BonnerSprings.com

With two days under its belt, Tiblow Days was in full swing Saturday afternoon for the final day of the three-day festival in Bonner Springs.

The downtown streets were packed full of visitors moving from one activity to the other, which ranged from a parade and car show to a carnival and barbecue contest.

Aubrey Allenbrand brought her two sons, Ian, 5, and Kainen, 10, to the festival.

“The kids were talking about it non-stop,” Allenbrand said of the days leading up to the event.

Allenbrand said she thought this year there were more people than usual participating in the community event.

“I’ve seen it get a lot larger every year and this year seems like the largest I’ve ever seen it,” she said.

The family sat on the curb near Centennial Park eating food they had purchased from the many vendors that lined Second Street. Allenbrand said while her children favored the carnival rides, she appreciated the fact that local vendors and small organizations were out with such force this year presenting their goods for sale.

“It’s definitely a good thing,” she said. “(Tiblow Days) gets everyone together and everyone talking.”

Up the Cedar Street hill, the barbecue teams were working hard to prepare their meat selections for the Smokin’ on Oak barbecue contest.

At the competition for the first time was team The Disciples of Blues and BBQ. Team member Mark “Sparky” Krull, of Olathe, said his team tried to sign up for the contest last year, but was told there were already too many teams.

But this year they managed to make their way into the contest, and Krull said the team was excited to be at the Bonner Springs event. He said so far his team was really enjoying the Smokin’ on Oak contest, especially Friday night, when the barbecue teams invite family and friends to taste test their cooking. Krull said the music from the free concerts in Centennial Park could be heard from their cooking stations up the street and made the evening more enjoyable.

To read more about Tiblow Days, see the Sept. 2 edition of the Chieftain.

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