Harrington news

Harrington Fall Festival

Dawn found the city alive with activity and excitement. Prior to 9 a.m. the city was alert and businesses open. The rummage sale at the Opera House had buyers waiting at the 9 o'clock mark. The Colbert family farm operation had cut and removed the sunflower crop for the Mud Bog area. People commented as to the education that the sunflowers had been, watching the heads of seeds turn to follow the sun and finally they bend down to prevent the birds from stealing all their seeds. There had been about a dozen entries for the mud bog event, and no trophies were awarded this year, strictly cash prizes only. The Mud Bog event ran before the parade, and then concluded following the parade.

The grand marshal of the parade was Scott McGowan, having secured the title of Harrington's 2017 Honored Citizen. Declining the normative chauffeur by the Lions Club, he drove his 1964 Impala Super Sport. Those who know him won't find it too surprising that he was viewed by the crowds in two places at once. There he was in the "Fire Rescue" truck. This is a phenomenon that Scott acquired during his 36 years' stint as maintenance man for the City of Harrington. Most of those years were with the man who hired him, former Mayor Paul Gilliland. He has also faithfully served with Harrington's volunteer fire department for 27 years. He has his hands on all the vital aspects of life in Harrington caring for the water-sewer facility, the city streets, the cemetery, city park, water meters and everything in between.

The perfect weather contributed to a wonderful assortment in the parade. Odessa's colorful "Country Life" float with their royalty waving contained an elevator, a windmill, tractor and barn. Ritzville chose "Dutch Delite" for their royalty on bikes, yellow, blue and pink. They too had a windmill and an abundance of flowers. Three students led the path for their float carrying the Ritzville banner. Davenport's float, "Tiki Bar," carried their royalty sunning themselves with a nearby palm tree and little grass shack. Harrington's royalty, Queen Alexandria Soliday and Princesses Evie Mann and Stormy Stiles, were escorted in a gray car.

Reardan's band decked in black and maroon uniforms was led with students carrying their banner, "Reardan Indians." Similarly, the "Davenport Gorilla" banner preceded their marching band and led the way for their float. The "Harrington Marching Band" banner, in its old-time Panther colors of red and black led the way for their marching band. This is Harrington's first season without being joined with other schools, hence their return to the "Panthers." The school had challenged the downtown building owners to a contest for decorating their windows. The winner was Harrington City Hall with the painting of "Harrington Panthers" in large black block letters outlined with red and then white, with "Stay Fierce! Stay True!" in yellow block letters. In the center was a very fierce looking panther head, mouth wide open, ready to fight. This artistic design was painted by local artist Gavin Wagner, class of 1995, at which time the school was using the Falcon mascot. The Panther logo was last used in 1988.

There was an especially good turnout from those we so often depend on. Scott McGowan drove the yellow District 6 Fire Rescue truck, and Ron Mielke drove the red Lincoln Co. FPD #6 Harrington truck. The Lincoln County Fire Dist. #6 ambulance, yellow with white, was also on the scene, as was the Lincoln Co. Hospital Dist. #3 ambulance, Davenport, red and white, with the banner of the clinic and hospital preceding it. The Lincoln Co. Sheriff's Office brought its new incident command vehicles.

The Class of 1967 graduates were: Edward Benzel, Diane Dibble, Sharon Birge, Marcia Everheart; Richard Deking, William Floyd, Thomas Hardung, Leslee Krause, Bruce Lust, Douglas Hatten, Candy Kupers, Jennifer Meyer, Carolyn Houck; Lonna Kupers, Linda Nitschke, Cheryl Oestreich, Karen Rodenbough, Katherine Sautter, Adele Swenson, Valerie Timm, Donald Timm, Carol Wagner, Wayne Schultz, Joan Timm and Steven Williams. A near dozen turned out to ride on a trailer pulled by a gray GMC.

The Class of 1977 graduates were: Laura Fries, Ronald Mielke, Heidi Jean Sewall, Eric Timm, Kelley Sewall, Kim Kruger, Frederick Bell II, Jolie Clark, Richard Becker, Lisa Vann, Timothy Birge, Dianne Kuwahara, Michael Fultz, Jay Gossett, Carla Newton, James Weatherford, Larry Weil, Roderick Rieth and Jay Timm. A very few were here for their 40th reunion parade appearance but cheerfully rode in the back of a red Chevrolet pickup.

The Class of 2007 graduates were: Jennifer Adams, Bryceson Charlton, Natalie Deking, Ryan Gonwick, Dillon Haas, Jamie Larmer, Tiffany Liu, Nathan Luck, Veronica Mielke, Jennifer Nash, Michael Stout, Jacqueline Miller, Seth Morris, Daniel Peck, Rex Rieth, Leigh Talkington and Nicole Talkington. Eight appeared to fill a red pickup bed and carried a sign saying, "The World is Yours."

Other entrants included a uniformed man on a horse, six little princesses with tiaras in a cart-the promise of the future, two students each carrying a flag (Wash. state and U.S. flag), kiddie cars, US Bank mascot, a motorcycle, Harrington Food Mart, a white mustang, Lincoln County Fair Rodeo Queen Jireh, a turquoise Chrysler, a group of 4-H club members, a train consisting of four cars from the Inland NW Rail Museum, a brown and white Chevrolet, three horses with state senator Judy Warnick and another rider with an ad on Tom Dent's horse, and a Lions Club jeep.

The Harrington City Park had a good-sized crowd of folks interested in the vendors, the petting zoo and the Lion's Club games. Many were setting up their tables with covers and placing their coolers for easy access. About 10 vendors were present with their wares. The Chamber had arranged to have a beer garden near the Mud Bog site, but there was minimal attendance in it for this event. The Chamber raffle went well. Harrington Homemakers had their pie sale, and it was again a huge success. The PTA had a booth at which they sold Harrington Panther shirts and hats.

Tours were given at the Hotel Lincoln by owners Jerry and Karen Allen. This was one of five buildings with Historic Harrington signs in front of it. The lumber came from the "Post and Office" building, and was run through a planer by Tim Tipton, Chamber president. These five sandwich boards were then painted by Karen Allen. The other four buildings were the Post and Office, the Studebaker Garage, the Opera House and the former Harrington Haus presently under reconstruction.

Justin and Heather Slack held their open house at the "Post and Office" and enjoyed a steady flow of inquisitive guests. Apparent new hardwood floors were actually the age of their own building, salvaged from a collapsing building in the countryside. The Slacks are awaiting permits to arrive before they can truly "show their stuff."