Stanwood Fair Features Some Wild Drill Teams

Fair preview

Stanwood-Camano Community Fair and Stanwood-Camano parade, fair. Today through Sunday. From Interstate 5 take exit 212, drive west on Highway 532, turn left on 64th Avenue Northwest to Stanwood-Camano Fairgrounds. Admission: adults, $5; children, 6-12, $3; senior citizens, $3; Children 5 and under free. Season passes (sold Friday only), $10. Parade begins 11 a.m. tomorrow. For parade, take exit 212 From I-5, follow Highway 532, turn right onto 88th Avenue Northwest or 92nd Avenue Northwest. Free. Information: 629-4121. -----------------------------------------------------------------

It's time for dueling drill teams as the Josephine Sunset Home Wheelchair Drill Team and the Warm Beach Athletic Association Garden Auxiliary Men's Precision Lawnmower Drill Team go wheel-to-wheel to compete for first place in Saturday's Stanwood-Camano parade.

Lawnmower drillmaster Elizabeth Newland says it all began in 1982 when a friend saw a Toro lawnmower drill team in the Midwest and said "Ah, ha!" Without any experience except what she recalled from drill-team days in junior high school, and with the aide of an Army whistle, Newland was delegated to transplant the idea to the Northwest.

At first, "I was merciless," she says. But now, "It's strictly for fun, if we do it too much it becomes work."

In 1987, the Josephine Sunset Home in Stanwood decided to get in on the act. Equipped with five matching wheelchairs, the five resident riders and five staff pushers, took off for the limelight. The pushers range in age from 19 to 40 while the rider's ages range from 75 to 94.

"I guess they got tired of us winning the prize for best drill team," laughs lawnmower coach Newland. "We are delighted, and glad to have them along. I am pleased we sparked a little interest for them. We look forward to them performing every time. They think up wonderful themes."

Since 1990, the Josephine Sunset Home team members have rolled out as pioneers, can-can girls, southern belles, even the Energizer bunnies.

They practice their routines two weeks before the parade, four times a week. JSH staff member Steve Anderson choreographs the wheelchair team.

Things are a little more casual in the Lawnmower Drill Team camp. Team members adopt a theme occasionally, and practice two to three times before a parade. Their ages range from 17 to 65. This year, Newland says, they are learning a line dance routine to match the fair theme, "Boot Skoot to the Best Lil'l Fair in the West."

Both teams have rolled themselves to glory outside the area. The Lawnmower Drill Team has performed in a television commercial for Washington Mutual Bank.

The Wheelchair Drill Team's claims to fame include appearances on TV's "Entertainment Tonight" and "Evening Magazine."

The Wheelchair Drill Team also received the American Association of Homes for the Aging Innovation of the Year Award in Washington, D.C., and were invited to perform at the Miss Dance Drill Team USA Pageant in Los Angeles.

Also at this year's Stanwood-Camano Fair will be legendary Kingsmen, who made the song "Louie, Louie" famous, and the Trenchcoats, a four-part a cappella group.

Puppeteer Jim Gamble, Gerry Andal and the RoughRiders and comedian Won Israel will also perform.

The Stanwood-Camano Fair began in 1932 as a one-day harvest celebration, and now draws upwards of 35,000 visitors. Its focus has remained on agriculture and youth.

Educational displays will include old-time threshing machinery, a log cabin, and a log post office. There will also be children's games offered each day.