Good crowd attends play day

By Donnie A. Lucas

Things were hopping in downtown Albany on Saturday with a variety of activities to entertain locals and visitors alike for the Easter holidays.

The Chamber provided a visit from the Easter Bunny in front of First National Bank through the lunch hour Saturday, complete with a photo backdrop for picture taking.

A number of residents and shoppers stopped by to have their pictures snapped, according Chamber manager Brandi Lehew.

The real party got started at 3:00 p.m. with a first-ever Spring Fling play day adjacent to the Bank Park.

Organized by the Nitschke family and friends, the event included games for the kids, as well as food trucks and music for all, lasting late in the evening.

“All the activities were wonderful,” Lehew said. “The play day was very well attended, and it turned out to be a perfect evening for everyone to sit at the Bank Park and enjoy the food and music.”

Heather Nitschke said the events for the children were very popular.

“We filled the 10 spots for the Duck Cutting, and had about 20 individuals enter the breakaway roping,” she said. “And there were about 60 teams for the team roping.”

Younger participants competed in two age groups in the Duck Cutting where a duck had to be separated from the rest of the group while riding a stick horse.

She said that Ayers Bezner and Romie Hinshaw both caught goats in the break away contest, while the winners in the team roping were Mark Sanderson and Riggyn Saunders.

“We need to thank Aaron and Angie Hinshaw for singing, and Jeff Martin for singing in the second set,” Nitschke said. “Also, we thank EZ Feed for sponsoring the pen panels, and the FFA and 4-H for their help.”

She added that the event was well received.

“We may turn this into an annual event,” she said.