All Smiles

WAITSBURG - "Thank you to all our Veterans for keeping us safe and free."

Those were the words of parade co-announcer Fred Hamann Saturday morning moments after Perry Dozier flew his twin-engine Cessna Golden Eagle low over Main Street in a salute to Waitsburg and those who served their country in conflicts since World War II.

With the Color Guard of American Legion Post 42 members in Dayton and flag carrier Emily Adams leading the way, the Waitsburg Parade was in progress, basking in late May sunshine and a light breeze.

Despite the absence of all but a handful of horses due to the equine herpes scare, the well-attended, crowd-pleasing pageant continued a time-honored tradition for a community stripped this year of its beloved horse racing days. Those might have been cancelled anyway under the cloud of a potential spread of the highly contagious equine virus, local organizers said.

Commercial Club President Robbie Johnson, one of the day's coordinators, rated Saturday "absolutely outstanding," with about as much participation and enthusiasm from attendees as on previous Days Of Real Sports weekends.

"I was pleased beyond belief from breakfast to dinner and everything in between," he said. Nonagenarians Bettie Chase and Jane Butler, selected Marshalls for the occasion, rode in the backseat of Jack Otterson's 1974 Oldsmobile Delta 88, seating them so low that their smiling faces and flags barely cleared the convertible's window trim.

Ninety-one now and beloved as Waitsburg's informal historian, Chase was born in Walla Walla County on the farm of her parents, the Lloyds. She graduated from Waitsburg High School in 1938 and served her community on the city council, the library board and the historical commission.

"In her own words," Hamann said. "She has been in Waitsburg long enough to know "where all the bodies are buried.""

Butler, 90, equally treasured by local residents, has been a member of Waitsburg's community of and on for almost four decades, last returning for good in 1989. Her husband Bob was president of the National Bank of Commerce and Butler herself has been active in the Commercial Club, Sweet Adelines and as a volunteer piano player at Booker Rest Home in Dayton. Every year, she spearheads Hometown Christmas and this year, she's Pioneer of the Year.

The parade had almost 40 entries ( compared to the average 45 - 50 in a typical year), while the day also drew two dozen Wait's Market vendors, half a dozen musical acts and featured two meals (Lions Club Cowboy Breakfast and a Town Hall dinner) to bookend the full 12 hours of activities on the first raceless DRS weekend in decades.

Organizers awarded 25 ribbons to floats in nine categories ranging from vintage cars to buggies. The Columbia County Fair won in the Youth Floats category, while the Matbirds Wrestling Team won for Youth Organization and the Blue Mountain Heritage Society for Organization Floats. Columbia County Health System won for Best "One Of A Kind" Float with its pair of well-staffed, racing hospital beds and Karrie Gould, a brave lone ranger on her "Great Red White And Blue" bicycle, won for Best Individual Float.

Dayton Days Queen Beka Adams won in the horse category. She was the only entry actually on horseback aside from sister Emily, who proudly held aloft the Stars And Stripes. The other fair courts decided to leave their animals at home to avoid contact with other horses, so they rode the parade on trucks and other vehicles.

After the floats made their way down Main Street, down Fourth, up Third and back up Main Street, the sidewalk crowd broke up and drifted into Preston Park, where organizers and vendors recreated a taste of last year's Cycle Oregon.

Sellers varying from the Weller Public Library to Lavender R Us were set up between the Highway and the playground, flanked by carnival games and rides for kids and a stage that featured a steady stream of bluegrass and folk bands.

The last act, guitar duo Paul Gregutt and Joe Abrams, was moved into the Town Hall after the sun disappeared and the late afternoon turned chilly. They were welcomed there by attendees of the fundraising dinner and joined by guitarist Dr. Kyle Terry.

With an estimated 100 diners and the sale of silent auction items, the function raised about $700 to help replace the front doors on the historic building.

Thus ended the festivities that showed Waitsburg can hold its own on the region's events calendar and create a "One Of a Kind" weekend day with or without the races.