Founders Day festivities focus on history and hope

The Aberdeen Founders Day celebration holds even deeper meaning than usual in its fifth year, with elements of both history and hope.

In the wake of the June 9 Armory fire, which destroyed the Aberdeen Museum of History, “we really need to get people together,” said Karen Rowe, who’s co-chairing the event this year with Jan Bess.

The museum’s 1926 Ahrens Fox fire engine, which was used by the Aberdeen Fire Department until 1968, has been in the parade each year. It initially was feared lost in the fire, but it suffered mostly cosmetic damage and still runs; so it will appear in Saturday’s parade as a symbol of hope, having risen from the ashes.

For the first time, Aberdeen firefighters will participate in the Founders Day event — “as long as they don’t have a call, and we all know how that goes,” said Bess.

Newly appointed police chief Steve Shumate also will be on hand for a meet-and-greet, and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife is expected to bring a boat and police car.

Rowe said there are usually 75 to 100 parade entries, but it’s hard to tell how many to expect each year because of the late registrations.

“It expands so quickly after the deadline. … Sparks will be flying off my keyboard,” laughed Bess. “And we’re still trying to figure out the parade order so we don’t have, like, three motorcycle gangs in a row.”

“Every year it’s always a surprise for us when we get applications for new entries,” laughed Rowe. “We’re like: I don’t really know what this is going to be, but OK!”

The Aberdeen VFW will host its Wall of Faces again this year.

‘They take all the fallen soldiers from the various wars, and they have people that hold the banner … and they play Taps,” said Bess. “It was absolutely beautiful last year — not a dry eye in the house.”

The Brassfield family, descendants of Aberdeen founder Sam Benn, will be joined for the first time by descendants of pioneer lumberman A.J. West. Both families reportedly are donating items to help rebuild the museum’s collection of local memorabilia.

Rowe said West’s three great-great-grandchildren will be coming from Colorado, Montana and California, bringing blueprints and drawings of the A.J. West mill, the first piece of wood cut there and other artifacts.

This year’s grand marshal will be Grays Harbor Relay for Life fundraiser extraordinaire Bob Muhlhauser, who collected nearly $26,000 on his own for this year’s Relay.

“We never feel like he gets enough recognition for all the stuff he does,” said Rowe. “So when we were looking for a grand marshal, it was like: duh!”

The parade will start at 11 a.m. Saturday and run down Market Street. The festival, centered at the corner of Market and Broadway, will continue through 4 p.m. Music will be provided by the Garage, and bounce houses will be on-site for the kids.

For more information, visit the Facebook event page or aberdeenfoundersday.org.

Local musician and promoter Wil Russoul (along with his pal Rashelle Bates) will return to the Founders Day Parade this year to represent Play It Forward and his latest venture, 98520.Life.