Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Wagons, camels and mules, oh my!


By WILLY COOK


The annual Wagon Days festival—which has been organized continuously since 1976 and also had a 10-year run from the late 1950s through the 1960s—celebrates Ketchum’s history as a mining hub and frontier town. This year’s celebration on Saturday in Ketchum featured excellent weather, a variety of animals and lots of characters in the parade and on the sidelines. Clockwise from top: 1) The Big Hitch, six original ore wagons pulled by 20 draft mules, is the highlight of the event. 2) The mighty mini-mules were definitely a crowd favorite. A 12-team entry preceded this four-abreast team, whose members were approximately 29 inches high. 3) The Sun Valley Suns hockey team did their usual “pooper-scooping” duties and enlisted one of Ketchum’s finest for protection. From left to right are Derek Grimes, Sinjin Thomas, Trevor Thomas, Ketchum police officer Kristin Quinton, Spencer Brendel and Taylor Rothgeb get ready to do their thing at the start of the parade. 4) Olympian high-jumper Dick Fosbury exhibits his “Fosbury Flop” technique for pancake flipping as a volunteer at the Papoose Club’s annual Pancake Breakfast. 5) Jose Luis Heredia performed various “floreo de la reata” (rope tricks) along the parade route. 6) Ralphie the double-humped Bactrian camel again was on his best behavior as he delighted the parade spectators.
Express photos by Willy Cook




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