What put the fun in Fun Days?

Marcus Larson / News-Registe##r Kaelee Keller, left, from Serendipity Vaulting impressed the crowd with her moves atop a horse led by Francesca Sheld.

Marcus Larson/News-Register## In the Carlton Fun Days parade, 1-year-old Brooklynn McQueen cruises by in her pink remote controlled jeep.

Marcus Larson/News-Register## Stephanie Godfrey gets a henna design drawn on her arm by artist Carmen Madrid. They are watched by Godfrey's two daughters, Grace and Emmie, who also got tattoos.

Submitted photo## Jonathan Cox's 1951 Studebaker, dubbed the "Studepickle" for its distinctive green color, draws onlookers at the Carlton Fun Days car show.

Marcus Larson/News-Register## Artist Shawna Lanyon paints a spider on the head of Fritz Waechtler to commemorate a similar face painting he received years ago at Carlton Fun Days.

Marcus Larson/News-Register## Gabriel Genco, 3, throws a miniature Frisbee into a disc golf basket as part of the Carlton Fun Days kids' games.

Marcus Larson/News-Register## Briana Drebin helps her 1-year-old daughter, Juliette, throw a ball at a set of pins during Carlton Fun Days.

CARLTON — What put the fun in Fun Days, Carlton’s annual summer festival?

For some, it was the music by bands such as the Vintage Knights. For others it was the soccer tournament or Shanny’s run, in which 26 people sped through the streets of Carlton.

For some it was the taste of French fries with queso and jalapenos or a pulled pork sandwich from Ribslayer or pancakes at the fire hall. For some it was filling pockets and bags with candy tossed from floats.

For some it was the chance to soak a dentist in a dunk tank at the park. For some it was getting a henna tattoo.

For 3-year-old Delta Hughes, going to the parade put the fun in Fun Days.

“I’m going to see big fishies,” Delta announced as she and her grandparents, Laurie and Dan Stafford, settled in to watch the morning event.

“Fishies?” her grandmother asked. “What about about horses? Or clowns?”

Delta just grinned with excitement.

“She got up this morning with a smile and said, ‘Let’s go to the parade!’” her grandmother said.

Marley Maki was excited about the parade, too, but for this little girl, it was horses that put the fun in Fun Days.

“I like horses,” she explained.

Marley peered down Third Street as the parade began moving out from Yamhill-Carlton Elementary School. She could see flashing lights and people ... and horses!

She watched intently as the Yamhill County Sheriff’s mounted posse passed by, followed by horses promoting the Yamhill County Fair & Rodeo. Best of all were horses ridden by youngsters not much older than she — a girl from Serendipity Vaulting who stood atop a big horse on one leg, and a petite princess riding a pony.

For Amber Schmidt of Yamhill, the fun came from greeting people at her booth in Ladd Park.

She showed visitors her homemade dog toys and other pet items. Shoppers liked the tug-o-war toys for canines and the small bags filled with homegrown catnip.

Schmidt started making pet toys as a fundraiser for the Yamhill Fire Department, where her father and brother are volunteers. Now she sells them at numerous area festivals and online through her Facebook page, Ambers Custom Crafts & Ambers Dog Toys.

Pie put the fun in Fun Days for many, including Ellen Bailey and other members of the First Baptist Church, who were selling homemade slices to raise money for missions.

Baptists have offered pie at Carlton festivals since the 1950s, Bailey said. They bake their pies with homegrown ingredients, such as cherries, peaches and apples from their gardens.

Bailey grew the strawberries and rhubarb for the pies she baked. But gardening isn’t the only secret to her baking.

“Not too sweet, so you’ll taste the fruit,” she confided. “And use lots of love.”

A car show put the fun in Fun Days for vintage vehicle lovers, such as Jonathan Cox.

He drove his 1951 Studebaker Champion Starlight Coupe down from Ocean Shores, Washington, to enter the Fun Days event. He’d heard about it from his friend and former Portland police partner, Hersh Lange, who moved to Carlton last year.

“This is my first time at Fun Days. I’m loving it,” Cox said.

His two-tone green car was putting the fun in Fun Days for many passersby. They gaped at the airplane-like front end and the cockpit-like rear end -- the work of industrial designer Raymond Loewy.

They laughed in delight at the World War II bomber paintings Cox had added, such as Betty Grable on the gas tank cover. And they giggled at the car’s nickname, a nod to the paint job: the “Studepickle.”

For Cox, the Studepickle represents a lifelong love, not just for cars, but for this model in particular.

When he was 9, his aunt and uncle bought one. They gave in when he begged to get behind the wheel. Inexperienced, “I drove it into the river,” he recalled sadly.

A decade ago, he found the same model and refurbished it. He installed a Camaro rear end and Cadillac steering, and gave it a shiny coat of paint in one of Studebaker’s original colors, “Dr. Pepper green.”

Now it’s his pride and joy. He drives it everywhere, he said, just not toward rivers.

As the crowd admired Cox’s car, he sat in the driver’s seat, pushed the gas pedal and started it up. Roar!

Now that, he said, put the fun in Fun Days.