13th annual Custer Days to be held August 8, 9

By Shanna Green

Whether you’ve always dreamed of revving up the engine of your lawnmower and racing it through town, or eating a humongous salmon dinner, just for a little while, Custer Days has something you’ll enjoy.

From August 8–9, the 13th annual Custer Days will take place on Main Street in Custer, and this year will feature an open mic night, parade, salmon dinner, and street dance, along with arts and crafts and food vendors providing plenty to enjoy.

Tonia McDonald, the event organizer, said Custer Days is just a community get together and does not really have a theme or purpose, other than for people to have fun.

“I can’t even describe how fun it is,” said Nicole Perry, who is helping to organize the events. “It’s just a really charming small town celebration.”
Perry said the event is free to attend and that people can also buy a “humongous salmon dinner” for only $6.

“We do this for fun and it’s just gotten bigger and bigger over the years,” Perry said.

Perry said the open mic night is new this year and that anyone is welcome to come to it and present their material, which can be anything from music to poetry. Perry said she hoped that people would not be intimidated by a crowd and would come forward to present their work.

“Hopefully it will be an open atmosphere,” Perry said. “It will be a lot of fun.”
On Saturday night, there will be an all ages street dance on Main Street featuring Blue Mariah. McDonald said Blue Mariah is a band from Seattle, which has opened for such musical acts as Johnny Cash and plays oldies and country.

McDonald said there are still booths available. For more information on Custer Days, or to sign up for a booth, call 366-4307, or Tonia McDonald at 366-5150.

Event schedule includes open mic at the Custer Store’s veranda on Friday at 8 p.m. On Saturday, at 11 a.m., there will be a parade down Main Street, followed by arts and crafts, a car show, pony rides, food venders, carnival games, a dunk tank, and music. At noon, the time trials for the lawn mower races will begin, followed by a 1 p.m. race start. The salmon dinner starts at 4 p.m. and street dance with the Seattle band Blue Mariah will be held from 8 p.m.to midnight..

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