Pinedorado, the annual three-day event, is back. On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered along Main Street in Cambria for the parade to kick off the celebrations.
60 parade groups took over Main Street Saturday morning for the 74th annual Pinedorado along with grand marshal William Randolph Hearst III. Some people in the community have been anticipating this event for the past year.
“We like the bands, especially the high school bands,” said Bill Timothy, a Cambria resident.
Bill Timothy and his wife have been coming to Pinedorado for the past 29 years.
“It’s a hometown feeling and if you live in Cambria you love Cambria,” Timothy said.
One family’s tradition of meeting together every year at Pinedorado started with two parents back in 1984 when they moved to Cambria.
“They’re the ones that started this tradition and we’ve carried it on through the years and to have fun with family,” said Dawn Montgomery, a Cambria resident.
Dawn tells me she’s also carried on the tradition of making bloody marys something her dad passed on to her.
“I’ve taken over that tradition of making the bloody marys because he used to do that but now I do it,” Montgomery said.
For Cambria Lions member, Brian Morrow, this will be his 54th Pinedorado.
“I started when I was 12... cooking the garlic bread when I was a wee little lad,” said Brian Morrow, a Cambria Lions Club member.
Morrow is in charge of barbecuing 920 pounds of top sirloin. He says last year there were 1,200 meals served during Pinedorado.
“As far as cooking the meat, I use white oak and mesquite kind of alternating it. To cook those steaks that are about 3 inches thick could take anywhere from an hour to [an] hour and a half,” Morrow said.
A ticket booth named Ida’s Place was put up in honor of Brian’s mom who was known as the lady in purple.
“She sold tickets here for 40 years until she was unable to be maneuverable to continue,” Morrow said.
The Pinedorado Car Show is being held on Sunday at the Cambria Vet’s Hall parking lot from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
