More than 1,000 people attended the Escalante Days and Nights Festival in Dolores over the weekend.
Crowds and participants enjoyed traditional western activities like a parade, fishing demos, and chain saw and arm wrestling contests. People played softball, raced mountain bikes, and danced to nine bands on outdoor stages at the Dolores River Brewery.
New events like the salsa competition and cross-fit contest were also a hit, said Susan Lisak, director of the Dolores Chamber of Commerce that puts on the event. The only damper was the Friday night street dance was rained out.
“Overall it was a success, and there seemed to be more people than last year,” she said. “The sheriff reported no problems.”
“It’s a time for the community to come together,” said parade spectator Benny Martinez, 93. “I been coming to Dolores for fun and festivals for 88 years, since I was five years old.”
A change this year was the Snaggletooth bar was set up inside the festival grounds at Flanders Park instead of at a separate area away from the action. The adjustment helped increase traffic and sales among the vendors.
Below are some contest results.
Summer festival shines in Dolores
In the womens’ chain saw category, Anita Long took first place at 16.9 seconds; Christine Richardson came in second with 18.6 seconds; and Lauri Higgins was third with 23.31 seconds.In the men’s short chain saw competition, Bill Ragland took first place with 8.85 seconds, Luke Ragland was second with 12.35 seconds and Jake Ragland took third with 14.4 seconds.For the women’s arm wrestling competition, Ashley Nolan took first, Sadie Bartlett was second, and Cassie was third.
Summer festival shines in Dolores
In the men’s middleweight arm wrestling category, JJ Bartlett took first, Randall Stiegelmeyer was second, and Aaron Fitzgerald was third. For the heavyweight arm wrestlers Jordan Johnson took first, Troy Hicks was second, and Swayde Noyes was third.Nanny’s Taqueria won the salsa competition, with Chavolitos coming in second and Montezuma Mexican in third place. More than 200 tasters from the crowd voted on their favorite salsa recipes provided by seven local restaurants.
Team D12 won the men’s softball tournament, and Team Marvel won the women’s tournament.
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