COOS BAY - Thanks to an old cookbook and a renewed community spirit, Empire will be hosting a festival on Saturday to honor its history, showcase its potential and cook some clams.

The Empire Clamboree has a little bit of everything. Musical acts will perform across the street from Ed Lund Park, surrounded by a variety of vendors. The Oregon Coast Culinary Institute will serve up several dishes featuring local bivalves.

Up the hill, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians will host an open house. Down near the Empire boat ramp, the U.S. Coast Guard will offer helicopter demonstrations, while the Betty Kay charter boat takes passengers on cruises to the North Spit and back.

There will be brochures about the Hollering Place project, the city-owned property in need of a developer; as well as a cookbook/ program with information about how and where to dig clams and then cook them.

Discovery of a similar cookbook helped get the Concerned Citizens of Empire and the Confederated Tribes working on the Clamboree.

City Councilor John Pundt, who's also a member of Concerned Citizens, used to sell antiques and was looking through some old merchandise with his wife last summer. They found a cookbook that was associated from a similar Clamboree event dating from the mid-'80s.

"We decided we'd point it out to Concerned Citizens of Empire," he said. "That's where the idea was spawned from."

It seemed like a good time to restart the event, Pundt said, considering all the changes in the works in Empire. There are new businesses along Newmark Avenue, Ed Lund Park has gotten a facelift and city officials have tentative plans to open a boat-building school on the waterfront.

"Some people are still hung up on the old perceptions," Pundt said. "We can introduce people to the Hollering Place project and reshape their image of the area."

The Clamboree gives people a chance to explore the waterfront, learn about projects in the works and find out a little bit about the area's history. There are brochures to guide people along both walking and driving tours. There also will be demonstrations on how to clam and games sponsored by Friends of the South Slough.

"We just felt it was overdue to have something like this," said Steve Skinner, an event organizer.

The event pays respect to the area's history in several ways. Organizers plan to stage several hollering contests at the waterfront. The area got the name the Hollering Place because it's the narrowest point in the bay. So when travelers wanted to cross over, they would yell for someone to row over and pick them up. The Betty Kay will re-enact this passage by following the route those boats would have taken.

There also will be information about the history of the Confederated Tribes at their open house. There will be pictures on display as well as tribal members making objects such as  cedar bark baskets. They'll also be screening "Dark Waters", a history of the tribes, said Carolyn Slyter, a council member of the Confederated Tribes.

"Our presence has always been here," she said. "That's why we wanted to be involved."