Wauneta Harvest Fest celebrates community

    Small towns are always at their best when the community comes together. This year’s Harvest Fest committee recognized that with the theme “It Takes a Village” and highlighted the Wauneta Public Library in the process.
    Festivities began Thursday with the suppers and games. Pickleball, swimming and softball went on throughout the evening. Gen Z won the best of three softball series with 13-9 and 15-14 wins in seven innings each.
    Activities started at 9 a.m. Friday morning. The Wauneta Chamber’s Farmers Market run until noon and overlapped with the Wauneta EMS lunch fundraiser.
    The Park was busy throughout the afternoon with swimming and pool games. Kids games and free music went on throughout the evening.
    Also held Friday evening was the third annual Galen Todd Memorial Cornhole Tournament. Out of 32 teams, Chad and Keithan Cochran repeated as winners, with Jerry Rowley and  Randy Roesner finishing second and Shannon Rammage and Mark Carrizales coming in third.
    Harvest Fest peaked with a full day of events Saturday, starting with 39 participants in the Yucca Run that morning, plus more for the mile fun run and the toddler run.
    Organizer Ariel Fanning said everything went really well. Among the winners were Addison Hauxwell, 3Kgirls  13 and under; Kamryn Fanning, 3K girls 13-15; Haley Ross, 3K women 30-39; Marry Pinney, 3K women 40-49; Kayden Pearce, 3K boys 12 and under; Austin Pinney, 3K mens 20-29; Annaly Ramirez, 5K girls 13-15;  Karsyn Todd, 5K girls 16-19; Jami Weiss, 5K women 30-39; Leslie Aeby, 5K women 40-49; Rose Cayer, 5K women 50-59; Brody Todd, 5K boys 12 and under; Andrew Weist, 5K boys 16-19; Cash Yearous, 5K men 20-29; Chris Bartels, 5K men 30-39; Josh Cox, 5K men 40-49; and Troy Swartz, 5K men 50-59.
    The BWTelcom breakfast filled everyone up in preparation for the parade with the Wauneta Public Library leading the way as grand marshal.
    The first place float was Sandhills State Bank. Second went to the Wauneta Community Foundation and third was Eye Look Good.
    Organizer RanDee Littrel said had a great parade with 25 entries.
    Downtown stayed busy with the Harchelroad Ag Poker Walk and kids games sponsored by RRS, Village Massage and Sandhills State Bank. Winning the Poker Walk was Melissa Pearse. Stacy Duvel was second and Shelly Clem was third.
    Winners of the Photo Contest were also announced. Out of the 17 entries, photos by Kimberly Abbs, Tanner Bardsley, Morayah Cupp, Michelle Goertzen, Janelle Kerchal and Sheila Pfeiffer were selected as winners.
    Also starting after the parade was The HomeTown Agency Courtesy Lunch and the Car Show. Twenty-five cars took part in the show. Organizer Bill Bischoff said everyone received a dash plaque from the Car Nutz Car Club and cars came from McCook, Grant, Palisade, Wauneta, Imperial and Dundy County.
    People cooled off with the WVFD water fights and Wauneta-Palisade junior high girls’ Dunk tank.
    Twenty-three teams headed to the horseshoe pits for the annual Cody Fanning Memorial Horseshoe Tournament. First went to Gary and Terry White, with Shelly and Dan Clem taking second.
    As the afternoon wore on, several events were held to help everyone cool off, including the swimming pool hosting a three-hour free swim.
    At the river, the FFA held its annual Duck Races and HFC Egress had its River Raft Races.
    Out of the 14 River Raft Race competitors, 11 made it to the east bridge and split $500 in prize money, sponsored by Baxter Concrete. Milo West had the best looking/decorated boat and Zariah Carman had the best built boat.
    Competition continued into the evening with the eight-team sand volleyball tournament.
    Tournament champions were Dammit Shane. Ace Kickers was second and the McGraw team was first in the consolation bracket.
    The Wauneta Volunteer Fire Department Smoke Off went on throughout Saturday. Out of the four divisions, side dish, ribs, pork butt and brisket, the overall winner was Squeelers BBQ.  
    After Sunday dinner at the Senior Center, the Ranch Rodeo was held at Smith Arena. This year’s Ranch Rodeo was held in honor of Kenny Smith, who was killed in an accident June 28.
    All 10 spots were filled for the Ranch Rodeo, organizer Jesse West said. First went to Wanna Be Land and Cattle
Reese West, Austin Clough and Logan Milligan. Placing second was Kerchal Cattle, Tanner Kerchal, Bridger Kercha and Kamron Hubbard, while third place was Los Tres Vaqueros, Nathen Reyes, Juan Reyes and Normando Segobih. Round out the paid placings was Prairie Winds Ranch, Chase Martin, Kyler Flaming and Riley Strawder.
    Clough was named Top Hand and the Hard Luck Cowboy award went to Lana Stromberger.
    Barrel racing was held in conjunction with the ranch rodeo. Lexy Yrkowski won the 15 and under division. Kamryn Fanning placed second and Ali Reeves took third. In the 16 and over group, Emma Degrasse was the winner and Elizabeth Reeves was second.