Yellow Pages
BURLINGTON — In the spirit of Berry Dairy Days, 24-year-old Kris Yates sat on his parked Baja 250 motorcycle along Fairhaven Avenue eating his strawberry shortcake.
“You gotta have some,” Yates said as he chewed. “I’ve been craving it for like the past day and a half.”
Yates, a longtime Burlington resident, said last year he accidentally slept through the festivites and missed his “once in a blue moon” chance for the summer treat.
This year, he made sure to be there.
Thousands of people gathered along Fairhaven Avenue on Saturday for the 72nd annual Berry Dairy Days festival and parade. The event is a celebration of the Skagit Valley’s agricultural and dairy industries. It will continue today with the Berry Cool Car Show downtown.
Curb space was sparse at the hour-long Saturday parade as families sat and children ran to gather candy tossed by clowns or other parade characters.
“The turnout is beautiful, and the weather is beautiful,” said Linda Aufrecht, president and CEO of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce.
Aufrecht said there were record numbers of vendors and attendees Saturday, something she attributed to the community spirit of Burlington.
Though most children said the parade was their favorite festivity of Berry Dairy Days, each liked a different part. One liked the rumbling tractors, another liked the horse that trotted and danced to Mexican music, and a third liked the fire trucks because, she said, she wants to be a firefighter.
Other parade participants included a cow-shaped boat, cheerleaders, high school bands and lots of farm equipment.
“My cousin runs the steam tractor (a 1914 J.I. Case at the front of the parade), so I think that’s the highlight every year,” said 33-year-old Bow resident Jason Benson, also spooning up strawberry shortcake.
Talben Brown, 8, of Sedro-Woolley — who wants to be a jet pilot, a baseball player and an artist when he grows up — unabashedly said the best part was the “candy.”
Talben, his younger brother and his dad, each wore matching red T-shirts and white cowboy hats for Berry Dairy Days.
After the parade, Maiben Park filled as people enjoyed everything from listening to live music to petting baby cows. The longest line formed to take a ride on a pony.
Maggie Potter, a 44-year-old Skagit Valley Hospital employee, said she has lived in Burlington since she was a year old but had never been to the parade.
“I loved it. It was great,” Potter said. “I’ll definitely do it again next year.”
As for the motorcycle rider finishing his strawberry shortcake, he said he’d be back later for another one.
The event continues Sunday.
• Tahlia Ganser can be reached at 360-416-2148 or at .
