Kids festival, car show beat out rainy weather

Despite threatening skies that occasionally burst into rain, lightning and wind gusts to topple a shade canopy, around 150 kids and their family members came out for Koulee Kids Fest, the car show, or both last weekend.

For Kids Fest, families visit participating local storefront businesses, where kids do free activities and get their event "passports" stamped, to be entered in a drawing. Based on numbers from the chamber of commerce, most families chose to focus on businesses in central Grand Coulee - Coulee Hardware, Cafe Espresso, Voltage Coffee House, and even the Senior Center - where kids got to take part in an interesting geological exercise.

"The kids loved breaking those geodes," said Nancy Zimmerman-Boord, executive director of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. "It was a good community-wide event."

The Boy Scouts had set up a rope bridge in the old middle school field, where kids tentatively crossed the bridge one step at a time. Coulee Playland had a smaller turnout for their free paddle boat offering this year - possibly due to the weather, Zimmerman-Boord said. 

"I really appreciate all the businesses stepping up, because it is all free, and they put a lot into it," she said. "It couldn't happen without the businesses stepping up and volunteering."

Then, on Main Street and in the Coulee Plaza, Divine Diversity Auto Show held its fourth annual Father's Day weekend event. 

The weather impacted turnout there, too, but event organizer Sam Hsieh was still enthusiastic about the show and the people who came to check out the two dozen or so cars, trucks, and motorcycles competing for prizes that day.

"Since it's an outdoor show, we run into the risk of the weather," Hsieh said. "So of course, the number of cars that come out will take a hit. But we still had a pretty good turnout. They were all 'game in' and they didn't mind the weather."

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Divine Diversity Auto Show (DDAS) is that it's open to vehicles of all years, styles and places of origin - hence the slogan: "No borders, no boundaries, no exception."

"I wanted to create a show where it was not just classic vehicles, not just import, not just custom," Hsieh explained. "When I first threw the car show in [2019], it was such a pleasant surprise. Young people who bring in their, you know, Japanese cars, were talking with these more senior people bringing in their '51 Buicks, right? We all share the same interest: We love cars! It's just connecting people."

Hsieh continued: "I mean, the whole reason for these car shows is networking, right? Doesn't matter where you're from, doesn't matter how old you are, doesn't matter man or woman. We all share the common interest, and that's what brings us here."

Trophies were awarded inside the Loepp Furniture showroom, as the clouds had made good on their threats by the end of the show. Categories included Top Motorcycle, Top Truck, Top Classic, Top Custom, Top "Under Construction," and the Kids' Choice Award.

The kids went for the white Miata.