Sugarbeet Festival returns to Chinook

The 12th annual Sugarbeet Festival in Chinook will take place Friday and Saturday and will include new events such as the train derby, and storytime and crafts.

The festival begins Friday morning at 7, with health screenings at the Blaine County meeting room and ends Saturday evening at 8:30 with a horseshoe tournament.

A lot will be packed within those times.

Vendors, who will be coming from all over the state, will be set up and ready to go at 1 p.m. Friday

The train derby building workshop starts at 4 p.m. Friday. Festival coordinator Hayley Yost said the train pieces will already be put together. It will be a  matter of painting the train and putting on the wheels for Saturday's race, which is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.

"We wanted something that was fun and interesting, something anyone can do," Yost said.

People of all ages are welcome to participate in the races, which take place downhill on a wooden ramp down Main Street.

The movie "Night at the Museum 3" will be played Friday evening at 9 on the lawn north of the Blaine County Wildlife Museum off Main Street. The event had been scheduled for 8 p.m. but was moved back an hour. People can bring lawn chairs and blankets to watch the third installment of the series The other installments have been each played the previous two years.

Weather permitting, Story Time and Craft is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. outside the Chinook Chamber of Commerce. Someone from the library will read "The Little Engine that Could," accompanied by a guitar player.

The weekend will host two parades - the high school homecoming parade, which will march through town Friday at 2 p.m., and the festival parade, scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday.

Food for the community barbecue will begin cooking while the train derby is in action. Hamburgers, tater tots, corn on the cob and cookies will be provided. During this time, winners of the sugarbeet contests will also be announced.

Yost said alternate venues have been made for many of the events in case the weather doesn't cooperate.