Residents celebrate community’s past during weekend festival

CONCRETE — Warm weather welcomed festival-goers Saturday during the annual Cascade Days festival.

A variety of activities held Aug. 16 and 17 drew a crowd of participants and spectators who together celebrated life in eastern Skagit Valley.

A lengthy parade down Main Street on Saturday included decorative cars, people and animals along with plenty of candy distributed to young spectators.

Concrete resident Cris Huppoch participated in the parade as she rode her horse, Arrow, in a long, western-style dress, cowboy boots and hat.

She said she has enjoyed riding horses in the parade over the years and the event has always been a great activity for children.

As the heat of the day continued to rise, an opportunity was found to cool off during the fireman’s muster in Town Park.

A crowd gathered during the competition between Grassmere, Concrete, Clear Lake and Marblemount fire departments.

The firefighters joined in friendly competition during the events that included races like dragging a firehose up a slippery hill and a tire push where teams used water from a firehose to push a tire along a cable.

The tire push is everybody’s favorite because they get cooled off, said Mark Richmond, a Marblemount Fire Department volunteer.

“It’s just real good, friendly rivalry,” he said.

Festival activities continued into Saturday evening and Sunday with a variety of races, musical talent and contests.

Cascade Days is an event that celebrates life in the country and is a chance to meet up with old friends, Huppoch said.

“Everybody comes out of the woodwork to see people they haven’t seen over the years,” she said.