Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
They’ve come from a firefighting helicopter, an ultralight, an ag plane and last year’s barrel mechanism from a string over Main Street.
Ping pong balls have dropped over Palouse many different ways on the second weekend of September. This year, for the annual Palouse Days signature event, in which people grab ping pong balls for prizes, the dropping mechanism is undecided.
“You want to find out how the ping pong balls are going to fall, you’ve gotta be on Main Street Saturday,” said Mike Milano of the Palouse Chamber of Commerce.
The annual drop will again anchor Palouse Days, along with activities such as the egg toss, parade and the 31st Show and Shine Car Show. The third year for the Barley Bar Relay will be in honor of originator Heidi Keen who passed away in August.
Joining the day’s events is the first Hoopapalousa 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament. Also, following the parade will be a cake walk, sponsored by Palouse Grange 177.
The car show will take over Hayton Greene Park with entries competing for awards in stock and modified cars, pickups and motorcycles. The park’s capacity is 300 vehicles, for which the event has reached the limit a few times, according to Milano.
“Weather depending,” he said. “We’ve had some cars with no tops show up in the rain. We’ve got some hardy car-show participants.”
There will also be awards given for long-distance and under-construction.
Palouse Days will actually begin Friday with the Midnight Palouse Days Kickoff Party at Palouse Tavern. Live music starts at 8 p.m. with a cover charge.
Saturday morning from 6 to 9 a.m., the Lions Club will serve $5 pancake breakfasts in the Block Building on West Main. At 8 a.m., the 5k and 10k fun run/walk – and 1k for kids – will start at Bagott Motors, while the Xenodican Club begins its book and funnel cake sale at Palouse Library.
At 9:45, the Kiddie Parade runs up Main Street followed by the Main Parade.
Just after, the 2013-14 Palouse royalty will be crowned followed by the egg toss competition and Ping Pong Ball Drop.
At noon, the whistle blows for the Lions Club Duck Race on the river at Bridge Street. Ducks will be for sale downtown and at the pancake breakfast.
Also at noon, the first annual Hoopapalousa 3-on-3 tournament begins.
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the car show takes place in the park while the Palouse Museum shows special exhibits as well during that time.
At 10 a.m., the Palouse Lions will again show that few have done more with a 1978 WSU surplus grill, as they start cooking their renowned hamburgers from the Lions trailer.
At 4 p.m., teams of runners will line up for the starting gun of the Heidi Keen Classic Barley Bar Relay – in which competitors run 8/10 of a mile, chug a pint of beer from Paradise Creek Brewery and the hand off the baton. The event starts at the Brownsfield site on Main Street.
Later, Palouse Days will wrap up with music by Blue Highway at Palouse Tavern, starting at 8 p.m.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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