Rain doesn’t put damper on Harvest Fest enthusiasm
By Brenda L. Shelkey
The rain began to spread a light mist across Underwood Saturday morning as the day dawned for the long awaited Harvest Fest. Those with a hearty disposition were determined to keep events moving forward. Those who are less adventurous debated, should they take the time to find out if the rain meant the parade and other events would come to a halt? Those who ventured out found that the parade had a few less entries than previous years, but still drew crowds of people, especially children waiting to fill their bags with candy. They weren’t disappointed. Not only did they go home with enough candy to compete with Halloween, they also found themselves with blow-up beach balls and freeze-pops as well. Jane Rademacher was pleasantly surprised by the turnout for Harvest Fest considering the fact that the gloomy weather could easily have kept many people home. She said, "I think things went really well. The only event that had to be cancelled was the inflatable games. If they get wet, they can get dangerous." In the end, the decision was made to pack up the inflatable games. They finished just in time before the rain fell in a short burst during the middle of the afternoon. But the kiddie quest began on time and finished about the time the mist began another short burst over Underwood. The events scheduled for under the big top continued as scheduled, though they ran somewhat behind later in the afternoon. Quintana Biffert’s concert met with an approving audience. One woman wondered how such a talented young lady ended up in North Dakota. She was surprised to hear that North Dakota is Biffert’s home state. None of the enthusiastic crowd was surprised to hear she has signed a recording contract, so North Dakotans could be hearing more from Biffert on the national level. The Corn Pageant and Iron Man Contest became the next surprise on the agenda when nine little girls signed up for the Miss Niblet pageant and three for the Miss Cornucopia pageant.
