Recreation festival draws crowds
By Brenda Starkey
Ferry County View
July 3, 2019
REPUBLIC – Over 600 individuals signed into the Get Out Fest last weekend at the Ferry County Fairgrounds.
The event featured an array of activities that can be enjoyed in the county’s great outdoors.
The Ferry County Rail Trail Partners tallied 108 people who registered for 5K and half-marathon runs.
Steven Edwards, 56, from Colville, was the first to finish the officially timed half marathon in 1:45:55. Karen Monasmith, Chewelah, was the first woman, 1:52:42 and Gary Reiss, 52, Curlew, was third across the finish line, 1:53:40.
Runners came from as far away as Birmingham, Alabama and Austin, Texas.
Fifty people signed up for a Pacific Northwest Trail Association hike. The turnout exceeded expectations so organizers split hikers into discrete groups.
A mountain bike event had 30 participants while 25 bicyclists rode the “People On Wheels” ride that made a loop around Curlew Lake.
Some 120 skaters participated in a skateboarding event. Republic Skatepark and Grindline Skateparks set up ramps at the east end of the Golden Tiger Pathway. They also gave away a stack of boards and apparel courtesy of Pearl Jam Bassist Jeff Ament’s company Montana Pool Service.
REI offered free hour-long kayak and paddle board use on Curlew Lake and had 81 people register for the activity.
Other activities included a 25-foot-tall climbing wall, a fishing derby and a fossil hunt. There was live music, a movie and a beer garden.
