Members of the Polka Tones from Tillamook perform in this file photo from 1989. The generational band will be performing at the Tillamook Swiss Centennial on Nov. 5, 2022. (Steve Nehl/Oregonian)
The Tillamook Swiss Society is turning 100, and the community is celebrating with a daylong Swiss Centennial. Activities at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds on Nov. 5 will include a cornhole tournament, quilt show, music, dancing, and a beer and wine garden. Visitors also can try their hand at the steinstossen, the Swiss variant of the shot put, or watch competitors in the Swiss Schwingfest wrestling tournament.
Throughout the day, accordion players and polka bands will provide the soundtrack to the day’s festivities, which culminate with the crowning of the schwingen king at 10 p.m.
Schwingen and steinstossen are both considered national sports of Switzerland. Schwingen is a form of folk wrestling in which each Schwinger never lets go of his opponent’s Schwinghosen shorts. The first to pin their opponent’s shoulders to the ground wins. Some of the top competitors from the West Coast will be in Tillamook for the event, which will last from noon to about 6 p.m.
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If your upper body is up for it, you can try the steinstossen in men’s, women’s or kids’ divisions. Competitors essentially toss a large rock that weighs about 38 pounds for adults or eight pounds for kids. There’s also a Little Swiss pageant for kids, axe-throwing, and dancing throughout the day.
Julie Hurliman, a fourth generation Tillamook Swiss who works for the Tillamook Coast Visitors Association, said the first Swiss immigrants arrived in Tillamook in 1852.
“The Swiss pioneers brought their expertise in dairy farming to this Oregon coastal environment,” she said. “If it weren’t from the Swiss, the creamery wouldn’t be here.”
The Tillamook County Creamery Association, founded in 1909, is the dairy farm cooperative behind the Tillamook brand of cheeses and other dairy products.
Many of the dairy farms in Tillamook County today are still owned by Swiss families. The members of the 2022 Tillamook June Dairy Ambassador Court all hail from Swiss pioneer families; they’ll be on hand for photos and to talk dairy with visitors.
The Tillamook Swiss Society was incorporated on Nov. 2, 1922, with 61 members. The organization continues today as a nonprofit that supports the June Dairy Parade and keeps many of the Swiss traditions alive in the community.
Admission to the Tillamook Swiss Centennial is free, with fees to participate in the Lederhosen Fun Run, cornhole tournament or axe throwing. Vendors will be selling Swiss and Bavarian foods. A free trolley will provide shuttle service around the fairgrounds from 12:30 to 6 p.m. For more information, follow Tillamook Swiss Centennial on Facebook. Download the full event schedule at https://bit.ly/3eQFfH6.
— Samantha Swindler, sswindler@oregonian.com, @editorswindler
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