What began in 1922 as a way to commemorate construction of the nearby dikes along the Columbia and Lewis Rivers, has become the longest continually-running civic celebration in the State of Washington.
The Woodland Planters Days originally was a one day event that helped usher in summer, and it’s now a four-day weekend packed with events for the whole family.
“It’s really grown over the years,” said long-time Woodland historian Walter Hansen, who’s been attending and working with the festival since the 1950’s. “For the first decade or so, it was just a little local celebration. Now it’s something we look forward to every summer.
From 1932 to 1972, Planters Day was planned and organized by the Woodland Volunteer Fire Department, but as the festival and the city grew, it became just too much for them to handle alone.
“At the time, they were really the strongest group in the city,” Hansen said. “Eventually, it became necessary to form a proper committee to help put it together.”
It took 15 years before the first Planters Days Queen was crowned in 1937, and until 1981, the Royal Court was decided by several of the city’s fraternal groups. After some controversy marred the 1981 court, however, that also fell under the auspices of the Planters Days committee.
The Fire Department still has a strong presence in the weekend, though, hosting their Bar-B-Que and the Fireman’s Muster competition.
“It’s always nice to have them still involved after all these years,” Hansen said.
With the 75th queen being announced Thursday night at Woodland High School, it’s expected to be a memorable night for this year’s princesses, Mikala Ewert, Kayle Johns, and Tanna Winters.
“We’ve invited all the former courts we could contact to come back for the coronation and we’re expecting 25-30 of them to be here,” said court chaperone April Chumm. “The oldest living queen, Eleanor Weisenfluth Sorter was crowned in 1940, and she plans to be there. We’re going to have slideshows and a lot of other great things.”
In 1953, the festival took a different approach to help celebrate Washington State’s centennial as a territory. Instead of crowning a high school student, one of four adult couples was chosen to be the Pioneer King and Queen, with the honor going to Mr. and Mrs. J.J. Guild.
“It says a lot about how special a town Woodland is, when 42 queens live within 30 miles, and 22 have addresses in the city limits,” Chumm said.
As part of this year’s parade, a float will be dedicated to the prior courts, so they can help celebrate their place in Planters Days lore. Over the years, as the festival has expanded, some events have faded into history.
“When I first started coming to Woodland, they had a lot of things you were accustomed to seeing,” said Hansen. “There was a pole-climbing contest for a bag of money at the top, along with sack races and other stuff. There also was a baseball game staged between Woodland and Kalama, and that was one of the highlights.”
When the festival entered the new milennium, some felt Planters Days had lost a little of what made it such a community event. Janice Graham, the wife of former Mayor and Police Chief Jim Graham, served as president of the planning committee in 2000, and decided to do something about it.
“I went back to the fraternal orders and to local business owners and asked them to come back into the fold,” Graham said. “The response we got was tremendous as everyone seemed very interested in taking part. Having the Lions Club, the Moose Lodge, and our business community involved again really re-invigorated Planters Days and has made it a true community event for everyone.”
Graham also reached out to local farmers, for whom Planters Day was originally celebrated after the dikes were completed. They now take part by bringing in their antique equipment to display on Sunday, This year, the Woodland Farmers Market will also open early to coincide with the festival, starting at 3 p.m. on Fri., June 15.
Traditionally, Saturday marks the high point of the weekend, punctuated with the annual parade, the frog-jumping contest (now in its 45th year), the bed races, RC hydroplane races on Horseshoe Lake, and an evening concert by the Catillacs.
“It’s nice to see that Planters Days has been able to get back to its roots, while also becoming something we can enjoy for the whole weekend,” Graham said.
Planters Days winds down Sunday with the Rose City Classics Car Show and the annual raffle drawing, with part of the proceeds going to the Field of Dreams Children’s Charity Program. Up for grabs includes an Apple iPad, an LCD/LED Sony TV with a Playstation 3 combo pack, and $5,000 cash to the grand prize winner.
More information about Woodland Planters Days can be found at the official website, www.plantersdays.com.
