Annual Fremont Days celebrates more than just the 170-year anniversary of the town

FREMONT, Neb. —

Fremont is celebrating its 38th annual John C. Fremont Day this weekend. The 2026 event not only celebrates 170 years of Fremont but also important people and events in the town’s history.

“We wanted to honor two very special ladies. One is Sherry Calloway. Sherry Calloway was one of the original three women that started John C. Freeman Days. And Sherry was a person that had huge, huge visions of things and things to come and things to do,” Dostal said.

Dostal said before Calloway passed, she came to hear about a song called “A Minute After Normal” that Dan Holtz wrote about the Pathfinder Hotel Explosion.

The 50th anniversary of the explosion is in 2026, so Calloway felt she needed to commemorate it at Fremont Days.

She interviewed numerous people who were apart from the explosion for the exhibit she had planned.

Unfortunately, she died before she could finish her vision, so her committee finished it for her.

Fremont Gallery is open until Sunday and holds Calloway’s interviews along with artifacts from the hotel, newspaper clippings and more.

READ MORE: Fremont commemoration shares Hotel Pathfinder history, heroes 50 years after explosion

The other woman being honored during the 2026 Fremont Days is Debbie Durham, who was a Fremont local.

“She loved her family. She loved her friends, her community. She was always giving,” Dostal said. “And a lot of the events that you see that deal with children and stuff would not be here if it wasn’t for her foundation.”

The board decided to dedicate the information building that is located next to the amphitheater to her.

John C. Fremont Days runs July 10-11.

You can find more information and a list of events happening this weekend on their website by clicking the link here.

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