COOK- The annual Cook’s Timber Days festival last weekend was a winner all around, with favorable weather, attractions new and old, and good-sized crowds across all three days of the event.
The only significant glitch in the weather came Friday evening when a torrential thunderstorm blew through, causing attendees to scurry for cover and vendors to batten down the hatches. The storm delayed but did not deter the Vergie Hegg Hospice Partners 5K run/walk, in which runners dodged clouds of mosquitoes instead of rain clouds.
The most courageous volunteers of the weekend may have been those who took their turns as targets at the dunk tank. Friday and Saturday temperatures were cooler and breezier than expected, so the dunkees who fell into the 45-degree water got no respite from the chill when they climbed back up onto their wind-swept perch for another round.
The Cook Fire Department was visible all three days of the festival, staging the popular firefighter’s challenge on Friday, serving up a big pancake breakfast on Saturday, and bringing out the full fleet for Sunday’s parade.
Sunday’s big 45-minute parade had not one, but two starts. That’s because Grand Marshal Danny Brinker first took his usual place in the VFW honor guard, marching the whole length of the River St. parade route before being driven back to the start to lead the festivities. There were over 40 entrants in the parade this year, including a 50-year class reunion float featuring the Cook High School Class of 1973. The parade was capped in Timber Days style by featuring a big trailer of logs pulled by Ryan Sokoloski Trucking.