Oakville’s traditional Independence Day parade and horseback bank robbery re-enactment took place on Saturday.
The Chamber of Commerce had previously canceled the events when they couldn’t find enough volunteers. But the employees at Sterling Savings Bank and other community members stepped in and saved the day.
“It’s not a one-man show here,” said Theresa Keegan, one of the organizers from Sterling Savings Bank. “It’s a community event.”
This year’s parade had nearly 20 floats and 40 entrants. Jim Rabie, Rochester, built the second-place winning airplane float to promote St. Mark’s vacation Bible school.
“It’s great relaxation and I like the community spirit,” he said.
Ann Peterson had the most glamorous job of the parade.
“I got picked for pooper scooper by sheer process of elimination,” she joked. “I thought the parade was great but it’s sad more people don’t come.”
Organizers had to move the horseback bank robbery re-enactment from its traditional location in front of the bank to the grassy area across from the school because they could not find sod to put down for the horses.
The re-enactment reportedly dates back to the last horseback bank robbery in the state, which took place at Oakville State Bank. The bank robbers allegedly galloped out of town, high-tailing it into the hills, never to be heard from again.
Randy Caverly, who has been the event’s announcer for 14 years, said he usually doesn’t choose the robbers or the tellers for the re-enactment until the morning of. He said he is very pleased folks stepped up to make this year’s re-enactment happen.
“This is small town America,” Caverly said. “And in a small town, people get together and do things because it’s America and we can.”
Keegan said the bank is traditionally robbed in a different way each year.
“We’ve had Tigger and Winnie the Pooh rob us. We’ve had motorcycles rob us. We’ve had babies,” she said. “It’s meant to be lighthearted.”
Keegan said it is important to make the event fun because the bank has actually been robbed, once last November and another time five years ago.
“So, like I said, keeping it lighthearted is very important and knowing it’s not the real McCoy,” she said.
This year’s reenactment included five different bank robbery scenarios. Robbers included the Oakville High School cheerleaders, the Grays Harbor mounted posse princesses, a group in a car with bullet holes in it and a wrangler group and a group that came out guns a blazin’.
At the end, the audience decided Hannah Strickland and Kaleya Onasch, the mounted posse princesses, had staged the best robbery.
“I think it turned out pretty well this year,” Strickland said. “Especially for people who just stepped up to organize this thing.”
Keegan said plans for next year’s event have been under way since February.
“It’s a go,” she said. “We’re even going to try to get the rodeo back and stay.”
