GRANITE FALLS — After last year’s annual Railroad Days celebration, organizers sent out a survey about the festival.
“Among the things that came back over and over again was that there was nothing for the younger children to do,” said Pam Burley, who is helping with this year’s 41st annual event planned for Oct. 2-4.
As a result, kids 12 and under will be able to race, fish and win prizes and cupcakes and more. A children’s fair is planned for 2 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 3, the main day of the festival.
Also, Mater the Tow Truck from the Pixar movie “Cars” will make an appearance in the parade at noon Saturday down Main Street.
Still, there will be plenty for adults to do, too, as the festival will feature its usual food, drink and entertainment.
Railroad Reunion Days started in the mid-1960s under the guidance of local history teacher Richard Fallis, according to Fred Cruger of the Granite Falls Historical Society.
The festival celebrated the era when steam trains chugged through town, beginning with a gold rush in 1892. The Everett and Monte Cristo Railroad took riders to the gold-mining mountain town of Monte Cristo, Cruger said.
Gold mining dried up after about 10 years, but trains continued for many years to bring logs, ore and metals through town. Others brought tourists to the former Big Four Inn resort near Big Four Mountain, Cruger said.
In recent years, the festival’s focus has shifted away from history.
“It’s turned into more of a reunion days,” with a lot of class reunions, Cruger said.
The Granite Falls Historical Museum will be open all weekend and is planning some functions. One is an old-fashioned dinner and dance beginning at 5 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Granville Grange, 9401 163rd Ave. NE. The cost is $20.
Another is a river float, where people put money into a pool and guess how long it will take an object to float down a section of the South Fork Stillaguamish River.
Last year they used an exercise ball, Cruger said. This year, they’re using an empty beer keg.
“The river’s kind of low so we needed something a little more durable,” Cruger said.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
Granite Falls Railroad Days
When: Oct. 2-4
Where: S. Granite Avenue, downtown Granite Falls
Highlights: Children’s parade, 10 a.m. Oct. 3, Main Street; main parade, noon; children’s fair, 2 to 4 p.m.; spaghetti dinner and dance, 5 p.m. Granville Grange, 9401 163rd Ave. NE.
More info: www.granitefallswa.com/rrdays.shtml
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
