BOISE, Idaho — The Western Idaho Fair returns to Expo Idaho on August 20 and during the fair, the United States Navy will be in town to showcase this branch of the military.
The Navy will come to Boise on August 23 and Governor Little will kick it off with a proclamation on the steps of the Idaho State Capitol, later in the week, Mayor McClean will do the same at City Hall.
Navy week started in 2005 as a way to get to communities that don't have a large Navy presence and landlocked Idaho is a perfect example.
"It is 100 percent the reason to bring the Navy to areas that don’t typically see us," said LT. Kimberly King of the U.S. Navy. "So in places like Boise you see a lot of the Air Force, the Air National Guard has a large presence here, but not so much of people who look like me."
One of the most exciting parts of Navy week will feature the Leap Frogs, the Navy parachute team that has been around since 1969.
The Leap Frogs will take Mayor McLean and members of the city council, people from the Governor's office and school administrators on tandem jumps towards the end of the week.
"So they are the folks that go up and jump out of airplanes that are working perfectly fine just to be able to put on good shows for people who are coming to the Western Idaho Fair," said King.
Other events include a reenlistment ceremony before Granger Smith perfoms, several performances by the Navy band and STEM presentations with divers, medics and technicians.
Sailors from the future USS Idaho nuclear submarine will also be in Boise for Navy week.
"You will be able to see those sailors around town, I know their commissioning committee is putting together a lot of events for them," said King. "I know in the past you have probably seen USS Boise, those folks are also going to be here again so you are going to get both the state namesake and the city namesake here in town."
The sailors will also be helping out in the community at the Idaho Food Bank and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
That's a wrap!!
— NavyOutreach (@NavyOutreach) August 1, 2021
Thank you #Cheyenne for the good times and great memories this year during #NavyWeek! We hope you learned a lot about your U.S. Navy and we hope to see you again soon!@CityOfCheyenne @CheFrontierDays @USNavy pic.twitter.com/rFhofJIXt7
The last time Navy week came to Boise was 2019, that was also the last time we had the Western Idaho Fair and it will be just the fourth time the Navy has had this event in-person since the pandemic.
They do have a plan to go virtual if they are forced to by a public health order, but they hope they don't have to because this is such a good opportunity to interact with the public.
"Please feel free to come up shake any of your sailor's hands and ask them what they do," said King. "We love their country and want to serve and we do it for every Idahoan and every person that lives in Boise."
