It’s never too early to start planning a big celebration.

To that end, the City of Riverbank will be turning 100 on Aug. 23, 2022 and City Manager Sean Scully presented plans for a Centennial Celebration to the City Council last week. With excitement and a few ideas, council members gave positive feedback and encouraged City staff to continue with the plans.

There is a Centennial Committee of approximately nine to 10 people including residents and couple of city staff members. Scully remarked that the committee has met about five times brainstorming ideas like what events to host, the theme, logos, and budget.

Scully explained that one of the more challenging aspects of the planning stages was the ‘branding’ and selecting a logo. After 20 or so options they finally agreed on a logo with a train and river. He noted that Riverbank is here in part due to the railroad and the river. Other options that were discussed were including wine and cheese, the Burneyville ferry and other landmarks.

During the presentation there were four quarterly events discussed: a themed 1920s Dinner, Founder’s Day Carnival, “No Dance” Picnic and Car Show, and the Centennial Celebration.

The 1920s Dinner would be held in February and is themed for the ‘20s since that is when the City of Riverbank was incorporated. They would offer pre-sale tickets to attend the dinner at the Community Center where they would have music and a silent auction.

In April they would host a family fun event with rides, carnival games, and food held possibly at Jacob Myers Park or the Riverbank Sports Complex.

The “No Dance” Picnic and Car Show would be held in June that they would like to have at the Zerillo mansion. Scully noted that at one time in Riverbank’s history dancing was prohibited. The plans are to have music, food, classic car show and more.

August would be the month for the main Centennial Celebration. Since Aug. 23 falls on a Tuesday the event would either be the weekend before or the weekend after. The event would be held in downtown Riverbank and would include the unveiling of a mural, dance groups, bands, food vendors, and a parade.

A few other ideas shared were having a Scavenger Hunt, Historical booklets or calendars, and historic pictures displayed.

The estimated budget for the celebration was $42,500 which Scully stated was “a best guess.” They researched other events that have been done in the past and took the hard costs from those. The staff time was not estimated in the cost. The allocation of $50,000 for the event is what is being requested.

The City Council gave staff members a few suggestions like Councilmember Cal Campbell, who said he would like to see a sporting event added. He expressed wanting to see a marathon or a bike race or a skateboarding competition.

The event is still in the planning stages and there is nothing set in stone, according to Scully. There will be more updates and requests from council for approval at future meetings.