old-fangled
Good Old Days ignites St. Ignatius
Megan Strickland
Participants in the Mission Mountain Pageant wave in the 33rd annual Good Old Days parade.
Megan Strickland
Fred Gariepy whips up some burgers for the Chamber of Commerce dinner.
Megan Strickland
Kids play in water sprayed by the St. Ignatius Volunteer Fire Department.
Megan Strickland
A pooch crosses the finish line in the dog race contest at St. Ignatius Good Old Days.
Megan Strickland
Matthew Broughton chows down on some cotton candy.
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
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A soggy start didn’t rain on the Good Old Days parade, as folks came from all around to visit with old friends, show their community spirit, enjoy some good eats and have a good old time.
Fred Gariepy has volunteered for the event for each of the 33 years it’s been going on, and said the 60-degree starting temperatures that came with Friday’s cold rain was a first.
“It is usually hot and dry,” Gariepy said.
He still predicted that folks would come out and enjoy themselves.
“It is always fun,” Gariepy said.
As Gariepy and his fellow volunteers whipped up 300 hamburgers and 300 hot dogs for Friday evening’s community dinner, entries for the baking contest, sponsored by the Old Timer Café, came flowing in.
Six-year-old Madison Incashola brought a scrumptious-looking peanut butter pie that looked mighty tasty, according to contest manager Jim Burckhard.
“It looks awesome,” Burkhard said.
Incashola was the defending champion in the youth category, after bringing home the top prize for a key lime pie the previous year.
She was beaming when she found out she won the top prize again.
“It feels nice,” she said of her win, saying that making the pie was easy and only took a couple of minutes.
Those few minutes of work made the taste buds of judges Vic Davis, Chuck Morrison and Erin Stephen dance. The trio also pronounced LaVonne Olmstead as grand champion in the adult category, with her chocolate pecan caramel tart. Amy Cotton dominated in second and third places, with huckleberry-apple pie and huckleberry-rhubarb custard. Lina Sturman brought home second place in the youth category with cocoa fudge cupcakes.
After the dinner, the band Sho Down played some tunes as families enjoyed playing Frisbee and children bounced on inflatables while the sun sank.
When dawn came the next morning, it was all sunshine, and huge crowds came out to eat pancakes at the St. Ignatius Senior Center. What’s billed as the “largest parade in Lake County” didn’t disappoint as dozens of floats containing bumblebee nests, tiny sleeping princes and princesses, minions, and Darth Vader made their way through town with an occasional spurt of water or outright drenching from the St. Ignatius Volunteer Fire Department Trucks.
Drying off was a fun treat as folks headed down to Good Old Days Park to engage in any number of games including bowling, bouncy house fun, or tug of war. Matthew and David Broughton had fun chowing down on cotton candy and cheering on Jack, a pup in the dog races who took a wrong turn. He may have come in dead last, but the pup had all the love of the crowd as people bellowed in support.
As the day went on, Gariepy’s prediction made at the first of the festivities proved true: pretty much every one involved had a great time.
