Gambo remembers Premier Joey Smallwood and celebrates his political career and life with a museum and a lookout over the Town of Gambo and the Gambo River. They’ve also named one of their celebrations after him.
In his opening address, Mayor Peter Lush spoke about Smallwood revisiting the town just months before he died at 90 years of age and touring with his grandchildren in a horse and carriage to honor his Gambo heritage. Mayor Lush doesn’t seems as fond of some of the current politicans due to lack of funds to do much needed road work. As Mayor, he seems to be open about issues and concerns and maybe that’s part of the reason the Town is so successful in events like this festival. Everyone works together to get the planning done.

We went out to see Shawn Silver’s iDance troupe perform but also enjoyed to-the-point speeches and a presentation celebrating Gambo’s 50th year as a municipality. A local poet and song writer performed along with a great band.
Sorry I didn’t get the name but it was somebody and Jerry and Gerry. Great voices and excellent musicians.
Complimentary hot dogs and burgers were served as we sat and the huge tent featured a ‘wet’ section where drinks for grown ups could be bought. It was very much an all ages event and set up very well.
The Town featured Shawn Silver’s Irish dancing for the opening of Smallwood Days and children were encouraged by Shawn to sit stageside to see the fancy footwork.

The usual sound glitches kept the dancers on their toes as the sound man tried to integrate an iPod to his system but the dancing was dazzling.
The six minute Shawn Silver iDance workout video
A variety of music, different numbers of dancers and hard and soft shoes made each dance a work of art. The show must have lasted an hour and ended with a standing ovation. Short video of dance