Jacob Farmer / jfarmer@yelmonline.com
Rainier residents gathered under sunny blue skies Sunday afternoon, June 29, for the second annual All-American Jubilee at Wilkowski Park.
The family-friendly event, hosted by We Love Rainier WA, brought together about 20 vendors to the park, including Boogie Beans Coffee Truck, Kin and Gold Permanent Jewelry, Second Season Soapworks and a variety of other businesses selling food, clothing, home goods, plants and even knives.
Towne Studios set up its mobile studio for “old time” photo shoots. Themed options included old west, gangsters, pirates, steampunk and portraits for dogs.
Members of Thurston County Stream Team, which provides free educational programs about the area’s local waters, and Timberland Regional Library also attended the event, along with representatives from the Washington state Dept. of Veterans Affairs.
A Vietnam War-era M151A2 military jeep sat next to the veterans’ stand, replete with actual period items, such as helmets, coffee mugs, a radio, an M60 machine gun and a vest with a grenade attached to it.
The event also served as a classic car show. Owners parked their vintage rides side by side along the grassy stretch by the playground, competing for the eyes of enthusiasts and passersby. Though the cars spanned decades — like a 1968 Pontiac Firebird and 1975 Ford Pinto — perhaps none was older than a remodeled 1928 Ford Model A Roadster Pickup.
Rainier City Councilmember Dennis McVey said events like the Jubilee are not only important for the community, but also people that visit from out of town. He added that it’s nice to have a private organization like We Love Rainier put on the event, while the city helps to sponsor and provide the venue.
“But it is nice to have the library and the Stream Team and all these people come,” McVey added. “Gives them an opportunity to interface with people.”
Amy Baker, event coordinator for the All-American Jubilee, said vendors like the Stream Team and Timberland Regional Library provide an educational asset to the community and, as such, are not charged vendor fees. She added that the event is made possible by grants awarded to We Love Rainier WA, including a “pretty large grant” that George Johnson, the group’s president, applied for and received.
“And then we do fundraising all year to kind of boost our funds,” Baker said. “We also received a really generous grant from J&I Power Equipment for the foam party.”
A highlight of the afternoon, the foam party delighted many of the young children in attendance, who at times disappeared completely as they ran through the ever-growing mound of bubbling foam. The kids also made good use of the bounce house and large inflatable slide.
Baker, who is currently running unopposed for the Rainier City Council Position No. 1, said the main idea was to have local families come out and do free and fun things, which is the reason she got involved with the We Love Rainier WA organization in the first place.
“That was the draw-in was to make sure that the kids in the community had free events that they could attend and have memories of and do fun things, just like everybody else,” Baker said.
According to Baker, the jubilee is, essentially, We Love Rainier’s Fourth of July event.
“We’re a smaller town, so it makes sense not to have it on the Fourth of July,” Baker said. “It’s just a way to have the residents have a memory, which has always been my goal in doing these things.”
