Mancos Days 2016 got lots of positive comments from the community over the weekend, Town Administrator Andrea Phillips said.
“It went really well,” Phillips said. “We had a great turnout, and the vendors did well.”
The theme for the event was “Desperadoes and Fancy Ladies.” Festivities throughout the weekend included parades, game tournaments and live music.
Phillips said many local businesses did well, and the vendor space in Boyle Park was completely full.
The softball tournament lasted until Sunday night, and 14 teams competed. The men’s softball winner was MWS and the women’s winner was Lady Canes. In the horseshoe tournament, 25 teams competed, Phillips said.
Charlie Bo Boggins won the individual award in the parade, and the Mud Creek Mamas won the award in the groups and families categories. Valley Inn won the award in the business category and the Mancos Library Book Cart Drill Team took home the trophy in the non-profits category.
The Mancos Creative District held a raffle and silent auction and raised just over $4,000, board president Rena Wilson said. Prizes in the raffle were a river raft, a Navajo rug and a bronze Veryl Goodnight sculpture.
The money raised from the auction and raffle will go toward the match funds for the Colorado Creative Industries designation of Mancos as a state Certified Creative District. The local Creative District group needs to come up with $15,000 in matching funds, and $7,500 of that can be in-kind donations, Wilson said.
“We just want to thank everyone who came out and made donations,” Wilson said.
In addition to Wilson, Creative District board members include vice president Kelly Chilcott, secretary Linda Simmons and treasurer Jan Rains. The group’s administrator is Joy Imel.
The Mancos Days Queen this year was Joy Wilkerson, who grew up near Mesa Verde National Park. The queen’s quilt was raffled off, but the winner of the quilt, Sherri Wright, gave it to Wilkerson, Phillips said.
Every year, organizers talk about having more entertainment acts and more variety, Phillips said. Next year, Mancos Days might feature more dancers and cultural events, such as Native American dancers, Phillips said.
The weather was good, the bands were entertaining and the event was a success, Phillips said.
“Overall it was a really good event,” she said. “The turnout was good and was definitely higher than previous years.”
