A tiny rider races the barrel course at the Ridge Riders Junior Rodeo.
The Ridge Riders’ Junior Rodeo opens at 10 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19 and is free.
With 180 contestants from as far away as British Columbia and Ellensburg (and we saw California plates in contestants’ parking lot) the competition is stiff and the skills on these young cowboys and cowgirls impressive.
The Junior Rodeo involves both boys and girls up to the age of 18.
Young cowboys and cowgirls in several age groups will compete in such events as barrel racing, dummy roping, calf riding, bull riding, calf roping, saddle bronc riding, chute dogging and steer wrestling.
Top placers will get championship belts, and there will be all-round awards.
Fireworks off the top of the dam will be bigger and better this year, chamber of commerce officials, say.
Music, food and fireworks.
Sounds like Festival of America time in the coulee, when patriots can celebrate America Friday and Saturday at the park below the Visitor Center, with a guide to the action inside this issue.
The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, the organizer of the event, has put together live music, kids activities, a big show in the park, fireworks and more to entertain local residents as well as the thousands of visitors who crowd the park and surrounding areas each year.
Listen to the music of MacDaddy, Tuxedo Junction and the Olson Bros. bands.
Fifty vendors will provide food and product in the park.
An “Inflatable Village,” a romp particularly for the kids, will help to make the time clearly a family time.
New this year is the chamber’s Beer Garden, located on town shop property facing Columbia Avenue, where adults can go for a beverage break and a retreat from the crowd.
All in all, a great experience filled with possibilities for everyone.
And don’t forget the Laser Light Show, kicking off just before the fireworks over Grand Coulee Dam.
All the fun is explained in the special Festival of America section with this week’s Star newspaper.
And by the way, when you see a chamber of commerce member, say “thanks” for the creativity and hard work it takes to put on the festival.
Here’s our online edition of our printed special section:
Kids power a peddle boat during the 2013 Koulee Kids Fest in the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Kids, mark Saturday, June 20, on your calendars.
That’s the day the 11th Annual Kids Fest occurs in the coulee area.
Start by picking up your passport and map from a variety of places — Saturday Market at North Dam Park, Coulee Hardware or the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center. It’s your ticket to a day of fun and adventure — and potential prizes.
Bring your passport with six or more stamps on it to the Grand Theatre on Grand Coulee’s Main Street for a performance by juggler-comedian-yoyo man Curtis Carlyle ( a 60-minute performance) with prizes awarded afterward.
During the day, kids can take advantage of many fun things to do, all organized and presented by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce.
Ride a pedal boat
Catch a fish from a large fish tank.
Sit inside a real MedStar helicopter.
Tour the inside of a fire truck.
Romp in a bubble station.
Play disc golf.
Create beautiful chalk artwork.
Build your own dam.
Vote for your favorite Coulee Cruizers car.
Play a round of miniature golf.
Get free ice cream and cookie.
And at the end of the day make it to the thrilling Curtis Carlyle performance at 3 p.m. Winners must be present and ages 12 and under to win.
See you Saturday, June 20, for the 11th annual Koulee Kids Fest.
POWER gets ready to release 150,000 rainbow trout.
One of the reasons Banks Lake is one of the best fishing spots in the state has to do with volunteers, and a little known group called POWER, the Promoters of Widlife and Environmental Resources.
The group raises young fish in net pens in Electric City each year, releasing them into the lake.
The video clip below is of them getting ready to release 150,000 rainbow trout today, Saturday, June 6, 2015, when they had a little help from five members of the Wenatchee Fishermen’s club.
A 300-foot-tall coyote face stares out from the face of Grand Coulee Dam during the laser show, shown nightly in the summer.
The laser light show that explains the history of the area and the dam shows nightly through the season. It’s the largest outdoor show in North America and is something to see, newly updated in 2014.
What time does the laser light show begin?
The laser show is held nightly at Grand Coulee Dam as follows for 2015:
May 23 to July 31 at 10:00 p.m.
Aug. 1 to Aug. 31 at 9:30 p.m.
Sept. 1 to Sept. 30 at 8:30 p.m.
The show is about 28 minutes in length. There is no admission fee. Call 509-633-9265 for more information.
How long is the laser show?
The laser light show lasts approximately 28 minutes, during which time colorful images created by the lasers move back and forth across the huge surface of the dam.
Where can I view the show?
The best locations are the seating area at the Visitor Center and from the park below the Visitor Center. These areas provide an outdoor sound system.
The town of Coulee Dam has a park — terraced and grassy for viewing the laser show — adjacent to the east end of the Columbia River bridge.
Other viewing spots: from Douglas Park in Coulee Dam; from Crown Point atop the granite cliffs above Lake Rufus Woods, access from SR174 towards Bridgeport.
The USBR broadcasts the audio portion of the laser light show nightly at 90.1 FM.
What is a laser?
Lasers are intense beams of light commonly used in medicine and science, but they’ve also found a niche as a high-tech, fast-moving form of entertainment. They are controlled by computers which, at Grand Coulee Dam, are in the Visitor Center.
Although a single dot of light, lasers can trace an image so rapidly it appears as a solid figure to the human eye.
The term laser is actually an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is so commonly used now that the tradition of using capital letters for an acronym has been dropped.
How are the lasers used at Grand Coulee Dam?
As one of the largest entertainment laser projection systems in the world, and certainly the largest outdoor laser show in North America, the lasers at Grand Coulee Dam tell the story of the Columbia River and how its power was harnessed to provide multiple benefits to mankind, including electrical power, irrigation for farming and exciting recreational opportunities. As a result of the open process of scripting the show new in 2014, viewers will also understand the costs of building the dam — cost to wildlife, and to native peoples whose way of life was dependent on that wildlife, in particular, the salmon that no longer could continue upstream to spawn.
How much did the lasers cost?
With the original equipment in use since 1989, the Bureau of Reclamation commissioned a new show and new equipment. The equipment began operation in May of 2013, but projecting the new show began in May, 2014. Lumalaser, of Oregon, bid the project at $1.6 million.
How big are the laser images?
Pictures are beamed at the awesome height of nearly 300 feet.
How far do the lasers project?
The laser lights are beamed between 2,000 and 4,000 feet to the surface of the dam.
