MIDDLETOWN There were plenty of stories Saturday at the 45th annual Middletown Days celebration, which began with a pancake breakfast early Saturday morning and ended with the traditional “hide” race Sunday afternoon.
The most visible event of the weekend is the parade, which goes through town on a closed Calistoga Street beginning at 11 a.m. The streets are lined with people sitting in chairs and children sitting at the curb. Others are standing in the shade, watching the parade, and trying to keep cool. The parade included floats, decorated cars, a few walking groups, and loads of children and adults on horses.
Three-year-old Sierra Stadler was riding in the parade, led by her father, Charlie Stadler. Thirty years ago, Sierra”s mother, Laura Menzio, was 3 years old when she rode in the parade as a trapper and won the “Sweepstakes” award. Larry Menzio, Sierra”s grandfather and Laura”s father, laughed Saturday morning saying, “It”s been downhill ever since.”
For the past 30 or more years, Carlos Renteria has been riding in the Middletown Days Parade as a “silver mounted” rider. He”s been riding in the July Fourth Calistoga parade even longer, since the mid-1960s, although, he said he”s been using his current horse for just the past couple of years.
The California State Horse Association judge Saturday was Mollie Euken, who said she has been judging the parade”s horses for nearly 30 years. The names of some of the other participants were recognized as being old-time Middletown-area names: Emerson, Weatherwax and Patchie, for example.
One of the newer entrants in the parade, Mike Souza was sitting in Twin Pine”s 1966 Corvette, which was built for drag racing. It was pulled down the parade route by a golf cart. Souza said the car will turn an 8:40 time down the drag strip and at the end of the run will be going 162 mph. At the judges” stand, in front of the Middletown Post Office, he fired it up and its engine noise roared throughout the town. Announcer Dennis Jensen said Souza used “forty-five dollars in gas” just firing it up. It brought appreciative chuckles from the crowd.
As a horse-drawn stagecoach from Sonoma County the last entry in the 75-minute parade went by the judges” stand, Jensen introduced a special friend, Lars Thisted, who came from Copenhagen, Denmark, just for the parade. Eighteen years ago Thisted was a foreign exchange student, who attended Middletown High School. He went out for the wrestling team and Jensen was his coach. Jensen, who is an MHS art teacher, said Thisted has kept in touch during the intervening years and “never misses a Middletown Days celebration.”
Parade winners:
Sweepstakes trophy winner: Studio 175;
Rod Huston Sit Up Straight award: Gracie Patchie;
Pioneer award: Lon Scott;
Grand marshalls: Mike and Karen Jones;
Small commercial: Bundle of Joy, first; Val”s Pet Paradise, second; Hidden Valley Auto, third;
Large commercial: Clow the Cow, first; Century 21, second;
Organization: Lake County Crawlers, first; Shriners, second; Kathy Fowler, Mt. Konocti Facilitation, third;
Youth group: Coyote Valley 4-H, first; Lake County Charter School, second; 4-H Swine group, third;
Extreme float: Studio 175;
Marching band/group: Minnie Cannon Elementary Dancers, first;
Sports group: Middletown judo, first; Team Heat, softball team, second;
Firemen”s entry: California Department of Forestry, South Lake Fire District, first;
Junior or senior comic: Wyatt Jones, first;
Antique car: Lake County Model A”s, first; 1923 P.O., second; Perry”s Deli, third;
Classic car: 1956 Olds Cutlass, first; English taxi, second; Chevy Bel Aire, third;
Decorated car: Twin Pine”s Corvette, first; Harlien, second; Ellen Hunt, Flying doctors, third;
Decorated mini vehicle/go-cart: Jackson Crothers, first;
Decorated bicycle, 12 and under: Aden Emerson, first;
Farm equipment/machinery: Bobby Weatherwax, first;
Most unusual entry: Taner Patchie, first; Tom Bradley, second;
Mounted group: Lake County Rodeo Royalty, first; Middletown 4-H Swine group, second;
Best Western dressed: Bev Baxter, first; Cambra Owen, second; Craig Peterson, third;
Best English dressed: Hannah Gustafson, first; Ariel Cottrell, second;
Horse/Pony-drawn vehicle: Sonoma County Trailblazers, stagecoach, first;
Novelty: Gracie Patchie, first;
Western theme: 9-17 years old: Ashley Wright, first; Nadine Moats, second;
Western theme: 18 and over: Steve Sloan, first; Dennis Crisp, second;
Charro/Charaa Costume: Carlos Renteria and Alejandro Mauricio, first;
Future Horseman, 1-8 years old: Sierra Stadler, first; and Cecelia Brown, third;
Matched Pair: Jessie Torres and Angel, first;
Pooper Scooper, Dylan Finley, first; Charlee Agee, honorable mention.
