Summer Magic hits Warden
The final group of raft racers make their way to the finish line Sunday in "The Return of the Great Lind Coulee Raft Race." The event was one of many during three days of festivities in Warden, as part of the town' annual Community Days.<br>Brad W. Gary/Columbia Basin Herald
Crowds pack in for Community Days annual festival
WARDEN — Warden Volunteer Park was packed to the brim Monday; each and every participant celebrating Labor Day with the town full of festival games, food and music in the park.
Festivities that finished Monday ended three days of Warden Community Days in and around town. The annual festival brought both demo cars and classic cars to the streets downtown, and homemade rafts to the nearby Lind-Coulee.
The demolition cars started Community Days with the town's annual demo derby that also included all-terrain vehicle races. Dominated by local racing talent, the demo drivers smashed their cars up for an appreciative crowd.
The cars turned classic Sunday as 26 entries lined up on the north end of Main Street for the town's first ever Summer Magic car show. Ann Edwards was one of the show's organizers and said cars came from as far away as Yakima for the event.
"It's our first show," Edwards said, "and we're going to go bigger and better even next year."
One of the entrants in Sunday's show was Bob Duffin, who brought his 1972 Ford Grand Torino from Moses Lake.
"We're just here supporting our neighboring community," Duffin said, "helping them with their first show."
Also Sunday, raft teams competed down the whitewater rapids in "The Return of the Lind Coulee Raft Race." In the second annual event, 10 raft teams ventured down the Lind-Coulee in homemade rafts.
The festival continued on Labor Day, as crowds packed Main Street and later Warden Volunteer Park for the festivities. The Summer Magic parade was led by local servicemen who have recently returned from service overseas, and who served as the grand marshals atop a tank in the parade down Main Street.
Crowds then gathered at the park for the musical stylings of finalists of the Colgate Country Showdown, and to sample the nearby food and games.
Paul Glasco was one of the participants in Community Days and said he came to town Monday for the food and to support Warden. Glasco was one of many who supported the Warden High School seniors as many submitted themselves to the plunge of the dunk tank to raise money for their senior class trip.
Class president Eric Whitney was one of the first seniors to take the plunge.
"(It's) almost like jumping off a diving board," he joked, "but not knowing that you're going to be jumping."
A park full of festivities at the celebration is something event organizer Bonnie Rettkowski called "awesome."
"It's a chance for you to see people you don't see probably but once a year at Community Days," she said.