The Archery World Cup is being held for the first time on American soil -- and it's landed in Ogden. To celebrate, organizers have put together Worldwide on 25 to serve as the opening ceremonies.
World Cup archery tournaments began in 2006. In 2008, Greg Easton, who runs Easton Technical Products, a Salt Lake City company that manufactures arrows, attended the event in Korea and began wondering why the event hadn't been to the United States.
Easton is also vice president of Easton Sports Development Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports archery. The foundation, along with U.S.A. archery, the Federation for International Target Archery and the Ogden Convention and Visitors Bureau, secured the bid to host the Archery World Cup in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Meanwhile, Larry Baird, co-owner of Making Scents, a bath and body shop on the 100 block of 25th Street in Ogden, was making plans to bring a street dance to town.
Baird was one of the original creators of Summerfest, an annual celebration in Bountiful that spotlights international dancers, and still serves on the planning committee for the event. After taking a poll last year that suggested as many as 40 percent of the attendees were from Weber County, he decided it was time to start something in Ogden.
His idea was to bring in the same dancers who perform at Summerfest for an interactive performance on Ogden's 25th Street. To round out the evening, he planned to invite restaurant owners along the block to set up a few booths.
"I wasn't expecting it to turn out to be this fabulous," Baird said of the event, which has grown into a much larger celebration than he originally dreamed of.
In the end, it was decided that the street dance would become the opening ceremonies for the Archery World Cup being held at Weber State University and Lindquist Field.
The festivities
Worldwide on 25 begins with the Parade of Nations at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, headed west on 25th Street from the Ogden Amphitheater to Lincoln Avenue.
Participants in this short parade include the color guard from Hill Air Force Base, bagpipers and drummers from Ben Lomond High School, 240 dancers from eight countries, Boy Scouts carrying flags from 47 countries and some of the 300 archers from 35 countries around the globe.
A stage will be set up in the middle of the 100 block of 25th Street, where dancers will give short performances, and archers and dancers will interact with attendees and give hands-on demonstrations.
The dancers hail from Nepal, Ghana, Paraguay, France, South Korea, Czech Republic and China.
Although the street portion of the festivities are free, a group from Inner Mongolia will give a full-length professional performance of live music, dancing and singing at the Ogden Amphitheater at 8:30 p.m. that night. Tickets are $10 per person, or $20 for a family.
Taste of the town
In addition to the entertainment, 28 local restaurants have agreed to set up booths showcasing some of their finest international fare for $1 to $5 per dish.
Ogden's food-tasting festival was discontinued several years ago and when Baird suggested having a few food vendors at Worldwide on 25, supporters saw it as a way to reintroduce the event.
Baird's list of interested restaurants grew from a few to 28. In the end, he said, he turned some restaurants away because it was getting too big.
The menu includes foods from Greece, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, India and American favorites like ribs, pies, snow cones and ice cream. There will also be a beer and wine garden.
Right on target
Ogden is the third of four stops for the Archery World Cup tournaments. The first tournament in 2010 was in Porec, Croatia, in May. Next, athletes convened in Anatalya, Turkey, in June. After their appearance in Ogden, they will move on to Shanghai, China. And, the Archery World Cup finals are scheduled in Edinburgh, Scotland, in September.
"You can't appreciate the skill these archers have unless you see it in person," Easton said of the athletes, who include former world champions and Olympic medalists.
Archery World Cup publicity manager Anthony Bartkowski said the events, beginning with official practice on Tuesday, are free and open to the public and emphasized that it is a great sport for anyone to attend since it is easy to understand.
A schedule of events and directions to the field at Weber State University can be found at www.ogdenwc.com.
On Aug. 7, the week will wind down with the finals and festivities at Lindquist Field beginning at 4 p.m. There will be free hot dogs and drinks, archery demonstrations, activities for children, final elimination rounds, medal ceremonies and a fireworks show.
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