Day of fun planned for Plains Day

Plains Day is here once again with Saturday being filled with activities new and old.

“This event is taking shape and looks to be a banner year for all of the events and vendors,” said Connie Foust, lead coordinator for the annual celebration. The festivities will begin once again with the Masons Pancake Breakfast at the VFW, followed by the parade down Railroad Street at 11 a.m., led by the VFW Post 3596 color guard.

Sanders County Commissioner Dan Rowan, the most recent former town mayor, was selected as the parade’s grand marshal. “It is an honor to be a commissioner and an honor to be asked to be grand marshal,” said Rowan, who added that he was surprised to be asked. Mary Halling is again running the parade, which lines up from 9-11 a.m. with kickoff at noon. Halling would like to see more animals in the parade’s pet contest this year.

For the third consecutive year, Plains Day will be hosted by the nonprofit organization, the Free Americans, with the theme “Liberty Under the Big Montana Sky.” This year, the Free Americans will be introducing a few new activities to the daylong festival, such as pony rides at Fred Young Park at noon. Also new this Plains Day will be a pickleball exhibition by members of the Plains Pickleball Association throughout the day behind MT West Dentist. Starting at 2 p.m., the VFW and Studs Building & Home will be sponsoring crosscut saw, power buck, ax throwing, chainsaw, and choker set competitions.

Foust said they’re going to have a lot more vendors along the greenway on both sides of Willis Street and in Fred Young Park. She said there are also going to be a few of the more traditional activities, such as the Ice Cream Social and Turtle Races, both sponsored by Rocky Mountain Bank. The Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District will have a display behind the dentist office and Rehbein Ford is sponsoring a car and truck show along the greenway. “I am so thankful for those businesses and individuals that have donated to help pull off the best Plains Day ever,” said Foust.

The Ryan family is planning to start its annual potluck and dance festivities at the E.L. Johnson Memorial Park, also known as the pool park, at 5 p.m. Newman Ryan, the primary coordinator from the family, said they plan to have a D.J. for a variety of dance pieces, such as Big Band, swing, pop, rock ‘n’ roll, country, polkas, and waltzes. For their annual limbo contest, there will be a $200 cash prize for the adult winner and a basket of goodies for the kids category, said Ryan, who believes the family has put on the event for about 15 years. They won’t be doing a movie on the park lawn this year, but he said they’re going to have a “short lightsaber story duel.”