Despite social distancing requirements and a sunny day in the mid-90s, with a heat index over 100, folks came out Saturday for the 2020 Wauneta Harvest Festival.
    “I think it went pretty well,” festival co-chair Ariel Fanning said. “The attendance wasn’t as high as we’d hoped, but with COVID, that’s probably expected.”
    The Chamber dinner, one of the last events, took the largest attendance hit, but that could have largely been due to a storm with high winds that blew in just as it was starting, she said. That also caused cancellation of music in the park, which was to follow the dinner.
    But a couple of new events went over well and “I was very impressed with the turnout,” she said.
    The cardboard raft river race organized by Hondo Fanning filled its entire 17 entry slots.
    “I did not expect Hondo’s event to go as well as it did, with people not knowing what it was exactly,” she said. But many in attendance asked her if it would be done again next year, always a good sign.
    Likewise, the ranch rodeo drew a good crowd,Fanning said.
    The dance, which has drawn low attendance for the past few years, apparently wasn’t missed.
    And there were no complaints about changes to the barbecue, which did not feature a public dinner this year.
    The Wauneta Volunteer Fire Department, which is in charge of that, “like it better because it’s not so chaotic,” she said. “We have a Chamber supper and nobody came; we have [places] to get food and I don’t think we need tons of places.”
    Here’s a roundup of the other events. Results for the morning cruise and kickball tournament were not available:.

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