“The pie contest is a community hit,” Bartos said. “My mother runs the contest and she’s brought in another young lady from the community to help her and show her the ropes. She has raised $60,000 in the previous year and that goes towards scholarships.”

The pie auction begins at 2 p.m. at the Hall at Moulton Oaks.

The aforementioned snake demonstration for the kids will begin at 11 a.m. at the park. A corn hole tournament will begin at 3 p.m. at the tennis courts.

The bands playing on Sunday will be Ennis Czech Boys beginning at 2 p.m. and Riptide beginning at 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.

The Chamber is already planning for next year beginning in the fall. They plan the bands and entertainment as early as January.

“It’s a well-oiled machine and a big community effort,” Bartos said. “Everyone knows their parts and we have a lot of help.”

The Chamber is still inviting vendors who are interested in setting up shop at the Jamboree. All the information for signing up can be found on their website and Facebook page.

Bartos wants to thank all the sponsors for this year.

“There’s so much involved in the Jamboree that we really couldn’t do it without the generous support of these community members who have stepped up time and time again,” Bartos said. “Their support is invaluable and we can’t thank them enough.”