Come join us in celebrating the La Conner Rotary Club’s 50th annual (almost) Smelt Derby Festival with a full day of activities for the whole family Feb. 28. For kids, there is a family day of fun with activities all day long. For adults, an evening of subs, sliders, spirits and dancing.
It’s “almost” the 50th consecutive festival, because sometime in the 1950’s, a large group of rowdy attendees took over the town and drank too much five-cent beer. The police chief resigned in the midst of it all, town mayor Fred Martin closed down the event, and it was not held the following year. It was back the year after that – without five-cent beer!
For most years, the smelt were plentiful because of the fish processing plant on the channel. Over the last three years, they have been scarce, and only a very small amount were caught and entered in the fishing contest. Two years ago, the Rotary Club fed the smelt two times a week for about a month before the festival. The result was still few but noticeably larger smelt.
But that’s not stopping the Rotary Club. They are planning to make the 50th Smelt Derby Festival a memorable community event, even if the smelt don’t cooperate. The full day of events includes:
Rotarians are also selling raffle tickets for great prizes. Watch for them around town throughout the event (and in advance). The drawing will be held at 8 p.m. at Maple Hall (need not be present to win).
For more information, visit www.laconnerrotary.org. or call 466-4778