ARLINGTON — Gray skies gave way to the warm sun just in time for downtown Arlington’s third annual “Community Day” Sept. 18.
“It’s the first time it hasn’t rained, but it seems like there are fewer people,” said Julie Morse, president of the Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber of Commerce.
Crowds were nonetheless out in force for traditional festivities, such as the “Bite of Arlington” on Olympic Avenue and the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Museum’s “Pioneer Days,” and new activities, such as the Country Chainsaw Carvers Event next to the Local Scoop and the dedication of Centennial Trail near Haller Park.
“Customers have been swarming like wasps,” laughed Joe Rzeczkowski, co-owner of Petite Sweet on Olympic Avenue. “We’ve had really good traffic today.”
Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Association President Myrtle Rausch reported that attendance was up for this year’s Pioneer Days, which gave kids of all ages hands-on lessons about life in the days before electricity, from churning butter and grinding wheat to woodworking and writing with fountain pens.
In the Arlington City Hall parking lot, adults shopped for fresh groceries at the farmers’ market while Youth Dynamics helped children turn zucchinis into toy race cars.
“She was so excited,” said Leslie Kikuchi of her 8-year-old daughter Eleanor, who spoke with Arlington Mayor Margaret Larson in the parking lot. “She just wanted to say hi.”
While bands such as “Country Grass” performed in the Legion Park gazebo, Marysville resident Anna Lindquist joined her two daughters and other area families in drawing chalk art on the pavement outside the City Council chambers.
Nearly a dozen chainsaw carvers conducted live shows Sept. 17 and 18 outside the Local Scoop, whom they thanked for feeding them free meals. Event coordinator Debbie Anderson has only been chainsaw carving for a year and a half, but she felt passionately enough about her art to put up her fellow carvers at her home and do the shows for free.
At least half a dozen members of the B.I.K.E.S. Club of Snohomish County showed up of the Centennial Trail dedication, but Everett’s Bill Weber was the only one who “dressed up” for the occasion, sporting a bicycle racing suit that had a tuxedo design printed on it.
“It’ll be nice when they get that gap finished,” Weber said, as he and his fellow cyclists ate at Petite Sweet. “I look forward to riding to Arlington for lunch.”
Larson was joined by Centennial Trail Coalition Chair Beth Hill, Snohomish County Council member John Koster and Mark Krandel, planning supervisor for Snohomish County Parks and Recreation, in lifting the arm of the simulated railroad crossing for the section of trail from Arlington north to Bryant. Koster cited the trail system as the most used parks facility in the county, while Krandel pinpointed next year as the goal to complete the trail to the Skagit County line.
“It’s a nice day for kids to be outside with their friends,” Arlington resident Lanette Ziegler said. “Arlington is just a nice place to hang out.”
