‘Bolted together’

BAXTER – Engines roaring. Tires spinning through the dirt. Mud flinging in the air.

For 12-year-old Ashton Kerwin, there is no cooler sight than watching a truck drag a metal sled as far as it can possibly go at the truck and tractor pull at Baxter Fun Days Friday evening.

If you ask the three-year Baxter resident why he loves the annual town celebration, he won’t tell you it’s because of the straight-off-the-grill food, fun activities or even the custom trucks on display.

He will tell you it is because of the Baxter community.

“I’ve been going to this every year,” Kerwin said. “I like that everyone else is having fun ... It is a small, local community where everyone relies on each other. Like if you need someone to talk to, they are right there.”

Last weekend, Baxter Fun Days attracted hundreds into town, from long-time residents to new visitors, for three days of fun in the sun.

Despite the hot, humid weather and threats of rain, event organizers and attendees alike said the third annual celebration turned out to be one for the books.

“It is such a good time. It’s the town celebration, so we got to take out the big boys,” Fred Roush, truck pull participant and Baxter resident said. “It is one of the best town celebrations because it is Baxter, Iowa. We have a lot of fun — hometown people just having a blast.”

Since January, the Baxter Fun Days Committee has been hard at work planning and organizing the annual town festival.

Gennypher Popenhagen, Baxter mayor and BFD committee member, said this year’s Baxter Fun Days truly reflected what the town of 1,100 is all about.

She said from the committee members to the countless volunteers to the businesses and organizations around town, it seemed that there was always someone willing to lend a helping hand from Friday’s truck and tractor pull at Chad Flora Fields to Sunday’s co-ed softball tournament at Neil Seales Sports Complex.

“We always have hiccups throughout the weekend. Honestly, like Friday night, right when we were getting ready for the (truck) pull, the storm came rolling in. It blew our tents up, busted one of them. We had to take everything down and start right back up right before the pull. The teamwork the committee has, and the fact that we can rely on each other to get things done and pull it all together last minute like that, I think that says a lot about the people (of Baxter),” Popenhagen said. “Everyone is there to help ... a lot of people who help with Fun Days aren’t even on the committee. They are just members of the community who just enjoy helping.”

This year’s festivities featured a lot of the favorites from years past while bringing in several new activities for attendees to enjoy.

Baxter Fun Days kicked off with a supper at the Bethany Church. The fun then continued later that evening with the annual truck and tractor pull. Baxter Fun Days Committee members said they sold about 500 wristbands to the event, similar to attendance in the past.

Saturday featured the bulk of the activities. The festivities started with the Baxter Wellness Center’s Red, White and Blue 5K and a pancake breakfast hosted by Baxter Fire Department. The kids then lined up in their decorated Power Wheel cars at the Baxter Family Market for the kids parade. In typical fashion, the regular parade then followed, featuring tractors, the Jasper County Fair royalty, local organizations, law enforcement and politicians.

The community then gathered near Baxter Community School to enjoy carnival games, from laser tag to bounce houses, a vendor show, a dunk tank, a rock wall, a dance clinic and some tasty ice cream and other treats.

Several festival attendees also showed off their chops through a variety of competitions, including the Punt, Pass, Kick Challenge, Pedal Pull, sand volleyball and deadlift challenge. Some residents took the competition to the next level by lip syncing to their favorite songs from Maddie & Tae’s “Girl In A Country Song” to the iconic “I Think We Are Alone Now” by 1980’s pop singer, Tiffany Darwish for the return of the Baxter’s Got Talent.

The Saturday festivities concluded with a dinner hosted by the Baxter Athletic Boosters and a unforgettable performance by Des Moines-based, pop band, “Pie in the Sky.”

The celebration rounded off with a church service at Baxter Health Care Center and the softball tournament.

To quote the “Pie in the Sky” cover of one of Miley Cyrus’ top hits, “yeah, it was a party at Baxter Fun Days.”

“It is always a fun, family-friendly event ... I like getting to see everybody, the people I grew up with, went to school with. It is nice to see them once every year,” Ashley Sapp, Baxter native and mother of four said. “The kids love it. I enjoy it. The kids get to go play and enjoy it every year. They do, every year.”

According to Popenhagen, the next major event for the Baxter Fun Days Committee is their annual Trail of Terror at Ashton Wildwood Park. The group aims to bring back the award-winning scare fundraiser toward the end of October.

The Baxter Fun Days Committee member said for the committee, the year-round work is worth the effort as long as it as the community continues to have a blast every year.

“It (was) so fun,” Randie, Sapp’s 5-year-old daughter said. “I lik(ed) the bouncy (obstacle course) because it has a little slide ... I lik(ed) eating popcorn (too).”

For more information about the committee, visit baxterfundays.com, email baxterfundays@gmail.com or find Baxter Fun Days on Facebook.

Contact Anthony Victor Reyes at areyes@jaspercountytribune.com