Crowds gather for Daze festivities
The 2010 Bayview Daze celebration is history. In the cooler-than-usual weather for this time of year, once again huge crowds gathered to celebrate the Independence Day weekend.
Starting with the annual parade in the morning with a large turnout of entrants, visitors had fun in the sun touring the booths at the street fair and boating the waters of Scenic Bay.
The parade grand marshals were the Haddon family. For those who missed part one of the series on the history of Bayview, the Haddons were the first settlers to homestead in Bayview.
Early settlers arrived in Bayview and surrounding rural land starting at the turn of the century, with a homestead by Elmer E. Haddon, wife Ozelia and one child. The Haddons, late of Nebraska, headed west in 1890. The period between 1890 and 1907, when Haddon was awarded his deed, is a bit hazy, but 14 children were born to this couple, three after moving to Anacortes, Wash.
This was a timber claim of 160 acres, near where Merryweather Road intersects with Perimeter in today’s Bayview. They left in 1907, but census tracts show Elmer returning to Bayview between 1920 and 1930. He died, back in Skagit County, Wash., in 1945.
The great-great- granddaughter of Elmer, Jessica Haddon, resides here in Bayview after growing up in Western Washington. Her father, John Haddon, lives in Ellensburg. John, the family historian said, “This is really exciting, revisiting our great-grandfather’s homestead.” They were honored as part of the ongoing centennial celebration.
A surprise entry by the centennial committee was that of the Bayview Bygone Babes. This hilarious group of ladies, none of whom are really bygone, danced and pranced down the parade route wielding walkers.
Observers noted a plethora of boating safety problems. One such was a boat perhaps 14 feet long with nine people on board. The boat was so weighed down that it had almost no freeboard. None were observed wearing personal flotation devices. Kootenai County water deputies were in attendance but couldn’t catch up with every violation.
Area eateries were slammed with more customers than could adequately be handled. Most guests understood the problem and showed great patience. A small minority apparently didn’t, but those were exceptions.
Speaking of guest attitudes, the holiday went quite peacefully with few disruptive incidents. Families were out and about with three great viewing opportunities. As always, the parade and fireworks display were awesome. The Idaho Army National Guard Band, after marching in the Coeur d’Alene parade, appeared Sunday afternoon, set up a portable stage, and performed several hours of free music, which was a big hit.