Waterville celebrates Bullhead Days

City celebration season is here once again; Waterville’s 58th annual Bullhead Days helped kick off the summer with a combination of long-standing and new events.

Sponsored by the Waterville Area Chamber of Commerce, Bullhead Days ran from June 9-11. All weekend long, there were inflatable trampolines, a barrel train, and various forms of entertainment.

This year’s Grand Marshals were Richard and Wanda Morsching.

Also available all weekend were carnival games by DM Entertainment, an annual Medallion Hunt, and bingo provided by the local Lions Club.

Friday

The festivities kicked off on Friday, June 9 with a classic car roll-in starting at 3 p.m. on Main Street.

Following that was the Miss Waterville and Junior Miss Waterville pageant at the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown High School. Izabela Slechta, who has completed her junior year at WEM, was crowned Miss Waterville 2023 while the other contestant, Shelby Briggs, a soon-to-be junior at WEM, was named her attendant; Briggs also won the talent award for her speech about taking life one moment at a time.

Leena Andree was crowned Jr. Miss Waterville with Kylie Krienke and Alaina Joubert as her attendants. All three will be first graders in the 2023-2024 school year.

While the pageant wrapped up, live music by local band Power House started filling the street with a rock and roll sound at the 2nd Street Tent at 8 p.m. until midnight.

The final event for Friday was the Waterville Lions Club fireworks display. The fireworks were launched from Sakatah Bay at 10 p.m.

Saturday

A majority of the Bullhead Days activities took place on Saturday, starting with the “Sakatah Challenge,” a run which started near Cool Wave Coffee. At 9 a.m. was the timed 10k, with the Timed 5k following at 9:15. The unlimited 5k followed both races

The Waterville Fire Department hosted a morning fishing tourney at the Waterville Swimming Beach, with a kids’ fishing tourney featuring children 12 and under at the same location. Bait was provided by the Waterville Sportsmen’s Club, Southern Lakes Angling and Spearing Association, Whitewater Creek Grain and Feed, Dairyland Seed, and Home Grown Kids Childcare.

An outdoor vendor fair took place in downtown Waterville from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. NAPA sponsored a Remote Control Demolition Derby in the Second Street tent late in the morning; soon after, a bean bag tournament began downtown. 

The truck and tractor pull was south of the city/county shop with food vendors on site. Later in the evening was the tractor pedal pull at 7 p.m. on Main Street; there were divisions for children ages 4 to 11, followed by adult competitors.

Two newer events this year were the retro replay vintage video games and the breakout route escape room. The video games were on Third Street near the Food Vendors with the Breakout Escape Room near the Second Street tent.

The day ended with an outdoor movie at the Second Street Tent at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday

The festivities ended on Sunday with the Waterville Lions Grand Street Parade starting at 1 p.m. and Kids’ Bingo following it at the Waterville Event Center at approximately 2:30.