Red Suspenders Day

At 9:30 on a Saturday morning in May, Virginia Street in Gridley belongs to the bed races. Teams push decorated beds down the course, rotating runners as they go, and each team makes a required change of clothes partway through. “The beds are custom built, and some even share their setups between competitions,” Gridley Area Chamber of Commerce President Lynne Spencer told The Gridley News before the 2026 race. At the same hour in Rotary Park, the Lions Club holds its marshmallow competition, one of the children’s games that run there from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Red Suspenders Day is the town’s celebration of its firefighters, held in May and run by the Chamber. The 2026 edition, billed as the 65th annual, fell on Saturday, May 16. Its program offers a fair picture of the day’s shape.

Pancakes to tri-tip

The day opens at 7 a.m. with a pancake breakfast, and the sources place it differently. The Chamber’s 2026 schedule put it in Daddow Park, hosted by Gridley Little League, the Masonic Lodge and the Knights of Columbus. The Gridley News had it at Railroad Park, served until 10 a.m. by Little League with help from the Knights of Columbus. Chamber Treasurer Lisa Van De Hay described the young servers: “The kids do a great job about being attentive to the guests. They walk around making sure everyone has everything they need to enjoy their meals.”

By 8 a.m. the classic car, truck and motorcycle show is open along Kentucky Street, with vehicles parked from Spruce Street down. Judging runs until 10. The entries are grouped by decade, from the 1920s and older through the 1970s and 1980s, and there are classes for hot rods and rat rods. Spectators vote for a People’s Choice winner until the show closes at 1 p.m., when cash prizes and engraved Yeti cups are handed out. More than 100 vendors sell crafts, gifts and services from 8 until 2:30. Food courts stand at Virginia and Hazel and at Washington and Hazel streets. In Daddow Park there are rides, a bounce house, a scavenger hunt, and photographs with princesses and heroes. The Chamber booth by the gazebo sells the year’s T-shirt and red suspenders.

The parade steps off at 11, running through downtown along Virginia and Hazel streets. Local businesses, service clubs and schools enter floats, and the best entries win cash prizes. At noon on Washington Street, active and retired motor officers ride a cone course in the police motorcycle competition, led locally by retired motorman Jim Roberts. “They have cones set up and they maneuver through them very skillfully,” Van De Hay said. Live music plays at the Daddow Park gazebo until 2:30. The Chamber’s schedule lists music all day, while The Gridley News gave it from noon.

At 1 p.m. the Firemen’s Games begin on the west side of Rotary Park. Gridley firefighters face CALFIRE crews in contests of strength and endurance, an event the Chamber calls “always wet and wild.” “The local firefighters compete in some lighthearted competition,” Spencer said. “The best part is everyone gets to have fun.” The day ends with the Gridley Museum’s drive-thru tri-tip dinner, served from 4 to 7 p.m. The Gridley News placed it on Kentucky Street.

The paddy wagon and the ball field

Some of the program falls on Friday. That evening at Vierra Park, CALFIRE firefighters play North against South and Butte against Sutter in a softball game with a home-run derby, and a snack bar is open from 6 to 8. The Chamber listed a 5:30 start in one place and 6:00 in another.

The Unjustice Court is a mock-arrest fundraiser. Townspeople file warrants against friends, family or neighbors for offenses listed on the warrant form, among them jaywalking, twerking, “Being the Best Ever” and “Showing up On Time to Work.” Each accused person is contacted, booked, photographed, and held in the Red Suspenders Day paddy wagon until they see the judge and bail is paid. Bail for 2026 was $40, and a $40 “Get Out of Jail Card” bought in advance spared the holder from booking. The proceeds go to the Chamber. The Chamber’s warrant page set court for Washington Street, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday, May 15, 2026. Its main event page described a jail in Rotary Park, with Battalion Chief Mike Conaty as judge and Spencer as bailiff, and said offenders received pizza and drinks while they arranged bail.

Fireman of the Year, 2022

The Chico Enterprise-Record covered the 2022 celebration, held Saturday, May 21 on Virginia Street. It counted about 400 people, 25 food stands, 90 vendors and 22 parade entries. An Enloe Medical Center FlightCare helicopter circled overhead. Cal Fire-Butte County’s public information officer, Rick Carhart, handed out candy with the mascot Captain Cal, and a fire engine sprayed children with water.

At the parade, Spencer presented the Fireman of the Year award to Zach Downing of Gridley Fire Department Station 74, who had been nominated by his supervisors and peers. “Zach is responsible for commercial fire safety inspections and fire prevention within the city of Gridley and surrounding county areas,” she said. “He is constantly challenging himself and taking on roles both at the firehouse and on the fire line.”

Bobbi Fontes sold that year’s T-shirt, printed with a helicopter in honor of Gridley’s armed forces. The red suspenders had already sold out. “We actually don’t really get a lot of this money,” Fontes said. “All of this goes towards the events and activities. I mean, this is Gridley. We love our community — this is our family.” Dave Pierson wore suspenders bought the year before. He and his wife, Pamela, had been coming for 15 years. “It’s nice to know that people appreciate what you do,” he said.

Biggs Mayor James “Bo” Sheppard, Camp Fire survivor Jessica Flatt and longtime resident Mike McMillan judged the floats from across the street from the Chamber office. The Gridley High School marching band took first place, Sycamore Middle School second, and Apples to Zebras Preschool third. Engine 637 from Concow closed the parade.

A sale, a ball, and red ink

The Chamber dates the event to 1961 and says it began as a dance to raise money for Gridley’s volunteer firemen. The 2022 emcee, Brian Basset, likewise said the day began in 1961 to honor the volunteer firefighters. In 2019, Seti Long of The Gridley News went through the paper’s old annuals and reported that the record runs differently.

According to Long, the party downtown on the weekend of May 20, 1961, was the first Sidewalk Days Sale. Merchants organized it as a joint promotion to lift the local economy. Stores sold goods on the sidewalks at discount, and Mrs. Hilda Winchester painted the sale in watercolors as it happened. The band boosters ran a sarsaparilla shop near the post office, local dignitaries were interviewed on Radio KPAY, and balloons were free. “We hope to make it an annual affair and to have more added attractions each year,” said committee chairman Don Giles.

On Friday, May 18, 1962, the Fireman’s Ball returned after a gap of 20 years. It was held in the Feather Bowl building at the Butte County Fair Grounds from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., under the chairmanship of Dutch Thayer. A ticket cost a $1 donation. Ralph Browns Orchestra played for ballroom dancing, and Frank Frost and Dearel Ingram called square dances at the intermissions. The ball raised over $500 toward a new piece of firefighting equipment. Afterward Thayer promised “a bigger and better event next year, possibly a cooperative event with the businessmen, baseball breakfast, and a parade.”

He delivered on May 31 and June 1, 1963, with the first Red Suspenders Days, held alongside Sidewalk Days. The Gridley Herald came out printed entirely in red ink. Its front page reported banners “unfurled across Gridley intersections” and said the Volunteer Firemen, the Merchant Committee and the Boys Baseball Committee would give the town “a carnival-like atmosphere.” Merchants worked in turn-of-the-century costume, including red suspenders, and the best dressed won prizes. Gridley Boys Baseball served pancakes in the city plaza, now Daddow Park, and a 60-piece band played for shoppers. The Fireman’s Parade drew over 80 entries, including the schools’ marching bands. Grand Marshal Charlie Vance started it by sounding the siren on the old American La-France fire truck.