Two Small Communities - One Big Heart

Category Archives: Community Events

[expired] – Join the Wildwood Days Parade!

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The annual Wildwood Days parade takes place at noon on Sat., August 3. It is free to enter. The theme this year is Have a Rootin’, Tootin’ Good Time! There will be judging in three categories – best theme-related, best vehicle entry, and best overall entry. Download an entry form here or pick one up at the parade staging area, in front of the Rio Dell schools on Center Street the day of the parade.

You need an entry form so judges can identify your unit and know for which category you wish to be judged, and so the emcee can announce your unit as you pass the reviewing stand. The Rio Dell-Scotia Chamber of Commerce manages the parade.

[expired] – Wildwood Days 2024 is coming!

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Wildwood Days, Rio Dell’s annual community celebration, takes place this year August 1 to 4, reprising last year’s western theme, by popular demand, and the traditional men’s and women’s softball tournaments, bocce games, rubber duck race, Friday Kids’ night plus car cruise and street dance, Sunday morning car show, and more.

Last year’s BBQ cook-off is back, taking place downtown by the bridge on Thursday, along with the color run Saturday morning (so named because bystanders throw colored, powdered chalk on the runners as they pass). New this year is a Sunday morning bike ride, in 35- and 58-mile lengths; the entry fee includes a ticket to the firemen’s dinner at mid-day in firemen’s park.

Those wanting a booth to promote their business or organization or to sell product, now have additional opportunities, as Thursday and Friday night booths downtown will be available, from 4 to 8 p.m. for $25 per night.

Want to learn more? The event is managed by the volunteer fire department. Check out the information here: https://wildwooddays.godaddysites.com/

[expired] – Enter the third annual holiday decorating contest!

Posted on by Posted in Community Events, General Information

All residents and businesses in Rio Dell and Scotia are invited to participate in the third annual holiday decorating contest. There are separate categories for homes and businesses, and businesses can indicate if they wish to be judged on outdoor or indoor decorations.

Cash prizes of $250 for first place, $150 for second, and $100 for third, are again being offered by the volunteer fire department in each of the two categories.

Register by Dec. 14 to have your home or business judged: Go to the Rio Dell-Scotia Chamber of Commerce Facebook page to sign up online or fill out a short paper form available at Shotz Coffee Rio Dell or the Rio Dell Community Resource Center, 406 Wildwood. (For businesses, indicate if decorations to be judged are indoors or out.)

The entries will be put on a map and made available online at the chamber Facebook page and in paper formats at Shotz and the resource center. Get a list of locations to vote on, in one of these two formats, start checking out the homes and businesses, and cast your vote.

Vote Dec. 16-midnight, Dec. 24 if you are casting your ballot online. If you are voting with a paper ballot, make sure you turn it in during the hours Shotz or the Resource Center are open (which may vary during the holiday weekend).

Winners will be notified. This is a project of the Rio Dell-Scotia Chamber of Commerce. Prize money has been donated by the Volunteer Fire Department. Technical expertise is courtesy of Mavis Amen of Famous Amens Handcrafted Seasonings, Fortuna.

[Completed] – Be part of the new mural

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Updated: 08/01/2022
Thank you, we are full!

Thanks to all who participated in the chamber’s mural project by sponsoring a face to be included in the image. The project is full and the mural is being completed. Watch for a celebration on its completion!

The chamber of commerce is sponsoring a mural that traces the influence over the past century and a half of early pioneers in the community that became Rio Dell.

You can be a part of it! But hurry, the project is starting soon.

The mural is funded in part by the City of Rio Dell through its Façade Program that encourages investment in the downtown area. But to finance the rest of the effort, the chamber will put your image in one of the many settings describing logging, town life, recreation and more.
Go to the website of the artist,

juliafordyce.com/riodell

to see the sketches from which the mural will be produced and learn about the opportunity to put your face (or that of a friend or loved one, living or deceased) in this historic image. You can upload the needed information and payment on that site. The site also displays information about the artist and her prior work, which includes locally the mural on the wall of St. Vincent de Paul in Eureka.

When done this summer the mural in Rio Dell will encompass more than 800 square feet spread over two sides of a building at 99 Wildwood Avenue, on the southwest corner of the intersection with Monument, in Rio Dell.

Wildwood Days is coming August 5-7, 2022

Posted on by Posted in Community Events, General Information, Press Release, Wildwood Events

Wildwood Days planning for 2022 is underway. The chamber will once again manage the parade, set for noon on Sat., Aug. 6.

The theme is a salute to first responders. As always, participation is free and open to all, there will be prizes for winners in various categories, and staging will take place on Center Street south of Wildwood, opposite the school.

Other aspects of Wildwood Days are managed by other organizations and individuals in the community.

Want to get in on the planning? It happens at the Rio Dell fire hall at 50 Center Street on the fourth Thursday of each month at 6 p.m.

Want to be in the car show and shine on Sunday in front of City Hall? Contact Mary Burns at 707.599.9621.

Interested in being a vendor, providing music or participating in another capacity? Check in via the organizational Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Wildwood-Days-154865577904540 or email here: riodellwildwooddays@gmail.com

Holiday Decorating Contest – Enter, Judge, Win!

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Holiday Decorating Contest – Enter, Judge, Win!

Decking your halls in winsome fashion can net some cash, and who doesn’t need that this time of year? The chamber is putting on a holiday decorating contest for all residents and businesses in Rio Dell and Scotia. The Rio Dell, Scotia, Shively, and Redcrest Volunteer Fire Departments are putting forth $1,500 to be given as cash prizes, and the competition is a peoples’ choice so – you get to vote for the winners!

Here’s how it works – sign up by Dec. 4 if you would like your Rio Dell or Scotia home, apartment or duplex, or business to be judged. You can sign up any of several ways –

• old-school, on paper, at the chamber of commerce office (406 Wildwood Avenue);
• text your address and contact info (so we can tell you if you win) to 707.599.4658;
• sign up on the chamber Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/RDSCvisitorscenter)
• sign up on the website (riodellscotiachamber.org) using the “Contact Us” form; put “decorating contest” in the subject line and the address of the property to be judged and whether it is a home, apartment, or business, and submit
• email that information to (rdschamber@gmail.com).

Whichever method you choose to get included, provide your name and phone number (which will NOT be publicized and are only for contacting winners) and your street address and city (which will be publicized so others know they can vote for you) and whether that is a home, apartment or business.

By Dec. 8, lists of homes, businesses and apartments or duplexes that are competing for prizes will be posted on sheets that can be picked up at the chamber, and online at riodellscotiachamber.org where you can print it out and take it to see the entrants. Check out the entrants’ displays and vote your favorite in each of the three categories by Dec. 20, turning in your paper ballot to the chamber (through the slot in the side door on Columbus if the building is not open) or recording your vote online by that deadline using the “Contact Us” form and putting your choice for winner in each category in the message portion.

Votes will be tabulated, and winners notified, soon after. First-place winners in each category (home, apartment or duplex, or business) will receive $250; second place in each category will receive $150 and each third-place winner will get $100.

So get creative, have some fun, challenge your neighbors and friends!

Tree Lighting, Fire Truck Parade

Posted on by Posted in Community Events, General Information, Wildwood Events

Tree Lighting, Fire Truck Parade

The annual lighting of the tree that stands in the median at Wildwood and Columbus in Rio Dell will again take place on the first Saturday of December – Dec. 4 this year – at dusk. Heading up the festivities will be a fire truck parade starting at 5 p.m. bringing Santa to town.

Refreshments, music and more will be on offer. The Community Resource Center will be handing out goody bags, and Wildwood will be lit up, as it is each year, with decorations purchased by the chamber with donations from the City of Rio Dell, businesses, agricultural producers, and individuals supporting the goal of expanding civic pride, and creating a destination for those wanting to enjoy holiday lighting displays. This year, two area growers, Rumen Sutsov and Yama Schafer, donated a total of $3,000 used to purchase additional lighting for the community display.

The tree is again donated by Humboldt Redwood Company. Sunbelt Rentals donated use of the lift again this year as it has in the past, for use installing the lighting, and hours of work was volunteered to wrap the trees in Memorial Park, put decorations on poles throughout downtown, string decorations across Wildwood, and set out the cut-outs depicting holiday themes on the median and city hall lawn, among other tasks.

So start the season right, among friends and neighbors – come enjoy the atmosphere and festivities downtown, where all the lights are bright. The fire department will ride again on Christmas Eve, as is traditional, when members will hand out candy canes throughout the community.

Wildwood Days is Coming!

Posted on by Posted in Community Events, General Information, Wildwood Events

Rio Dell will be celebrating the 50th year of the Wildwood Days community festival in 2021. It kicks off the evening of Thurs., Aug. 5 downtown with a firemen’s muster. Fri., Aug. 6 features kids’ activities including bouncers, fire truck rides and the soap box derby, and the start of the Dennis Wendt softball tourney, as well as the Ernie Canaday car cruise, barbeque and dance and ends with a street dance featuring the Red Line band from 9 to 11 p.m. at DJ’s Burger Bar.

Saturday, Aug. 7 starts with a bocce tournament at 9 a.m., the continued softball tourney, the opening of the vendors and craft fair at 10 and a book sale at the library. There’s a parade at noon, a music festival in the park at 1 p.m., a Texas Holdem tourney at 7 p.m. and fireworks at the school field at 9:45 p.m. to celebrate the event’s 50th year. You can donate to the fireworks at a gofundme site online.

Sunday, Aug. 8 opens with the car show and shine at 9 a.m. in front of city hall and the duck race and the continuation of the softball tournament, vendor fair, and book sale. The firemen’s Bar-Be-Que will be at noon followed by an auction at 1 p.m.