North Webster Lions Treat Community To Family Festivities
Jaxon Muir, 3, son of David and Andrea Muir of Syracuse, gets the most out of his ride during the Power Wheel race Saturday, July 25, at the Mermaid Festival Grounds in North Webster.
Text and photos by Ray Balogh
InkFreeNews
Charley McFarland, 4, daughter of Kyle and Kristen McFarland of Elkhart, enjoys french fry dipped in ketchup during the festivities.
NORTH WEBSTER — On Saturday, July 25— initially reserved for the 2020 Dixie Day Festival, which was scuttled by the pandemic —the North Webster Lions Club treated attendees to a much welcomed, albeit scaled down, day of family-friendly activities at the Mermaid Festival fairgrounds.
Festivities included a flea market, garage sales, food court, Power Wheel race and demolition derby. About a dozen groups plied their wares at the flea market and garage sales and a handful
Winners of the Power Wheel race were Jaxon Muir, 3, son of David and Andrea Muir of Syracuse, left; Kaliope Green, 6, daughter of Korey and Kari Green of Leesburg; and Asher Michael King, 4, son of Stefan and Jennifer King of Leesburg.
of vendors offered up a smorgasbord of food commonly associated with county fairs, including elephant ears, funnel cakes, walking tacos, ice cream, fries, sno cones, burgers and hot dogs, lemon shake-ups and other less-than-nutritious but memorable culinary options.
The centerpiece of the day’s events was the Power Wheel race, which paired 20 little racers in battery-powered cars on a 100-foot out-and-back asphalt track in single-elimination tournaments in three age groups: 3 years, 4-5 years and 6-9 years.
Taking top honors in each age class were:
• Jaxon Muir, 3, son of David and Andrea Muir of Syracuse
• Asher Michael King, 4, son of Stefan and Jennifer King of Leesburg, with come-from-behind wins in his last two races
• Kaliope Green, 6, daughter of Korey and Kari Green of Leesburg
“We were going to be part of the Mermaid Festival in June,” said Scott Fox, the Lions club secretary. “That didn’t work out but we decided to have it anyway.” The club has sponsored the Power Wheel race for about 20 years.
Following are some of the images of the day:
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- Asher King, winner of the 4-5 year age group.
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- Aubrielle Green, 6, daughter of Jessica Green of North Webster.
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- Marcy Lantz of North Webster, left, and her mother, Mary Waldron of Warsaw, chat under the canopy of their display of homemade crafts at the Mermaid Festival Grounds. Waldron, 87, crocheted, knitted and sewed hundreds of items, such as potholders, scrubbies, placemats, rugs, hot pads, kitchen towel sets, dishcloths and doilies for the sale. “It gives her something to do for the winter,” said Lantz, who made face masks for the event.
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- Harper McFarland, 7 1/2, Charley’s sister, digs into a walking taco.
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- Kaliope Green, 6, winner of the 6-9 age group.
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- Karen Williams of the Lakeland Area Kiwanis Club hands Raily Klinefelter, 10, a vanilla soft-serve ice cream treat. Raily is the daughter of Brandon and Kassy Klinefelter of Warsaw.
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- Kash Owens, 15 months, son of Cole and Mattie Owens of North Webster, before a dose of sno cone.
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- Kash Owens having second thoughts after sampling the sno cone.
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- Layla Gibson, 3, daughter of Sherman and Jessica Gibson of North Webster.
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- Lucas Muir, 7, and his brother Jaxon show off their hardware earned at the Power Wheel race.
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- Piper Francis, 5, daughter of Chris and LeAnne Francis of North Webster.
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- Reed Henry, 6, son of Reece and Amy Henry of North Webster.
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- Stephen Phillips, 3, son of Logan Phillips and Jessica Green of North Webster.
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- Rona Lawson, right, of Warsaw, shows a couple of kleenex boxes to Deb Layman, who made the two-hour trip from Dunkirk to attend the day’s events. Rona’s mother-in-law recently passed away and left the items in her estate.
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- The Somers family discusses a purchase with James Cavender. Shown are Savahanna, 8; Kaiden (partially hidden), 6; Gabriel, 4; and mother Alicia holding Amelia, 2.
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- Tracey Slaighter, club manager of North Webster American Legion Post 253, arranges some of the merchandise at the post’s booth.
