Plains Day provides day of fun

Plains was a busy day Saturday with nearly nonstop activities from daybreak to dark and food on both ends, starting with the Masons pancake breakfast at the VFW and finishing with a potluck dinner at the E.L. Johnson Memorial Park.

For the third consecutive year the nonprofit organization the Free Americans has run Plains Day and once again it was a success, according to Connie Foust, the group's primary coordinator. "We are so pleased it all came together so nicely with the great involvement of the community," said Foust, who is handing the reins over to Free American member Blair Blizzard.

With the theme "Liberty Under the Big Montana Sky," the Free Americans lined up dozens of activities throughout the day along Railroad Street, Fred Young Park, E.L. Johnson Memorial Park, and behind MT West Dentist and had nearly 50 vendors present. The only problem came when the owners of the pony rides, Wee Pony Express, left because they didn't want to set up in Fred Young Park.

"The parade was the best ever with lots of entries," said Foust. The parade this year had 83 units, although many organizations had two or three units and not everyone registered, according to Mary Halling, the parade organizer. It was one of the longest parades in several years with more than 20 emergency response vehicles and more than a dozen antique cars, trucks and tractors, including Gary McGraw's 1931 Ford Model A Roadster pickup, which carried the parade's grand marshal, Commissioner Dan Rowan.

The parade was led again by the color guard of VFW Post 3596, followed by over a dozen vets on a trailer. Ninety-seven-year-old World War II Marine Corps veteran Tom Charlton of Plains walked the entire parade with his dog, "Shaggy." Studs Building & Home provided a boom truck with a large American flag and when it reached the center of the parade route, it stopped, raised the flag and Lillian MacDonald sang the "Star-Spangled Banner."

There were 10 animals in the parade, counting human filled animal costumes, including the Forest Service's Smokey Bear, Trout Creek's bald eagle mascot, played by Ruby Hardman, and Rick Corbin of Plains as an unplanned deflated T-Rex dinosaur. Corona Borealis Equestrian horse trainers Nick Schaefer on "Charlie" and his girlfriend, Jasmine Nicholas, on "Corona Borealis" brought up the rear of the parade with Jack Hardman in a XR Rentals Bobcat serving as the parade pooper scooper.

"The parade was awesome this year. We had a really good turnout with some talented people and creative entries," said Halling. First place for the best non-profit float went to the Plains Alliance Church kids with a castle float to win $500. Clearwater Montana Properties Plains office agents contributed to the prize/donation and the brokerage matched those funds, according to Halling, who has run the parade for three years.

The Plains Pickleball Association took second place and won $100 from Mary Helliwell with the Plains Keller Williams Real Estate. For the Best Dressed Pet, the award went to Abigail Bauer, who dressed her dog, "Moon," to look like a dragon. She won a gift basket from Colleen's Country Store. Halling said the judges felt that Bauer was very creative.

Halling also said they were fortunate to get Gene Johnson as the parade emcee. She said he's a crowd pleaser and they appreciate that he donates his time and talents each year to announce the parade. "His quick wit matches his ability to improvise in situations such as the train whistle blowing in the middle of the parade or stragglers holding up the parade," she said.

Johnson also once again served as announcer for the Rocky Mountain Bank Turtle Races. The competition included nearly 50 turtles this year and drew a crowd of over 200 people. The bank held six heats with seven turtles in each one. Winners went on to compete in the championship round. Heat one went to Oscar Howard. Two went to Weston Rambo. Zayne Miller won heat three. Gavin Gamboa won four. Quincy Holland won five and Pteny and Reid Baker (sharing a turtle) took heat seven. Rambo's turtle won in the finals, followed by the Bakers in second and Miller in third.

Rehbein Ford sponsored the car show for the first time in four years. Coordinator Todd Logan felt they had a good turnout with 30 cars and trucks and one motorcycle, a 1978 Yamaha Bobber, owned by Ken Saner of Plains. Saner had eight other vehicles in the show. His 1951 Ford Woody wagon with a surfboard attached to the roof was among the top 10 vehicles of the show.

The People's Choice Award went to Mark and Lisa Sickles of Plains with their 1970 Dodge Challenger. Best of Show was won by Randy Olsen with his 1956 Chevy Bel Air. Logan said they had a good variety of vehicles from a 1930 Ford Tudor owned by Joann Mathers of Plains to a 2000 Porsche Boxster owned by Debbie Lang of Plains. Rehbein Ford provided the trophies and NAPA Auto Parts of Plains provided prizes.

As judge, Logan didn't participate in the contest, but had two vehicles at the show. He and his wife, Kathy, restored the 1957 Leisure Home Vacation Camper over the course of a year. Logan also had his 1941 Chevy pickup that his father, the late Wally Logan, had completely restored. Todd said having the pickup there gave him the chance to talk to people about the vehicle and his dad, who passed away in January.

The Plains Alliance Church sponsored a watermelon eating contest for kids age 5-12 with $150 worth of prizes from sticker books to water guns. Shoshana Yoder won in the 5-year-old group. Maichelle Champneys won in the age 6 class. Jagger Corby won in the 7 age group. Moriah Champneys won for age 10 group. In the age 11 group, Justin Crane tied with Bryan Lakko. And for the 12-year-olds, Gary Rehbein won. The winners in the ages 8 and 9 class could not be found.

"I think it was one of the biggest and best turnouts in a long time," said Bill Beck, who manned the American Legion Post 52 booth throughout the day. Vendors lined the greenway with a myriad of goods - caps, flags, wooden toys, coffee, knives, music, trinkets, jewelry booths, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Chilaili Wachiwi, a Native American and a resident of Trout Creek, played an assortment of musical pieces on her flute throughout the day. "The vendors had great wares to sell or represented service groups that always give back to the community," said Foust. She also said they had great feedback all day.

"We need more food vendors. Two that had paid for spaces did not show, but there was a great variety of food to be had anyway," said Foust, who was pleased with the turnout of people, including many from outside Sanders County and a few that traveled from Washington and Idaho. "There was something for everyone. We owe a great thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this day a success," she added.

Rocky Mountain Bank gave away 598 bars of ice cream and the Plains Bible Chapel provided a bouncy house in Fred Young Park for youngsters. Emergency response services vehicles from the Plains Paradise Rural Fire District and the Town of Plains Fire Department were on display behind the dentist office, and the Plains Community Ambulance Service set up in town and let people tour their ambulance. The Plains Pickleball Association held games throughout the day. Twenty-three people took time to play on the temporary pickleball court behind the dentist office. Several members held demonstrations of the game. Member Sandy Revier said that a handful of people might be joining the newly formed club.