Members of the Lewis County Historical Society serve up breakfast during the annual ChehalisFest at the Lewis County Historical Museum in downtown Chehalis on Saturday.
Jesse Aumiller (left) sits at the Les Schwab Tires booth while Frank Fesler photographs cars at the annual ChehalisFest Saturday in downtown Chehalis.
A boy checks out his finished truck tattoo at the Bethel kids booth at the annual ChehalisFest Saturday in downtown Chehalis.
Bobbi Cannon creates bubbles at the annual ChehalisFest Saturday in downtown Chehalis.
Centralia City Councilor Ron Greenwood (far right) serves food during the annual ChehalisFest pancake breakfast at the Lewis County Historical Museum in downtown Chehalis on Saturday.
Friends and families gather as the Lewis County Historical Society serves up breakfast during the annual ChehalisFest at the Lewis County Historical Museum in downtown Chehalis last August.
A pilot at the Chehalis-Centralia Airport shows a kid how to run the wing flap during the annual ChehalisFest on Saturday.
Growth was a primary goal for the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team in its second year of running ChehalisFest.
Come Saturday, the efforts of the CCRT will become evident as the daylong celebration of the Mint City takes over downtown city blocks and more.
Two more family-friendly activity areas will be in operation. Two additional car shows will operate in Chehalis along with the annual Chariots Car Club event. Food trucks and vendors will line Boistfort Street with everything from seafood and bratwurst to cookies and shaved ice.
“We’ve worked hard to bring back all the charm we can,” CCRT Executive Director Annalee Tobey said. “We really want to build it and make a concerted effort to make sure downtown is full. It’s a chance to show off the best of a small community where you can come out and enjoy a hometown summer festival.”
The new car shows rolling into town are the Midway Meet Car Show, which begins at 10 a.m. at the airport, and the Chehalis Roll-In, which will run from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Museum. The former is put on by the Scrap Metal VW Club and the latter will feature Volvos.
Downtown Chehalis will host the 11th Annual Chariots Car Club Show from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and is expected to feature more cars than it did last year, based on the number of streets the club asked the city to close off for the event.
The Backfire Band will play classic rock and country music on the downtown stage for four hours beginning at noon.
“We’ll have a little bit of different flavors going on for all of the auto enthusiasts out there,” Tobey said. “The Chariots club had an awesome turn out last year.”
The Bethel Church KidZone returns to the Lewis County Historical Museum with an obstacle course and bouncy houses among the planned attractions. The museum is also hosting a blueberry pancake breakfast beginning at 8 a.m. and a hot dog lunch from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.
New this year is the activities center near Westminster Presbyterian Church on Whitworth Way from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., as well as Fun Around the Fountain outside the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library.
A watermelon seed spitting contest sponsored by Sweet Inspirations is the main attraction on Whitworth Way. The Salzer Creek Band will be performing on the library steps while kids play a variety of outdoor games.
City Farm Chehalis, formerly the St. Helens Theatre, will be open for tours and feature local art from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Pat Murphy and the Straightshots will play music there from 7-9 p.m.
Food trucks and vendors will occupy Boistfort Street all day. Tobey said the goal is to showcase different offerings than the downtown establishments that will be doing brisk business throughout Saturday. Beer tasting will be available downtown as will various sidewalk sales and art displays by ARTrails of Southwest Washington.
Patrons should pick up their Where’s Waldo Passport at the Book ’n’ Brush first thing, so they can fill it out and enter into prize drawings.
For more information, visit www.ci.chehalis.wa.us/renaissance/chehalisfest or www.Facebook.com/ChehalisFest
