Music, dancing and plenty of sugary flying projectiles took over the downtown streets of Port Orchard June 24 for the annual Fathoms O’ Fun Festival and Grand Parade.
Unlike the previous year’s unseasonably high temperatures, it took a while for the sun to break through. It turned out to be the right kind of weather for morning activities such as the Hotfoot 5K race, where over 100 runners competed.
Rich Lucke said the numbers were definitely higher than last year’s, good news for an event he said he loves helping to put on. “I get a lot of gratification out of it,” he said. “I love setting up the course, seeing people have a good time.”
With the warmer temperatures came the gradual migration of visitors and residents alike to downtown, where vendors were set up along the waterfront for folks to eat and relax. Children and their parents played at Marina Park, while others shopped downtown and set up chairs hours in advance of the parade’s start.
The parade was another crowd-pleaser with a little something for everyone. Attendees begged drivers from the Saints Car Club and others to rev their engines, past and present royalty waved their hands and kids went home with plenty of candy.
It was the perfect day for a parade but a somber one for chair of the Fathoms board Sharron King, who sat at the judges booth in her final year of involvement with the organization. She reflected on the many sights she’s come to love across the years.
“Coming down Port Orchard Boulevard, seeing the floats and everybody else line up, that’s one of the great joys of my job,” she said.
She also commented on the new surprises she sees year after year. This year’s pleasant shock came in the form of a spontaneous dance party with all the members of the Fathoms O’ Fun Royalty Court and visiting royalty courts.
“That was just so special to me to see all the royalty just group together and come down to the bottom of the hill and just have fun.”
Parade winners
Grand Sweepstakes: Kitsap Mustang Club
Floats: Sweepstakes: Olympia Capital Lakefair
President’s: Mason County Forest Festival
Mayor’s: McCleary Bear Festival
Queen’s: Sequim Irrigation Festival
Governor’s: The Daffodil Festival
Festival: Jefferson County Rhody Festival
Appreciation awards: South Kitsap High School NJROTC Honor Guard; Honorary Grand Marshal Bill Rill; Kitsap Credit Union; Astound Broadband
Antique, Classic, Custom Vehicle-Individual
Best: Everson’s 1923 Model T One Ton Truck. Second: 1947 Dodge Dump Truck – Morrison Gravel
Car Clubs: Best: Kitsap Klassics Car Club; Second, Glass Odyssey Corvette Club
Commercial entries: Best, Port Orchard Fred Meyer; Second, Kitsap RV
Gym & Drill: Best, Sound Elite Athletics; Second, SKHS NJROTC Wolf Pack Battalion
Fraternal: Best, Bremerton Sons of Norway Oslo Lodge, Norman Lange Viking Ship; Second, Kitsap Peninsula Shrine Club
High Energy Performing Groups: Best, Max Velocity Cheerleading; Second, Borderline Dance Team
Military and Veterans Groups: Best, Military Mobile Museum. Second, A Bonefish US Submarine Vets
Novelty Groups: Best, Back to the Future – DeLorean; Second, Scooter the Clown
Political: Best, Kitsap County Republican Party; Second, Yes! For Proposition 1.
Service, Non-Profits: Best: Port Orchard Rotary; Second, Team Rubicon Disaster Response
Visiting Royalty, without floats: Best, Miss Kitsap Fair & Stampede; Second, Miss Poulsbo, Miss Kitsap, Miss Silverdale
Youth Groups: Best, South Kitsap Pee Wees; Second, Girls Scouts of Western Washington
Mayor Rob Putaansuu rides with a furry friend in the Fathoms O’ Fun Grand Parade.
Kids call to the drivers of a classic car club to honk their horns and rev their engines.
