The parade started at 10, so by 9:40 we were exiting our home that was perfectly parked about a block away from downtown Issaquah, and the ohFISHal center of Issaquah’s Salmon Days Festival!

In a moment of brilliance, Matt suggested we head downtown the night before and snag a close parking spot.  We stayed the night there and in the morning woke up smack in the middle of the “biggest party of the year” in this area of the woods.  (This area of the woods is not a shabby place to live either according to Outside Mag.)

While walking to meet Matt’s mom, Donna, we received a call from her saying that one of the parade judges hadn’t showed up and “would we want to judge?”.  Uh YEAH WE DID!! And we walked over as fast as we could.

I barely had time to climb onto the back of the tow truck, er I mean the judges booth (and TV camera, and Announcers spot) and pin on my official “JUDGE” ribbon before the parade began.  I was a part of the “ANIMALS” judging team.  As I was being briefed about my duties the head ANIMAL judge asked me what my experience was.  “Ummm, I have 2 dogs…OH, and I was a Jr. Animal Control Officer one day!”  It seemed that was good enough.  And so our judging began.  There were 5 groups of animals and our job was to make notes on each one and then at the end all 3 of us would decide on the top 3.  It was a pretty easy job!  One of the groups was a no-show –so 3 of the 4 placed.  The #1 spot was obvious and we had a small discussion about 2nd and 3rd.  Eazy Breezy!

It was fun to be up there watching the parade.  The announcers cracked me up!  One male and one female and they were straight out of a Christopher Guest/Eugene Levy movie.  I had to bite the inside of my cheeks at one point when a float came by that had Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive playing.  While Mr. Announcer was giving the crowd the low-down on the float, Miss Announcer had her eyes closed and was singing into her microphone with all her might.

Before the parade had even ended the Head Judge in our ANIMALS category asked if I wanted to join him for some food judging.  He was judging Hand Held Foods.  “Uh, YEAH I DID!”  I gave Matt a quick kiss and headed off to get signed up as an official food judge.

After signing up, calling Matt to see if he wanted to join another team (Snacks), switching teams myself (SNACKS!), and donning a chef’s hat and a florescent green volunteer t-shirt, we were off to judge SNACKS! (Can I get an AMEN!)

Our Snacks team ended up so perfectly, without knowing it I had joined Snacks with a girl about my age named Elizabeth.  After about 30 minutes we realized that she is the daughter of Donna’s really good friend Gail, who was the other judge on our team.  It was perfect, Donna joined us and the 5 of us had a wonderful time walking the streets and eating, er I mean judging, all the 20-something snacks on our list.

Some of our stops included: Fairy Floss Cotton Candy (A very healthy option!  Less than 2 tsp of sugar in a big bag –WHO KNEW!), Kettle Corn, Pike Place Nuts (candy coated almonds and the best hot cashews I’ve ever had!), Aussie Onion Burst (think Bloomin’ Onion), Chilly Billy’s Polar Bear Ice (shaved ice with ORAGANIC flavors, the Mango was to die for!), we had a Mexican Corndog (jalapenos and cheese in the meat) from Irishman Enterprises, Elephant Ears,  Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream, Caramel Apples, Roasted Corn on the Cob from Burton’s At Your A’Fair (DELICIOUS!!), and…and…and…. the winner of the “SNACKS” division at Salmon Days 2011 was Chipstix!  While this was not the tastiest treat we had all day, it is unique and clever.  There were many flavors to choose from and they make them right before your eyes.  It is pretty darn cool (and tasty) fair food!  I. LOVE. SALMON DAYS!

Okay, so the judging was pretty awesome, and a great way to get around and see what Salmon Days festival is all about.  BUT the entire reason there is a 2 day festival is for the SALMON!  Knowing zero about the habits of salmon, I was fascinated!  I can try to explain the cycle of Salmon, but Wiki does it better click here to read up.  Okay, now that we are all equally AMAZED that salmon swim UPSTREAM, and they swim UPSTREAM TO THE EXACT STREAM THAT THEY WERE BORN IN!!  WHAT THE WHAT!!??!!  I, for one, am in awe of these fish.  Below is a pic of some of them taking a break while swimming up to the Hatchery.  The picture doesn’t capture how cool it was to watch this happen, but it’s the best I could get!

The sad thing about the process- that I learned later- is that once the fish come up into the hatchery they are clubbed to death and the eggs are taken.  :(  Apparently they used to do this in front of the spectators, but it upset some people –UH YEAH, YA THINK?!  BUT, to defend these evil-monster-fish-clubbers, they are doing this to keep the species okay and thriving.  In normal circumstances only a very small fraction of salmon eggs would make it to adulthood fish.  The hatchery ups those odds a bit and keeps the salmon population going strong.

This was a truly FANTASTIC DAY!  I super loved learning about the salmon, watching the salmon, and most of all TASTING ALL THE FOOD from Salmon Days 2011!

Bree

The OhFISHal Salmon Days Judge