Copper Days pulls through Encampment

The 21st annual Copper Days Festival returns to Encampment on Saturday and Sunday. The tractors, which the event is focused on, will parade through Encampment on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Tractor pull events will be held Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Encampment/Riverside Lions Club Arena. "Tractors have been collected for decades by those who reminisce about simpler times when hard work was rewarded with an afternoon of friendly one-ups-man-ship," said the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce press release. According to Stacy Crimmins, Chief Executive Officer of the Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce, about three to four years ago, Chug N Tug reached out to the chamber and the Platte Valley Arts Council. The three entities have joined together to put on the event since. "It's one of those events that may not be here forever because tractor enthusiasts are not exactly being nurtured," Crimmins said. Crimmins added that in the future, the Chamber of Commerce hopes to add a toy tractor display. "It's kind of October-ish, an Octoberfest," Crimmins said of the addition of the polka band in recent years, which was developed to cater to strong German heritage in the area. The Polka Nuts, a Brighton, Colo., based family band, will perform at the dance held at the Grand Encampment Opera Hall. The dance will be from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday. According to Crimmins, polka lessons will be given before the band begins playing. This year, the Platte Valley Arts Council will put on an art workshop for children, similar to what was featured on the Fourth of July in Saratoga, Crimmins said. The art workshop will have several different stations with projects and activities for children. "It's a nice community event because ... this is a simpler, old school kind of event," Crimmins said.