Hundreds flock to Plains Day fun

"The rains in Plains will fall mainly on the parade, but not this time," said Kathy Hassan of Trout Creek, one of the Plains Day organizers. Hassan was prophetic.

The parade was spared, but not the turtle races, which had a constant drizzle and made the 31 turtles a bit lethargic. Yet it didn't put a damper on the spirit of the kiddie contestants, parents, other spectators, or emcee Gene Johnson, who called a blow-by-blow description as though it was a professional sport. "He's heading to the finish line at a high rate of speed. He's been working out all summer," said Johnson of a turtle that broke free from the pack shortly after the start. Johnson has been the voice for the Rocky Mountain Bank races for 18 years and said he'd never seen the turtles so sluggish. He also announced the parade once again. 

The turtle competition included six heats of five or six turtles in each. The winner of each heat took home $5 and went on to the championship heat. Plains resident Dalton Vacura, 5, was the day's champ, winning $15. Second place went to 9-year-old Titus Myers, also of Plains, who took home $10. In third, nabbing $5, was Plains resident Briauna Kulawinski, 11, who had won two times previously. The bank also again sponsored the ice cream social.

This is the second consecutive year for the Free Americans, a nonprofit organization, to put on the annual festival. "We really needed this, the people need some joy in their lives," said Connie Foust, chief coordinator of the event and a member of the Free Americans. "This event is a great way to start the summer. People who attended I believe had a great time, along with the participants in the parade and the contests," she added. Mary Halling, one of the coordinators, was pleased that Dennis Spurlock of the Behling Insurance Agency in Plains donated the insurance for day, which was $300.

There were just over 50 venders set up on the greenway, along with participants of the second annual Tom Peterson Memorial Car Show. The people's choice winner of the car show and the recipient of a near two-foot tall trophy was Rudy Borg of Missoula with his 1969 Dodge van, followed by David Lopez of Plains and his 1948 Chevy. A "hard luck" award went to Joe Sheppard, whose 1930 Ford Model A two-door sedan broke down en route the show.   

The VFW hosted the crosscut competition for the second year. Eight teams signed up, but most paid for extra rounds at $10 apiece. The championship team was Noah Hathorne of Plains and Ben Feiro of St. Regis with a time of 29.12 seconds, beating their first cut of 46.62. Hathorne and Feiro each won $40 and first place ribbons. They were also the victors last year, said Heather Allen, the VFW's quartermaster and contest coordinator. Second place went to team Ace, comprised of Irvin Somers and John Hochstetler, both of Colorado. Each took home $20 with their winning time of 32.12 seconds. The Pound Busch team of Tanner Ovitt and Jake Kulawinski finished third with a time of 42.44 seconds. The hour-long competition drew a crowd of just over 50 people.

One competition was a bit more messy and left a couple contestants with slightly bigger bellies. "I felt sicker than sick," said 9-year-old John McNamara, one of the finalists in the watermelon eating contest. Nearly 40 kids from age 4-12 took part in the Christian Alliance Church watermelon eating contest at Fred Young Park. "I'm a picky eater, but not with watermelons," said contestant Zaylin Sheehan, age 5.

The kids ate as many slices they could in three minutes. Each slice was a point, but bigger slices were two points. They held five heats. The winners of each heat met at the table for a championship in their age group. In the final round, which was a minute-long contest, 11-year-old Macayla Meyers of Missoula, formerly of Plains, won by chomping down four pieces. She finished 14 slices in the first round, followed by 12-year-old Olivia Bauscher with 12 slices. In the age 5-8 class, Kamden Nyomo, 8, won by eating four slices in 60 seconds.

The biggest draw was likely the parade, headed by Halling, and led by the VFW post of Plains and American Legion posts of Paradise and Thompson Falls, with nearly 40 veterans. Hundreds lined the street from one end of downtown to the other. Alvin Amundson, the founder of Plains Day, was the grand marshal. There were 34 entries in the parade, said Halling, but there were perhaps 30 additional units that didn't sign up for the contest, including 16 emergency services vehicles from Plains, along with Smokey Bear. 

A group of men who traditionally meet for coffee daily at the St. Regis Senior Center showed off their antique tractors. The vehicles ranged from 1948 to 1953, but they didn't get far when the '53 Farmall Cub driven by State Representative Denley Loge conked out and had to be towed by Rich Minson, who was driving a 1950 Farmall Cub. They weren't the only antique vehicles. Plains Drug Store owner Justin Holmes drove a 1916 Packard milk truck and Joel Banham of the rural fire district drove a 1939 fire engine. The parade lacked in animals this year with only four horses and four dogs. First place in the pet division went to Sally Lilja and Marge Kohm on horseback. They received a $25 gift certificate from Sanders County Feed in Thompson Falls, said Halling. There was no one with a shovel for scooping horse droppings behind the animals, which were last in the parade, but Jack Hardman of Thompson Falls was behind a wagon and team of Norwegian fjord horses - Lena and Sven - owned by Warren Wickum and driven by Mervin Otta. He managed to scoop up horse excrement with the bucket of his XR Rentals Bobcat.

The winning entry of the parade was the Plains Bible Chapel's "Rocky Railway," the theme for its Vacation Bible School. The float was a train caboose and church members handed out a "Ticket to Fun" with a small bag of candy. Clearwater Montana Property matched donations by its area agents, which Halling believes was a total of about $400 for the parade winner. Members of Plains Bible Chapel also set up a bouncy house and had games for kids at grilled burgers at Fred Young Park.

"The events for children were hits and we hope to expand on that, as well as the crosscut saw contest at the VFW and we had great vendors and food," said Foust, who believes there might have been around 500 people at the event, but she believes there would have had more if the weather would have been better.

"Overall, it went very well. And we are looking forward to next year," said Foust. "We learn every year a better way to put this event on for the community. For a small community it is a big event."