Bike show joins Rathdrum Days

Rathdrum loyally embodies the small-town stereotype, right down to the wiener dog races and watermelon-scarfing contest at the annual Rathdrum Days. Even with the addition of the North Idaho Budweiser Motorcycle Show and Sale, the weekend celebration served as a 1950s flashback to fire truck parades and waving mayors, where the biggest glitch was a towed car or a broken plastic chair.

Savor it while you can. Small-town America is fading fast, said some Rathdrum residents still trying to hold on to it.

“This (celebration) is a piece of Americana, it’s what it’s all about and we are losing it to developers,” said Jana Tritto, 60, who had drifted from the parade on Main Street to the motorcycle show at the park. “You talk to everybody; you dance on the platform. You listen to music – it doesn’t have to be good – but it’s a picture. This isn’t going to happen much longer.”

Tritto has watched the land near her Rathdrum home build up faster than her childrens’ growth. But that also means new residents eager to participate in a tradition older than many of them.

“People love it. It’s the biggest event we have and we are growing every year,” said Rathdrum Chamber of Commerce event coordinator Janice Wilcox, 53,who estimated up to 10,000 people participated in the two-day celebration that ended Saturday.

Seneca Lenon, 30, stood over a stockpile of candy as he watched the bagpipers march past. Less familiar with the parade than many of the others stretching down the street, Lenon moved from Post Falls two years ago because the area had more affordable housing. He watched his daughter scamper after a lollipop and said he planned to make this an annual event. “It’s totally middle America. We should have our own float, man,” he teased his brother.

Rathdrum Days dates back to the 1950s, but the “Cool Your Pipes” motorcycle show began last year, an addition that was initially greeted with misgivings but has melded into the overall atmosphere. “I am the one that would be upset if anyone would” about the new event, said Wilcox, “but they do their thing down there, and we do our thing up here and it’s not a problem. It’s more for people to do.”

Charles Cramer, 58, one of the motorcycle show’s organizers, said the chamber did not want to officially be involved with them since they sell alcohol, pointing at two unassuming beer gardens. He said it provides an alternative to the events up the road and brings in a different crowd. “I think this is great since Rathdrum Days is more set up for kids,” he said, looking around at a handful of couples who wandered down to look at the custom-made motorcycles. “But there’s no tension. If people had visions of Sturgis, we should be so lucky,” he laughed.

The event was partly coordinated to coincide with the Ride for Life cancer research fundraiser, which drew 500 to 600 local motorcycle riders. A number of them passed through the event on their way to Priest Lake, hence the “Cool Your Pipes” title. As bikers stopped, they were greeted by about 20 vendors selling air-brushed tattoos and Harley-Davidson-embossed denim skirts. Proceeds from the event went to OASIS, an organization that assists abused women and children.

“I think any community doing anything like this is a good thing,” said Tom Taylor, 63, of Post Falls, who spent a bit longer than anticipated in Rathdrum before concluding his ride to Priest Lake on his Harley.

This weekend’s crowds were a rare sight for a town where even the train sails through on its way to somewhere else. Lines of historic Mustangs, Fords and Camaros filled the football field, and the bleachers were packed with screaming fans for the wiener dog races, a scene of petrified dogs scattering in every direction but toward the finish line.

Josh Goodman, 18, felt the experience was worth sacrificing Athol’s lavender festival, also occurring that weekend. “I think this is pretty entertaining,” the Athol resident said as he watched the confused dogs sniff one another instead of head toward their owners at the other end of the track.

Across the road, Jenine Duffey, 48, sold iced coffee drinks from Java Junction and complained that the classic car show blocked her view of the wiener dog madness. She said she’s proud of the town’s weekend festival, now two events instead of one. “We get a lot of people coming through Spokane who say, ‘Oh my gosh, what a cute small-town event,’ ” she said.

“Now it’s gotten bigger,” she added, and she’s fine with that, as long as it, and the nostalgic Americana it provides, also remain.