Yellow Pages
SEDRO-WOOLLEY — Sixteen-year-old Michael Verner stood on the hood of an old white Buick Century yelling to all who passed by at the annual Blast from the Past festival Saturday afternoon.
“Come smash this car,” he shouted, holding a sledge hammer. “One dollar, three hits.”
The car-smashing event was just one of the activities Sedro-Woolley residents and visitors enjoyed as they strolled through downtown for the festival, a throwback to the 1950s. The event continues today.
Old cars lined Metcalf Street, their proud owners beside them.
Art Dougan, a 66-year-old retired construction worker, brought a dark gray 1941 Chevrolet sedan from Bellingham, where he lives.
Dougan said he chose the Sedro-Woolley Blast from the Past car show over others in Lynden and Ferndale.
“I wanted to see what other people in this neck of the woods would drag out,” Dougan said.
And he wasn’t disappointed.
“There’s a number of them that stand tall,” Dougan said.
He pointed at a 1941 maroon Cadillac Coupe, saying it was particularly beautiful.
Down the road, children competed in hula hoop, jump rope and pie-eating contests as a band played classic oldies rock songs.
One of the festival’s organizers, Jina Williams of the Sedro-Woolley Chamber of Commerce, said she was happy with the turnout. She estimated about 400 or 500 people flooded Sedro-Woolley’s downtown Saturday.
“It brings a lot of people to the businesses,” Williams said.
For Sedro-Woolley siblings Kendra and Brent Mcmullen, ages 10 and 13, and their 11-year-old friend J.R. Huff, the festival’s food was the best part.
They sat on a picnic bench and shared a large blue, white and yellow multi-flavored snow cone. It was their first snow cone of the summer.
Jeff Brooks, 29, of Sedro-Woolley gravitated toward the car smashing.
He took hold of the sledge hammer and swung at the car, hitting the front left light so hard that the hammer stuck, which sparked applause from onlookers.
“I feel much better,” he said as he walked away.
For more information about Blast from the Past, visit http://www.sedro-woolley.com.
n Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at .
