Editorial

Daze good: could have been better

Riverboat Daze 2007 was a bit slim on events, but those it did have were pretty well done and well attended. The good weather helped.
On the ‘pro’ side, the petting zoo and air tents and whatever else went on – mostly for smaller kids – in the E.G. Wahlstrom School yard was very well attended, we hear, and a big hit with the kids. Way down the other end of Main St., the Sawridge Inn & Conference Centre was almost solely responsible for whatever activities for adults (plus some kids’ stuff) happened after the parade ended. David Nelson and his crew deserve a hearty congratulations for fleshing out what otherwise would have been a pretty thin Riverboat Daze Saturday – given the absence this year of the Show ‘n Shine and the cancellation of the baseball tournament.
As it stood, the beach volleyball tournament and the strongman competition, in combination with a beer garden and the outdoor live music provided just the touch the Daze needed to be a memorable event.
The parade was good too – better than last year in the opinion of several commentators. Now to the ‘con’ side. The parade started about half an hour late. No doubt there were reasons, but that’s the second or third year in a row it’s happened, and organizers can’t seem to figure out how to fix it. Are they even trying? Well...one can only ask so much from volunteers.
Another drawback to the parade was the lack of traffic control on the southern entrances to the parade route. People were driving up Main St. fairly steadily after 11:00 a.m. (the parade’s announced start time) and a couple of motorists even met the advancing parade head on! Not good, especially when so many children were crowding the edges of the street.
One more thing on the parade. The town could have cleaned up Main St. before the parade. There was a sweeper going over it after the parade, which didn’t do much good. It was a windy day and there was a certain amount of dust blowing around in people’s faces. This could largely have been avoided by judicious street-sweeping on the early morning of the event, or even the day before.
Strongman: great first effort by the Sawridge, as noted above. But it could be better. For one thing, truck-pull competitors deserved clean pavement for traction, but they didn’t have it. For another, nobody should be allowed to pack 200-lb. beer kegs while wearing sandals.
Show and Shine: Organizers had their reasons, but its absence left a big hole. Hopefully it’ll be back next year.
Sunday events: No ball tournament, and apparently no actual duck derby, in spite of the impression given in the Daze schedule. People showed up at the river at 11:00 a.m. on the Sunday to watch the ducks, but there were none in evidence.
Storefront decorating: Very few participants, apparently, The Leader included. However, congratulations to winner Fay Sand of The Cooperators.
That’s a thumbnail review. We didn’t get to all the events and have no comment about those we didn’t see.