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Jessie Wilson, right, creates a chalk art piece at the Cherry Days Chalk Art Contest on Thursday, July 6, 2023, in the parking lot of North Ogden Elementary School.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

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Jamie Vandenberg creates a chalk art piece at the Cherry Days Chalk Art Contest on Thursday, July 6, 2023, in the parking lot of North Ogden Elementary School.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

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Brooklynn Redden creates a chalk art piece at the Cherry Days Chalk Art Contest on Thursday, July 6, 2023, in the parking lot of North Ogden Elementary School.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

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Jessie Wilson creates a chalk art piece at the Cherry Days Chalk Art Contest on Thursday, July 6, 2023, in the parking lot of North Ogden Elementary School.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner file photo

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NORTH OGDEN — Attendance at several events held as part of the revamped Cherry Days celebration in North Ogden has been strong, exceeding expectations.

Lynne Bexell, one of the chairpersons of the Cherry Days organizing committee, noted the higher-than-anticipated participation, in particular, at the sunrise patriotic ceremony, a ping pong ball drop for kids and at a Hawaiian luau.

“It shows that citizens are happy, in my opinion,” said Ryan Barker, another member of the organizing committee and a member of the North Ogden City Council.

Even so, the decision to push the fireworks display, parade and carnival — traditionally the premier Cherry Days events — from July 4 to this coming Saturday is sparking backlash from some. Cherry Days is the main summer festival in North Ogden, and in recent years activities have been centered on July 4.

“We’ve heard the feedback. We’re aware there are some people who are disappointed we made change,” Bexell said.

The backlash came out loud and clear in responses to a post on a community Facebook page, The North Ogden City (unapologetically non-political) Bulletin Board.

“We miss Cherry Days being synonymous with the 4th of July,” wrote one poster.

“Not a fan. Haven’t participated in any of the activities and most likely won’t for the remaining ones (including Saturday),” wrote another. “Makes absolutely no sense to not have the parade and fireworks on the fourth…”

Not everyone was put off by the change, however.

“I’ve loved it personally!” said another poster, noting the opportunities the change opens to take part in other July Fourth activities. Moreover, the commenter noted, she’ll be able to attend the parade and fireworks show on Saturday without having to worry about work the next day, Sunday.

Either way, city leaders are preparing a survey to get feedback once Cherry Days events are over as part of efforts to determine how to approach the festival next year. “We’ll take a look at things,” said Mayor Neal Berube.

This isn’t the first flap caused over changes to Cherry Days. In 2021, city officials’ decision to forego the traditional parade due to lingering concerns prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred a citizen’s group to step in and take on organization of the event as a parallel activity to other city-sponsored Cherry Days events.

That move in 2021 prompted city leaders to consider even more community involvement in planning of Cherry Days events, which had been handled largely by city staffers, and the decision to turn planning over for 2023 activities to a citizen-led committee.

As planning unfolded, committee leaders approached city leaders about the notion of changing Cherry Days events around, Berube said, but officials left the decisions to them. “You’re the community. This has been handed to you. You make the decision. It’s your show. You decide what you want to do,” Berube said, recalling the message he conveyed at the time.

That committee, Berube said, made the call to change things around, creating new events, spreading activities out over more days and moving the fireworks show and parade from July 4 to a Saturday, July 8. The carnival will be spread over two days, Friday and Saturday.

“It’s to bring the community together,” Bexell said.

That is, instead of having Cherry Days activities centered around July 4, they meant to make them more focused on the North Ogden Community. Berube noted that the original genesis for Cherry Days wasn’t as an Independence Day event but as “a celebration of the cherry harvest,” which used to be big in North Ogden.

The city provided $31,000 to help put on Cherry Days, representing the $25,000 the city has earmarked in past years plus $6,000 left over from 2022 events. Officials also agreed to provide an additional $19,000, to be paid back, but Berube said organizers, who sought private donations, haven’t needed it.

“Financially, it looks like it’s going to be OK,” he said.

Among Cherry Days activities on Thursday was a chalk art contest in the parking lot of North Ogden Elementary.

The Cherry Days Carnival will be held at North Ogden Park at 2750 N. 500 East on Friday from noon to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Children’s Bike Parade starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday followed by the Cherry Days Parade starting at 9 a.m. A concert at North Ogden Park is to start at 7 p.m. Saturday followed by a fireworks show, visible from the park and other locations.

More details are online at northogdencherrydays.com.