Rain doesn't damper Plains Days spirit

As the spring raindrops began falling a bit harder on those waiting for the start of the annual Plains Days Parade this past Saturday, an elderly gentleman from Thompson Falls summed it all up.

“We are from Montana,” said Floyd Swope as he wheeled his daughter’s small dog in a baby carriage among the dozen or more tents set up by vendors and food purveyors who put together their portable shops at first light.

“Rain isn’t going to stop anything. When we left Thompson Falls it was pouring, I’m glad that is not happening here. We wanted to get out of town for the day and have some fun”.

With that attitude prevalent among the several hundred people who lined Highway 200, the main street through town, it was evident precipitation was not going to put a damper on area residents who came to laugh, smile and soak in small town America.

After two years of uncertainty and outright cancellation of the whole event, Plains residents and those from across the region were clearly ready to have a good time.

The day began at the Plains VFW where the Thompson Falls Masonic Lodge was hosting a pancake feed that was actually a full breakfast for those seeking to fuel up before the event-packed day got underway.

“This has been going real well,” said Lodge member Bill Burrell. “We opened at 7 a.m. and by nine we had served well over 50 breakfasts.”

Then, as crowds began lining the street in anticipation of the parade, Rocky Mountain Bank, which would later host the annual “turtle races” announced they were dishing out free ice cream on a first come first serve basis. That announcement drew a throng of parade goers to the drive-through banking area of the bank along Highway 200.

Pretty much right on time (it is small town America), the first glimpse of the coming parade, the VFW color guard, could be seen marching down the streets with flags flapping in the light wind.

Behind the color guard was a long, loud line of first reponders who brought sirens and flashing lights to the street and heightened the anticipation of those down the road that Plains Day was underway.

“We love Plains days,” said Peggy McCarthy, who along with two other family members had positioned folding lawn chairs along the parade route and watched in delight as children scrambled for candy and other treats that were carefully tossed from the passing parade entries. “We will be making a day of this”.

As the parade passed by under the theme “Let Freedom Ring”, it was also apparent that scores of politicians seeking elected posts throughout the area understood the importance and potential benefit of participating in the event.

All along the route, campaign volunteers handed out informational pamphlets on behalf of their candidate.

The parade also featured the annual appearance of the US Forest Service mascot Smokey Bear, who waved at the smiling throngs of children who were otherwise busy scrambling for flying candy and trinkets.

At the end of the parade, a Bobcat front-end loader brought up the rear with its scoop bucket serving as a receptacle for horse manure left by some of the few horses in the parade.

“I always like the parade,” said Plains area resident Ginny Brown. “I’ve always liked the horses involved but this year there were only two horses”.

Actually there were four, including a pair of horses pulling a local religious group’s wagon down the street.

Once the parade ended, visitors flocked en mass to the green lawn park that was teeming with vendors, who value the Plains Day celebration as one of the prime events they try to attend each year.

“I would rather bring my artwork to a celebration like Plains than to a flea market type event,” said Josh Jurek, an area artist who features intricate and beautifully carved antlers among the artworks he had on display. “I love coming to small town Montana”.

From the vendor area most of the crowd wandered over to the Rocky Mountain Bank parking lot, where they were able to stand beneath the covered drive-up banking lanes as turtle race officials prepared to set the slow-moving critters loose in the parking lot.

The turtles were released at the center of a large chalk-drawn circle with the winner being the first turtle to crawl across the outer line of the circle.

Following the turtle races, the action moved back to the VFW where the street in front of the veteran’s establishment had been closed to allow room for competitors in the Crosscut Sawing event.

Several two-man teams of entrants, who paid $10 for each time they sawed away at large logs that were held in place on make-shift saw horses, strained and sweated as timer and emcee Rocky Hart encouraged the crowd of about 100 onlookers to show their support for the competitors.

“Come on, let’s cheer them on,” Hart admonished the crowd, which very clearly enjoyed the sawing event despite a steadily increasing rain. “These guys need your help, let’s get em going”.

In the end, after several entrants did indeed enter the event two or even three times, Ben Feiro and Noah Hathorne of Plains won the competition, sawing through the log in 29.12 seconds. The win was good for $40 each and 1st Place ribbons.

Second place went to a pair of visitors from Colorado, who went by the team name Ace. Ervin Sommers and John Hochstetler completed the cut in 32.12 and won $20 each and some mini trophies.

“We were just passing through and thought we’d give this a try”, said Sommers

Live music and dancing were scheduled to close out the day’s events which parade planners and supporters say was a success.

“This was a good day,” said the VFW’s Heather Allen. “It don’t think there were quite as many people at the parade as there were last year, but given the rain that was falling it was a good turnout”.

Allen hinted that other lumberjack type events might be added next year after seeing the popularity of this year’s crosscut competition.