Lake Stevens’ annual Aquafest attracts plenty of visitors
Published 10:32 pm Saturday, July 26, 2008
LAKE STEVENS — The best view of the lake this weekend is from the Ferris wheel at North Cove.
Friends Austin Pellham, 16, and Jameson Stromberg, 13, both of Lake Stevens, rode the wheel Saturday afternoon, not minding the blaring version of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” playing during their carnival ride.
“It’s nice to see the water,” Austin said. “It could have been sunnier today, but, really, Lake Stevens is a pretty cool place.”
Aquafest is all about seeing school friends, the boys said.
“It’s an awesome summer festival,” Jameson said. “It gives people a chance to reunite and find out how their summers are going.”
The 40th annual Aquafest continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today in downtown Lake Stevens. The Aquafest Idol singing competition finals are set to continue at 11 a.m., and the magician Sterling Dietz performs at 1:30 p.m.
Despite the cloudy weather, the carnival, along with the beer garden and the food and street fair booths, were busy on Saturday.
John Heizner said he was grateful for the cooler weather as he greeted friends and sold raffle tickets for a fire pit in order to raise money to support the Lake Stevens High School wrestling team.
The teams playing street soccer at the festival also were grateful for the clouds. Even so, teams worked up the sweat as they competed in three-on-three, 14-minute games in the parking lot of the Boys &Girls Club.
The soccer tournament is sponsored by the Lake Stevens High School soccer coaches as a fundraiser for the school’s soccer program.
Andy Knutson, who coaches the girls at Lake Stevens, said the street soccer event attracted 42 teams during the weekend, including teams from several colleges.
Jose Herrera’s team of young boys from Snohomish and Everett played hard and enjoyed the quick games and intense competition.
“It’s fun because soccer is the coolest sport in the whole world,” said 7-year-old Daniel Amador.
Teammate Efren Martinez, 9, agreed.
“And one day I will grow up to be a professional,” Efren said.
