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SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946

www.currypilot.com WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2026

Brookings, Oregon

Organizers tout another 'successful' Azalea Festival Parade winners announced From the City of Brookings

The City of Brookings thanks everyone for participating in the 2026 Azalea Festival. It was another great festival weekend! Festival events started on Friday with the VVA Memorial Reading of the Names at City Hall and then a Dance Party in the park, where a large crowd danced the night away. The parade on Saturday had over 55 entries with parade watchers filling the sidewalks. This years’ Street Market had over 85 vendors and was a huge success for vendors and shoppers alike. Saturday afternoon park events included introductions of the

Pioneer Citizens, Grand Marshals and the Azalea Princesses. The Elks BBQ and concerts at Azalea Park created a jam-packed afternoon enjoyed by over 1,200 people. Sunday’s park events included the last concert and the second Brookings’ Got Talent Show, won by: Brooke Eichlin, Nika Stevens, JuJu Williams, Ezintle School of Dance, Wild Rivers Dance, Jade Beaudry, Coast Line Dance, Clara Milliken, Vila Ramsey, and Jaxon Danner. Stakeholder events throughout the weekend

included the Quilt Show, Kids Fishing Pond, Art Show, Flower & Plant Show, Car Show, BHHS All Class Reunion, Community Church Service, Pancake Breakfast, the Veterans Memorial Day Ceremony and Airport Day. Huge thanks to the event’s Platinum Sponsors, Rogue Credit Union, Oregon’s Wild Rivers Coast, and LeafFilter. Also, thanks to the Pelican Bay Amateur Radio Club who provided parade support as they have done for the past 45 plus years, the Soroptimist for their judging of the parade, and the judges of Brookings’ Got Talent. Events were organized with the help of community stakeholders, event coordinators and City employees, truly making the Azalea Festival a testament to the spirit of our community.

Final parade results • Local Representation Award – Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation • Mayor’s Award – Coastal Home Health & Hospice • Queen’s Award – United States Postal Service • Patriotism Award – Brookings Emblem Club #265 • Grand Marshal’s Award – Azalea Festival Queen & Princesses • Best of Bands – Phoenix High School Marching Band • Best of Equestrian – South Coast Wranglers 4H Group • Best of Walking (Adult) – Cascadia Pickleball Zone • Best of Walking (Youth) – Oregon Coast Dance • Best of Cars/Truck (Vintage – pre 1950) – Lakeview Hay Truck • Best of Cars/Truck (Classic – after 1950) – Tim & Lori Connelly

Bootleg on the Boardwalk comes back to the Port of Brookings-Harbor By Jason Liddell For the Pilot

The Bootleg on the Boardwalk festival is coming back to the port of Brookings-Harbor for its second annual event on June 12. Bootleg came about from a desire to do a prohibition-era themed festival, complete with folks dressed as flapper girls and moonshine-running mobsters. Ironically, it also emerged with a goal to try to take the spotlight away from drinking for drinking’s sake; all of the invited distilleries are Oregon-local, small-batch businesses often run by families. Along with the small-town, local business focus, Bootleg has taken on the responsibility of teaching patrons some of the finer details that go into distilling spirits and consuming them. Event Coordinator Crissy Cooper said that Bootleg has “the focus of teaching people how to drink responsibly, by having knowledge of what the different chemicals do to your body,” and “why you choose these organic elements” when you’re making these spirits. These distilleries are in the business of educating people on the spirits they make, as much as they are selling them. One such spirit being served at Bootleg actually comes from a distillery with a richly storied history: Gompers Distillery in Redmond, Oregon. Gompers was named after Herman Gompers, a Holocaust survivor with an “uncompromising philosophy: Don’t be Ordinary,” according to their website. A few of the other distilleries coming to Bootleg on the

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There are at least nine bands and musicians booked for the event, playing live music at Bootleg on the Boardwalk on the second weekend of June. Boardwalk include Stillwagon Distillery in Reedsport, Steam Distillery and Sundance Distilling, both from Grants Pass, and Just Rum Distillery in Sandy, Oregon. More than just serving and educating on alcohol, Bootleg has several other events and points of interest scheduled for this summer. “We do have a 1931 Ford Model A Tudor,” according to Crissy; a car produced during the later years of the prohibition era. There will also be a Charleston dance competition. Crissy said “We’re gonna just kick up our heels and I’m gonna make everybody dance.”

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There are at least nine bands and musicians booked for the event, playing live music at Bootleg on the Boardwalk on the second weekend of June. Some of these bands include No Soap, Radio, from Portland, Rogue Strings from Gold Beach and the Allen Giardinelli Trio. Bootleg’s recent success as a local festival is especially notable, because not all festivals succeed in the way they are expected or wanted. Doktoberfest, for example, is one such festival that was recently put on in Brookings that didn’t hit the mark. Attempting to be our community’s version of Oktoberfest, it “crashed and burned,” according

to Cooper. “It just wasn’t for our area because we couldn’t get the German vendors to sustain the theme of the festival.” Bootleg on the Boardwalk was also conceived as a festival to replace Doktoberfest, and has, so far, succeeded. Bootleg on the Boardwalk functions as the kickoff party for the entire summer festival season in Brookings. Bootleg is one of five major festivals that take place, followed by Solstice Shred in late June, Sky-High Fourth of July, Bigfoot Blues Festival and the long-standing Pirates of the Pacific festival in August.

ODFW Announces Free Fishing Weekend For the Pilot

Everyone can fish, clam and crab for free in Oregon on Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, 2026. No fishing/shellfish licenses or tags/validations are required on these days (meaning you do not need a Combined Angling Tag, Columbia River Basin Endorsement, Ocean Endorse-ment or two-rod validation where two rods are allowed). Both Oregon residents and non-residents can fish for free. Oregon State Parks also offers free parking on Saturday, June 6. All other fishing regulations apply including closures, gear restrictions, bag limits, and size restrictions. Visit the Online Regulations page before you head out and remember to check myodfw.com for any in season regulation changes, especially for salmon and steel-head fishing. Drought conditions make a difference this year. Some smaller lakes and ponds might al-ready be warming up, so consider fishing early in the day or changing it up to warm water fish like bass, bluegill and crappie. The Recreation Report is updated weekly and features the best bets for fishing for the up-coming week. Check out the weekly Recreation Report for zone reports and opportunities near you. Expect lots of rainbow trout to be stocked in Oregon's ponds and lakes for the weekend; check out the trout stocking schedule for more information and stocking loca-tions. Crabbing and clamming   Free Fishing Weekend is also a great weekend to try clamming or crabbing. Visit ODFW.com for all the information you need to get started clamming or crabbing including maps of loca-tions and how-to's. The Oregon Department of Agriculture regularly tests shellfish and closes areas when natu-rally occurring biotoxins get to levels that make crabs and clams unsafe to eat. As of today, razor clamming is open from the WA border to Cape Blanco and closed from Cape Blanco to the CA border due to elevated levels of domoic acid. Crabbing is open coastwide. Closures can happen quickly and may change before Free Fishing Weekend. Remember to call the ODA Shellfish safety hotline at 1-800-4482474 or check their shellfish ODA Food Safety page before you go.

Phone Number: 707-460-8655 • Email: Circulation@CountryMedia.net

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