Today's event - the Harvey Haggard Hoedown

There is an event I am participating in today. This is a fundraiser for our local Chamber of Commerce and it linked to the Ski to Sea Race. Harvey Haggard? From the Ski to Sea Race website talking about the first race in 1911:

There were fourteen participants in the first race. The complete route was 116 miles long. Joe Galbraith, driven by Hugh Diehl, won the first event in 12 hours and 28 minutes.

However, Harvey Haggard was the first competitor off the mountain (about 40 minutes ahead of Joe Galbraith) and aboard the special train back to town - the other racers would need to find another way down. Exhausted, Haggard stripped naked for a soothing rubdown. Then, as the train rumbled around a corner in Maple Falls, a mammoth red bull exploded from the underbrush and stood right in front of the oncoming train. The collision was a dandy; the train derailed and the coach car flipped up and over - yet no one was hurt. Haggard was pulled from the wreck, a bit shaken and decidedly naked. Standing up, the resilient 20-year-old announced, "I am all right, but I am afraid I've lost the race."

Nonetheless, he donned his clothes and hitched a ride with a passing horse and buggy. By the time Haggard reached Maple Falls, he had to be lifted out of the buggy and onto the back of a waiting horse, which galloped at breakneck speed to a waiting car at Kendall.

Unfortunately, the horse took one look at the automobile and froze with fright. Haggard flew over the pony's head, landing in a heap. Haggard's driver picked him up, put him in the car and roared back to Bellingham, with Haggard fainting twice along the way.

Haggard arrived back at the Chamber of Commerce at 11 a.m. to the cheers of an astounded crowd, who passed the hat and raised $50 for the persevering racer. The chamber added another $30, and Glacier and Maple Falls thew in a whopping $100. Next thing Haggard knew, he'd been crowned King of Glacier.

There is a raffle for 18 river rafting trips, some local crafters will set up booths and at 5PM, I will be firing up the kitchen and cooking the hot dogs, serving a chili dog with chips and soda for $5.42. (The main highway is State Route 542) This is the third year we have run the event and it has been fun. The weather is not cooperating (threatening rain) but we will see what happens. And then tomorrow morning, I pack the truck up and head west stopping near Salt Lake City. Monday night is spent near St. Louis arriving in Memphis, TN on Tuesday afternoon for the Blacksmithing conference. A busy couple of weeks...