Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Many contenders teamed up on Crosby Street trying to keep their eggs unbroken while passing between contestants during the Slippery Gulch Egg Toss on Saturday, June 15. See more photos on Page 5.
Tekoa children rush to grab all the candy tossed during the Grand Parade.
Tekoa hairdresser Sean McCurdy makes homemade popcorn for free "Finding Nemo" movie showing at the Empire Theater
Dorene (Nickell) Bendickson and Jim Weatherly celebrate in the Grand Parade for their 70 year Class Reunion.
TEKOA - The festivities of Slippery Gulch were not deterred by cold weather, rain or hail on Saturday, June 15.
This year, many new records were broken.
According to Slippery Gulch Committee Member Mary Marsh, the Chamber of Commerce Breakfast had the most attendees in recent years, with over 200 people in attendance.
In addition, the Fun Run had the most participants in the past ten years.
The Grand Parade also broke a record with 49 entries participating in the parade.
"We had the most parade entries in a long time. There were 49 entries," said Marsh.
Tekoa's parade started after the children's parade debuted throughout town. The Grand Parade featured Tekoa's award-winning "Par-Tee-Time" Royalty float with Queen Lulu Taylor and Princesses Clare Wilkins and Denali Chase.
Also honored at the parade were Grand Marshals Harry and Connie Brandt, of Tekoa, Honored Veteran, Fred Wagner, Tekoa Root Awardees Joyce Mills, Jerry and Linda Babb, David and Sherma Tysz, and Jerry and Mary Heitt.
Multiple class reunions also gathered and were featured in the parade, including graduates celebrating their 70-year, 60-year, 50-year and 20-year class reunions.
"The weather didn't deter people, and everything just went really well. I think things were cut a little short, but we cannot complain about participation. People came and participated even though the weather wasn't awesome," she said.
The day brought in multiple competitions, activities and vendors.
Families could participate in the basketball free throw contest, egg toss, bicycle obstacle course, fishing derby and more.
Multiple children participated in the fishing derby, leaving two to take home brand-new mountain bicycles from the random raffle drawing of the pool of children who participated.
This year's winners for the new bikes were Roy Brown and Hazel Smith.
"Everyone loves to see each other. It was great to see everyone come. Thank you to the community members for coming out and to all the volunteers," Marsh said.
The egg toss stretched across Crosby Street, leaving one team as the victors.
This year, Casey and Kelly Cook took first place on the day for egg toss. The pair have both previously one three times, non-consecutaivley.
Streets were covered in eggshells and yokes while the day continued on.
"The city did a great job cleaning things up. Everyone has a part, and thank you to everyone," said Marsh.
Whitman County Library opened their doors for a reading Olympic challenge and the museum welcomed patrons to learn about Tekoa's history.
Another shining star of the day's events was C & D's Slippery Gulch Smokehouse BBQ, which featured several barbeque dishes before the adult dance, which C & D's also organized.
The Adult Dance opened its doors for patrons with live music performed by Jam Shack. The live band started after the fireworks show at the softball field.
Olivia Harnack is a Journalist at the Whitman County Gazette. Olivia is enrolled at University of Idaho and is majoring in digital film studies. She serves in the United States Army National Guard and is proud to serve Whitman County.
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