Ark Valley News - A great crowd

Haidyn Mackey (left) and Ainsley Kraus enjoy the Viper carnival ride Sept. 25. A flat fee of $23 provided festival-goers with unlimited rides during the Ride-A-Rama.

A great crowd
By The News staff
Last Updated: October 08, 2015

Valley Center Fall Festival wraps up its 54th year

As Mike Love finished a long set of music and the lights of the carnival were turned off late Sept. 26, the Valley Center Chamber of Commerce put the wraps on another Valley Center Fall Festival.

With good attendance — and no major hiccups — the annual celebration was deemed a success.

"I thought it went really well," said Marshella Peterson, chamber director. "I thought we had a great crowd Saturday evening."

It was wall-to-wall people in downtown Valley Center on the two-day festival's final night. Crowds waited in ride lines, youngsters got their faces painted and it appeared that hundreds filled up on carnival food and refreshments. Even the beer garden stayed busy throughout the night.

It's difficult for festival organizers to estimate crowd sizes, but they knew it was a good sign when the carnival's operator, Danny Ottaway, said he was "pretty pleased" with the turnout.

The party took a slight hit on the first night as rain showers forced the headlining musical act to cancel. The rides continued to operate, although the lines thinned out considerably.

The sun popped up the next day as the roughly 40-minute Circus-Circus parade delighted throngs of onlookers lining Meridian.

Riley Greenwood, the parade's grand marshal, waved to the crowds from the back of a convertible.

The Valley Center High School Class of 2016 dazzled the judges with their Pick of the Parade float featuring student Trace Tobin preparing to be shot from a cannon.

It ended with the familiar city street sweeper, picking up after the horses, including the little polka-dot pony that thrilled the youngsters.

After an afternoon of fishing, games and rides, the sun set on the festival's final night.

This week, chamber officials begin thinking about the festival's 55th version in 2016.

Fall Festival winners

Parade

Pick of the Parade — Class of 2016

Kids' Choice — Valley Victors 4-H

Most Entertaining — VCHS Robotics

Most Creative & Unique — Class of 2018

Grand Marshal — Riley Greenwood

Citizen of the Year — Spike Anderson

Junior Citizen of the Year — Jesse Robillard

Medallion Hunt

Lynda Jensen

Frog & Turtle Races

Water Turtles

Ethan Roat — first place and Largest Water Turtle

Hadley Ishman — second place

Shailynn Bradley — third place

Jaylee and Jentry Adams — Smallest Water Turtle

Jailene Waller

Kaleb Waller

Land Turtles

Kaleb Waller — first place and Largest Land Turtle

Aiden Waller — second place and Smallest Land Turtle

Natalie Kraus — third place

Jailene Waller

Frog

Warren Balthazor — first place

Jesse Ingle — second place

Blake Bradley — third place

Kabel Foster — Largest Frog

Jacob Heier — Smallest Frog

Griffin Ellis

Kyler Bradley

Jaidyn Bradley

Bike & Trike Decorating Contest

4 years and younger

(6 entries)

Best decorated — Reagan George and Riley George

Most original — Amilee Marintzer

Fall Festival theme — Jasper Reffner

5-6-year-olds

(5 entries)

Best decorated — Mia McVay

Best effort — Maggie Colby

Most original — Jonas Reffner

Fall Festival theme — Rachel Diehl

7-8-year-olds

(3 entries)

Best decorated — Isabelle Schrag

Best effort — Elijah

Most original — Hunter Johnson

9-year-olds

(2 entries)

Best effort — Ava Wiechman

Most original — Ethan Roat

Judges: Rick Hodge, Rick Hodge Real Estate; Dawn Courtney, Valley Center; Chris Schulte, Kansas Air National Guard, McConnell AFB. Sponsors: Jerry Oliphant, operations manager, J.T. Transport, Haysville; Valley Center Chamber of Commerce.

Bracelet drawing

$250 grand prize winner bracelet drawing — Aaron Wiechman

Washers Tournament

22 teams competed

$260 was raised for the Valley Center Education Foundation

First place — Dave Mellinger and Mark Kennedy

Fishing Derby

64 participants

Wnners — Evan Gregg, George McVay, Kaitlynn Fetty, Dylan Fetty, Grace Duncan and Dominic.

Sponsors: Big Larry's Burgers, Unruh Family Chiropractic and Kim's Kid Kare. Fishing poles supplied by Kansas Wildlife & Parks lending us the poles.

Pet Fun Show

Grand champion — Tinsley (owner Lisa Arebolo)

Most talented — Sparky