Crasee Daze draws near record crowds

The 42nd annual Crazee Daze brought a slew of activity to downtown Mountain Home with near record crowds turning out for the event, which occurred under clear skies and warm weather for the first time in years.

The merchant's promotion was headlined by the Royal West Carnival.

Despite the carnival being moved from its previously planned location (from Railroad Park to the old Dennis Dillon lot), the carnival was a resounding success, event organizers said.

Children of all ages enjoyed the wide array of rides, including the Kamikaze and the Tornado, and carnival mainstays such as the merry-go rounds and the Ferris Wheel.

The carnival also featured an assortment of games such as basketball, balloon popping, a shooting gallery, bottle toss and 4-ball pool.

With every win, the children got to take home various souvenirs, such as framed pictures, giant stuffed NBA basketballs and stuffed animals of well-known characters such as Super Mario or Boots (from Dora the Explorer).

The Crazee Daze celebration was held on Saturday. Outside the Chamber of Commerce office there was live entertainments and along the surrounding streets booths from several organizations took part in the event. Chamber officials said nearly 70 booths were set up on the downtown sidewalks.

The entertainment featured performances from the Optimist Cheerleaders dancing to music from the film, "Alvin and The Chipmunks," the Mountain Home Step Team danced to "Broken and Determined," and the ECHO folkloric dancers also performed.

Maurice's featured a special fashion show that included models ranging in age from 10-27 years old. The show featured outfits in both a casual and formal style. The show was given a "hip" flavor with runway music by Justin Timberlake and Flo Rida.

"This show was made possible thanks to the great community we are a part of and if it weren't for the customers we wouldn't be as successful as we are," said store co-manager Lynette Benzie. "I think the show went very well, we are all very proud of the girls who helped out," said fellow co-manager Veronica Tonnancour.

Another highlight of the Crazee Daze was the pet contest sponsored by Katie's Photo Express. Unfortunately there were only two dogs entered in the event.

Lisa Lott, along with her sons Wyatt and Zack, won first place with their dog Scrapy (a wire-haired miniature Dachshund) dressed as a cowboy. Scrapy won 15 Chamber Bucks and a free pet portrait from Katie's Photo Express.

The second-place finisher was a Cocker Spaniel named Pepper who was dressed as a hippie. Pepper, along with her owners, Brooke and Isaac Oliver, won 10 Chamber Bucks and a free pet portrait.

Following the pet contest, live musical entertainment was provided by Rattlesnake Station, a local country western trio. The band consists of Brad Aggen (lead vocal, guitar), Michaela French (bass) and Davis French (mandolin).

"This is the best crowd we've had. It's been a great setup," said French.

During the entertainment, the crowd also enjoyed the variety of concessions offered including sno-cones, funnel cakes, hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken, cotton candy, popcorn, soda and of course (because of the weather), bottled water. Several booths also sold various arts and crafts, collectibles and jewelry.

Elmore Medical Center had one of the featured booths at the event. The staff was selling tickets for a drawing, with the winner to be selected during Air Force Appreciation Day. The prize for the drawing is a 1993 GMC Suburban. The first ticket for the drawing was bought by Mountain Home Mayor Tom Rist.

Other booths in Crazee Daze featured promotion for the Daniel Dopps Rodeo at the end of June, a "money booth" sponsored by Colortyme, and a dunk tank organized by Mountain Home High School, among many others.

A booth that gathered the most children was the Arts Ceramics booth, where guests could come in and purchase a ceramic statue, plus for an extra cost the children also got to paint their statues.

Local merchants also dressed up for the day's "Yellow Submarine" theme. Merchant costume contest winners were: 1st -- Century 21 Southern Idaho Realty; 2nd -- Idaho Youth Ranch; 3rd --Brown Wrapper.

"Today is a wonderful day, the weather couldn't have been better and the crowd is about the biggest I've ever seen. I think it's a great tribute to the Merchant Committee and for all associated with the Chamber," said Rist, commenting on the success of the event.

"This was awesome. We had more people here than we ever had. It was a lot of fun," said Noland.