The La Center Our Days Steamboat Celebration returns Friday, July 28 through Saturday, July 29 with a packed schedule including a parade, bed races, drone show, vendor fair and more.
Wendy Chord has been a part of the team bringing La Center Our Days for 23 years. She said the new mayor of La Center, Thomas Strobehn, is looking for more awareness about Our Days and hopes for a big attendance this year.
The event is organized entirely by committee, which starts the planning phase and fundraising in October. She said the event brings La Center and the surrounding rural communities together for a weekend of celebration.
“We’re trying to keep that small town, fun atmosphere, family atmosphere, something fun for the whole family for a couple of days to come and enjoy,” Chord said.
On Friday, July 28, Our Days kicks off at 7 p.m. with bed races occurring downtown. Those are followed by the parade at 8 p.m. The parade starts at the high school and follows a route on East Fourth Street to Aspen Avenue and ends at the La Center Church. The parade will feature an 18th century replica of a French steam locomotive, famous literary characters from children’s books, a Kindness 911 police cruiser and more.
A drone light show will take place at Sternwheeler park after the parade. That will be followed by a free showing of the movie “Matilda” at Sternwheeler Park with free gourmet popcorn available.
On Saturday, July 29, the central location of activities for the day will be at La Center’s Holley Park.
The 5-kilometer run/walk will begin at 8 a.m. at Holley Park with check-in starting at 7 a.m.
A car show will follow the 5k run/walk at Holley Park with cars arriving at 9 a.m. to the Holley Park baseball fields. The car show start time is slated for 10 a.m. and will run until 4 p.m.
A vendor fair will also take place from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The vendor fair will include Archery World, Harvest of Peace Massage, Cowlitz Tribe showcasing a fire truck, police car and ambulance, and more. Food vendors will include Smokin’ Franks Barbecue, Honu Hawaiian Shave Ice, 18 Degrees and Getta Gyro.
A free Kids Zone will begin at 10 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m. at Holley Park. It will feature a bounce house and the Columbia Play Project pop-up children’s museum.
A beer garden will begin at 10 a.m. and run until 5 p.m. at the Holley Park tennis courts.
At 11:30 a.m., the Beautiful Baby Contest hosted by the Miss Teen La Center Court, will take place at the covered area of Holley Park. The contest is free to enter and includes three age categories: 0-6 months, 7-12 months and 13-18 months.
At 1 p.m., free Bingo will take place at the covered area of Holley Park.
“I think the participation of the people coming out and enjoying the day is what I love seeing and seeing all the people just visiting … you can barely get along the pathway because there’s people that haven’t seen each other for a long time that are visiting,” Chord said.
