Starke County Youth Club to Host Annual ‘Rainbow Splash’ Fundraiser Next Saturday

Posted on August 10, 2019
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI

The Starke County Youth Club is once again giving residents a fun way to support its programs next weekend. The Rainbow Splash color run will take place on Saturday, August 17, during the Yellowstone Trail Fest in Hamlet.

Participants can choose from a competitive 5K or a family fun run/walk that’s just over a mile. Runners and walkers will be sprayed with colored powder as they make their way through the town. The money raised will help support the Starke County Youth Club’s after-school and summer programs.

The Rainbow Splash starts next Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. CDT at the Hamlet Fire Station, with on-site registration starting at 8:00 a.m. You can also sign up on the Starke County Youth Club’s website.

Yellowstone Trail Fest This Weekend, 8/19 & 20/2017

Posted on August 16, 2017
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI

Hamlet’s annual celebration of classic transportation returns this weekend. The Yellowstone Trail Fest takes place Saturday and Sunday at the Starke County Fairgrounds.

Saturday’s highlights include the Dr. Leinbach Memorial Zucchini Contest, a car show, and musical performances from Mark & Liza, PS 150, South of Sorrow, and Seldom Told.

Sunday’s festivities kick off with the Starke County Youth Club Rainbow Splash Fun Run and Walk at 8:00 a.m. The re-purposed metal sculpture contest returns Sunday, and the Yellowstone Trail Fest Parade steps off at 2:00 p.m.

Bounce houses, a water slide, and the Indiana Historical Society’s History on Wheels exhibit will be featured throughout the event.

For a complete schedule, visit YellowstoneTrailFest.com.

History on Wheels Exhibit a Part of Yellowstone Trail Fest

Posted on August 5, 2017
Author Anita Goodan, WKVI

The Indiana Historical Society’s new History on Wheels traveling exhibit will be making a stop in Hamlet for the Yellowstone Trail Fest.

The exhibit hosts an opportunity to explore Indiana’s rich automotive and racing heritage. Auto Indiana touches on the history of more than 100 Indiana automakers and Manufacturers. Hoosier innovators and inventors are also highlighted. An interactive exhibit allows visitors to look under the hood of a vehicle and children can climb into the driver’s seat of a mini Indycar.

It is free to enter the exhibit. The 53-foot expandable semi-trailer and mobile museum will be open Saturday, Aug. 19 from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Yellowstone Trail Fest celebrates the first transcontinental road across the northern United States. All of the food vendors and other activities will be at the Starke County Fairgrounds in Hamlet.

For more information on Yellowstone Trail Fest, contact Juanita Ketchum, historian, at (574) 249-5992 or visit www.yellowstonetrailfest.com.

Yellowstone Trail Fest to Host Metal Sculpture Contest

Posted on July 5, 2016
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI

A new event at the Yellowstone Trail Festival looks to honor automotive history, while giving welders and artists the chance to showcase their work. Festival events director Juanita Ketcham says organizers are planning a first-of-its-kind re-purposed sculpture contest. “The Yellowstone Trail Festival has tried to incorporate reclaimed auto parts because we’re looking for a way to bring the automobile as a highlighted feature for the Yellowstone Trail Festival,” she says, “and I’m big into recycling, so I’ve been working on this project for 18 months.”

Ketcham says a bit of inspiration struck when she came across a picture of a dragon made of recycled metal. Since then, she’s been looking for a way to incorporate similar pieces into the local festival, “The hiring places in town always have a sign up that they need welders, so looking for ways to recycle and reclaim automobile parts or any other metal stuff that’s just laying around rusting and rotting into pieces of art or usable furniture or whatever their mind can think of was just a desire that I’ve had now for almost two years.”

However, Ketcham says planning for the contest really took off with the help of the Starke County Initiative for Lifelong Learning. She says the contest will feature three different categories of artwork, based on the recommendation of SCILL Center coordinator of student services and programs Jerry Gurrado, “Abstract – they can create anything they want with it. He said an animate project would be something that looked like an angel or a dragon or a bench or a coffee table or something that we would recognize what it is. And then because they had some people interested in blacksmithing and forging, we created a third category for them, because their welding is different than the welding people would use to put the metal parts together for the other two categories.”

Sculptures will be judged by SCILL Center instructors, based on creativity and the quality of the weld. Projects will also be awarded bonus points for including recycled auto parts. The winner of each category will receive a $250 cash prize. On top of that, each sculpture will be auctioned at the end of the event, with 90-percent of the sale price going to the piece’s creator.

Ketcham says that SCILL Center students will receive extra credit for taking part in the contest, but it’s also open to artists and anyone else who may be interested. She says the contest has already been generating excitement among recycling and welding enthusiasts around the area.

While the contest is anticipated to start small this year, Ketcham hopes it will become a major part of the Yellowstone Trail Festival going forward, “I hope this becomes our signature because lots of festivals have car shows and lots of festivals have fashion shows and every festival has vendors, but I don’t know of any festival who has a recycled sculpture contest.”

The contest and auction will take place on Sunday, August 21, as part of the Yellowstone Trail Festival. More information and an entry form may be found on the Yellowstone Trail Festival’s website.

8/15 & 16/2015 Yellowstone Trail Fest

Yellowstone Trail Fest with Hamlet Rendezvous at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Hamlet, Indiana. 

Friday August 14th

Hamlet American Legion Pre Party Fish Fry starting at 4:30 p.m.
Karaoke Contest at 9 p.m.

Saturday August 15th

9 a.m. Flag Raising
9 a.m. Rendezvous opens
9 a.m. Breakfast Biscuits & Gravy:  Band Boosters
9 a.m. - 2:30 Car Show with a cruise after awards
Classes:
Street Truck - 4x4
Motorcycle
Vintage - Pre 1980
1980 to Present
Hot Rod - Open
10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Zip Line
1:30 p.m. Miss Yellowstone Pageant
3 p.m. Big Wheels Rodeo
4 p.m. Night Shift Band
6 p.m. Baby Cakes & Canvas
6 p.m. PW Wrestling
8 p.m. Cowboy Mounted Shooting

Sunday August 16th

8 a.m. Rainbow Splash 5K Fun Run/Walk
10 a.m. Sunday Worship
12 noon Baby Cakes & Canvas
2 p.m. Parade
3 p.m. 3 on 3 Basketball
4 p.m. Ice Cream Social

No admission charge. 

For more information call 765-438-2349 or visit http://yellowstonetrailfest.com.

8/16/2015 Rainbow Splash

RAINBOW SPLASH 2015 TO BENEFIT STARKE COUNTY YOUTH CLUB
Hosted by the Yellowstone Trail Festival

Date: August 16, 2015

Time: 8 am

Race Day Registration: 6:30 am  *All times are CST

Place: Hamlet Fire Department (Hamlet Fairgrounds)

Cost: Individual - $40 Team (4 or more people) - $30
Other donations are accepted as well towards SCYC

You can download a copy of the registration form at: http://yellowstonetrailfest.com/uploads/Rainbow_Splash_Registration_Form__.pdf

Markee Farler Named Miss Yellowstone

Published: August 19, 2014

By: Anita Goodan, WKVI

The Yellowstone Trail Festival was a success. The three-day event was held in Hamlet.

The Miss Yellowstone Trail Festival pageant was held on Saturday morning. Markee Farler from Plymouth was crowed as Miss Yellowstone. She will be eligible for the Miss Indiana pageant which is part of the Miss America scholarship program.

Elexuss Miller from North Judson was crowned Jr. Miss Yellowstone, Little Miss Yellowstone was Kaylee Hamilton from Culver and the Tiny Miss Yellowstone was Myah Maroules of Knox.

Yellowstone Trail Fest Begins Today in Hamlet

By: Anita Goodan, WKVI
Published: August 15th, 2014

The Yellowstone Trail Festival gets underway today in Hamlet and every effort is being made to salute our veterans. You are invited to bring a poster of your family hero and information about their service in the Armed Forces. The poster will be displayed on the Hero’s Wall during the entire festival.

Sargent Risky of the Valparaiso, Indiana Marines recruiting office has requested an opportunity to have 30 of his soldiers that are shipping out next week to do a demonstration at the Yellowstone Trail Fest of CFT. The training will happen at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and then the soldiers will be running the perimeter of the festival in formation for a half hour.

Army and Navy recruiters will be present along with Operation Quiet Comfort representatives and the Indiana Patriot.

In addition to the veteran recognition events, you may shop at the many yard sales throughout town, the Miss Yellowstone Trail Pageant will be Saturday morning at 11 a.m., a car show is slated for 9 a.m. on Saturday and the parade is Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. A quilt show, music, the Hamlet Rendezvous camps, and much more are planned in this year’s festival.

Most of the weekend’s activities will be held at the Starke County Fairgrounds in Hamlet.

For a complete schedule, click here  Yellowstone Trail Fest Schedule

Miss Yellowstone Pageant Set for Aug. 16

By: Anita Goodan, WKVI
Published: August 2nd, 2014

The Yellowstone Trail Festival is coming up and a pageant to determine the festival’s queen is set for Saturday, Aug. 16 during the festival.

Four age divisions will be crowned: Tiny Miss for girls ages 5 to 8, Little Miss for girls ages 9 to 12, Jr. Miss for ages 13 to 16 and Miss from 17 to 21. The Miss Yellowstone winner will advance to the Indiana State Festival Pageant.

The pageant is set to begin at 11 a.m. CT on the stage at the Starke County Fairgrounds in Hamlet.

The Yellowstone Trail Festival in Hamlet is Aug. 15 to Aug. 17 and will feature daily activities, music and events.

Yellowstone Trail Festival / Sesquicentennial Celebration

Hamlet, Indiana made the national news recently.  An article in The Arrow, the official publication of the Yellowstone Trail Association, highlights the Yellowstone Trail Festival at Hamlet.  See page 10 of the attachment.

Yes, it is a big weekend coming up August 16, 17 & 18, 2013 in Hamlet, IN.  The Yellowstone Trail Festival is combined with Hamlet's Sesquicentennial celebration.  Hamlet is 150 years old this year and it was 101 years ago that the Yellowstone Trail was planned.  The sale of automobiles was really gaining a foothold in America in the early 1900s.  People were in love with the car.  But few good roads were available to travel between towns.  A plan was put together to connect all of the best existing roads "from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound."  The Yellowstone Trail was born.

Come, join the town of Hamlet as it celebrates these historic anniversaries at the Starke County 4-H Fair Grounds.  Go to the Yellowstone Trail Festival website, then click on "schedule" to see the many events.   --- http://yellowstonetrailfest.com/Home.html.

Oregon and Davis Township current or former residents should check out the photo contest.
http://yellowstonetrailfest.com/uploads/photo_contest_revised_1_.pdf.

You can see a copy of the article in The Arrow by visiting our website.