The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1941-07-10
18th Celebration
Biggest and Best
Ever Attempted
All departments report
good attendance and
interest

Kennewick's seventh rodeo Fourth
of July celebration is now in the
past. It was the best, according to
all reports. Of any that have been
held, except in point of attendance
two years ago.
Friday, the Fourth, was the best
day from every standpoint. The wea-
ther was warm, with little breeze
to make it comfortable. A huge
crowd was on hand to see the parade.
which was by all odds the best ever
shown. Chairman E. G. Smiths idea
of pageant depicting the develop
ment of the west, was we'll carried
out. ~ H.
Following the parade, the Pioneer
Picnic at the park, was feature.
Nearly four hundred early day resi-
dents registered during the day, with
about two hundred partaking of the
chicken dinner. They came from
all parts of the state and the renewal
of old friendships WAS in order for
the day. The general arrangements
were in charge of Mrs. r. E. Reed,
with Mrs. Frank Bentley acting as
master of ceremonies at the short
program held during the noon hour.
The display Of old time pictures was
also of the most interesting events
of the occasion. -
Pat Owens proved himself a real
Snowman with his arrangements in
side the rodeo arena. His program
provided real show for the large
crowd which attended. He had a
good string of animals and his riders
did a good job and provided plenty
of thrills for the enthusiastic aud
fence.
An overflow crowd was in attend
ance at the open-air program in the
park. Mrs Carol Pratt had the
program in charge and it was varied
enough to please the crowd, which
was the largest ever to assemble for
such an occasion.
The fireworks program put on by
the Shell Oil Co. was fine and a
huge crowd assembled in the park
to see it. If the attendance had any
thing to do with getting repeat
performance, next years offering
should be doubled.
Saturdays show at the rodeo
arena was poorly attended, although
Mr.. Owens had 4as fine program and
the performance put up as good a
show as many of the larger places
throughout the country. =. :. -. r.
The crash thriller at the arena
at night was something OF a dis
pointment, an outside outfit prom
ising more than could be fulfilled.
However, a couple of the performers
were injured in their fool stunts and
perhaps the crowd got thrill from
that. ....
Sunday morning the boat racing
crew staged their show on the river.
Hundreds of people, many from dis
tant places were attracted and the
island was crowded with cars for
the whole program. The hot day
made the race end Of the program
successful, but detracted from the
attendance at the rodeo In the
afternoon.
The expected upsets, spills and
general excitement due to the swift
current in the river, failed to pro-
duce a single thrill. On the con-
trary, the racers said the current in
the river smoothed the course, max
ing it one of the finest they had
run on during the season. While no
records were broken during the day,
nevertheless the crowds saw some
excellent time, although the champ
ion was outrua throughout the day,
coming in second usually.
There were contestants from all
parts of the state and some of the
fastest boats in the Northwest were
entered The group was well pleased
with the arrangements and want to
return for the next regatta.
Due to the extreme heat, attend
ance at the afternoon rodeo per-
formance was cut down, although
the show was one of the" best ever
staged in Kennewick. The cham
pionship belt for the best all-around
cowboy was won by Herb Owens,
having the most points for all the
various entries during the show.
Miss Edna Pratt sold the most
buttons in the queen contest, so she
Will NE tllG tOlullS year IOydlty.
The four princesses, who rode the
white horses in the parade were
Dorothy Svatonsky, Ethel Hays and
Norma Alexander.
It goes without saying, Of course,
that all committee heads wish to ex-
press their appreciation to all who
helped in making the celebration
such a successful one. Chairman
Anon includes everybody; E.. C.
Smith, head of the parade commit
tee, extends his appreciation for the
help he received; Mrs Reed to all
her helpers; Pat Owens to everyone
connected with the horse show; Mrs.
Pratt to all who helped with the
program and her daughter to all who
aided her in her campaign; the fire
men for their help; Mr.. Havstad for
his part of the show and MIR. BeSte
for help with the rodeo dance, and
Howard McGhee as chairman of the
advertising committee.
Washington Serious defense
shortages exist in aluminium, cork
and copper, and in that order. The
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