Area residents enjoy eventful weekend

Celebration-wise, it was the kind of weekend that had newspaper people and radio personalities stretching their minds in search of appropriate adjectives.

We're talking, of course, about the final weekend of September in 2002 when temperatures ranging from the 60s to the 80s provided an awesome background for celebrations in McCook, Hayes Center, Stratton and Atwood.

In a walk-around survey of Gazette staff members this morning, the words of praise flowed profusely.

"I loved it. It was a hoot," said Penny Johnson, who rode with her dad, George Wagner, on the Barnett's Do-It Center truck carrying the Cordials in the Heritage Days parade.

High praise also came from Ronda Graff, who joined Dave Stout of KICX and KBRL in providing color commentary for the parade. "For me, the time whizzed by," Ronda said. That was because of her descriptive duties, but -- even so -- she was impressed with the size and quality of the parade.

Officially, there were 113 entries, but actual numbers were beyond that because several businesses had multiple cars and pieces of equipment and merchandise. The parade -- which started forming way up north on O Street, went all the day down Norris to C, and then over to the McCook Memorial Auditorium.

Attendance-wise, the parade was the peak of the weekend celebration, with estimates ranging to as high as 5,000. But as big as it was, the parade was just one of many highlights on a fabulous weekend.

The visit of the World War II bombers attracted exceptional crowds, surpassing by far the attendance the week before in Lincoln, which has a population 20 times larger than McCook's. According to Dale Cotton of the McCook Air Base Society, only one city -- Cedar Rapids, Iowa -- had a larger turnout than McCook on the bombers' current tour. "The planes were over the top. McCook did a great job of hosting them," said Steve Walker and Bruce Crosby.

For other Gazette staffers, the Heritage Days highlight was the craft and food booths and the bandshell entertainment at the park. "I was there Sunday afternoon. What a perfect day. The park was packed," said Michelle Seeker.

Michelle made the rounds, attending the Fall Festival barbecue in Stratton Saturday evening. "It was great. There was quite a crowd," she said.

For Connie Jo Discoe, the regional editor, the high points of the weekend were the Grand Duke Alexis Rendezvous in Hayes Center and the Heritage Days water fight on the old Wal-Mart/Stage parking lot. "I got decked twice," she laughed.

At the Rendezvous, Connie was impressed by the whole show, with special mention for the performances of Buffalo Bill, played by Kirk Shapland, and California Joe, the Indian scout. "I just wish it was on a different weekend than Heritage Days so they could have had better attendance."

Still, with weather like that this past weekend, you couldn't go wrong. No matter where we chose to celebrate, it was a fabulous weekend.