Petersburg Pilot -

Fourth of July activities brought out visitors and residents alike. Semi-clear skies and no rain made for great times for all.

Festivities began in earnest Tuesday, with competitors hitting the water for the Blindfold Row Boat Races, the two person Tote Race, the four person Tote Race and the Herring Toss.

After several boats got hung up in the pilings, the winners of the Blindfold Row Boat Race were Brian Pike with child navigator Kobuk VanHouten.

As the Tote Races began, the tide ran stronger and making it back to the dock was harder for the competitors than they expected.

The winners of the two person Tote Race were Carole Triem and Mariah Colton. Winners of the four person Tote Race were Shirley Yip, Ashley Kawashima, Kersten Lewis and Kristian Jorgenson-Geise.

The Herring Toss brought spectators of the avian population. As the herring were tossed into the water, eagles crowded the skies in hopes of grabbing a snack.

The winners of the Herring Toss were Jack Doerty for the 13 and under men; Jake Hartner for the 14 and older men; Meghan Parker for the 13 and under women and Amber Doerty for the 14 and older women.

Wednesday began early with the Freedom Run: A Victor Guthrie Sr. Memorial Run. Runners and cheerers were out in force to guide their favorites across the finish line.

The winners of the Freedom Run in the women’s overall category were Erin Watkins placing first; Julie Schonberg placing second and Grace Weller bringing in third.

The men’s 14 and under category found Conner McCollum in first place; Kobuk VanHouten in second and Phillip Freisinger brought in third. In the women’s divison: Julia Murph placed first; Ellerie Freisinger placed second and Kaia Doerty brought in third place in the women’s 14 and under category.

The men’s 15 to 29 category found Alex Hedlund in first place; Terry German in second and Orville Carnahan in third place. In the women’s division: Rikki Versteeg came in first; Rebecca Luczak found second place and Bessie Johnson brought in third place in the women’s 15 to 29 category.

The 30 to 39 category brought in Joe Viecknicki and Mandy Gutierrez for first place; Pete Shaw and Cora Campbell came in second and Jason Anderson and Lea Knopp found themselves in third.

In the men’s 40 to 49 category, Mark Koenigs placed first and Emil Tucker placed second. The women’s 40 to 49 category brought in Donna Marsh for first and Theresa Winther for second place.

The 50 and over category found Jay VanHouten and Sharon Hunter in first place; Brad Wood and Marlene Cushing in second and Victor Schiller and Melany Bair brought in third place.

The street games were a sight to behold as competitors of all ages took their positions at the starting line.

The girls 50 yard dash for six years and under brought in so many racers there were five heats. Each of the heats found Mette, Kesia, Jordan, Abby and Anya in first place; Livi, Mattea, Miranda, Iris and Isabelle in second and Jade, Skyler, Isabelle and Grace finished third.

The boys 50 yard dash for six years and under had five heats as well. Steele, Noah, Henri, Ian and Elijah came in first; Angus, Landen, Bensen, Aiden and Elijah came in second and Joseph, Alex, Kieran and Oliver finished in third place.

The girls 50 yard dash for ages seven to nine had two heats with Kara and Alley placing first and Ashlynn and Ines coming in second.

The boys 50 yard dash for ages seven to nine had five heats with Diesel, Julian, John, Dillian and Kyle bringing in first place; Jack, Jack and Zaden placing second and Caleb, Uriah, Jack, Ben and CJ finishing the race in third place.

There were four heats for the girls 50 yard dash for the 10 to 12 age group. Kaia, Denae, Jasmine and Courtney came in first place; Julia, Maggie, Allie and Erin came in second and Rikki, Maria, Megan and Willow finished in third place.

The five heats for the boys 50 yard dash in the 10 to 12 age group found Kiska, Philip, Stone, Kobuk and Casey in first place; Corrin, Cody, Andrew, Cole and Shane in second and Christian, Derik and Jackson in third place.

The men’s 100 yard dash for the 13 and older category found Alex in first place; Ben in second and Dalton finishing third.

The 2 x 6 Stomp Team Races were fun for the entire crowd as four individuals walk in unison with their xTra-Tuf boots attached to a 2 x 6 beam. Team Tom won the men’s 14 and over group and Team Shirley won the women’s 14 and over category. The circle boot winners from the Trading Union were Team Tom.

The Giant Trike Race found Zane Rankin in the top spot overall.

Max Peeler found himself in the water several times to come out the top winner for the men’s log rolling and Susan Erickson pulled herself from the brink to take the championship in the women’s log rolling.

The cutest baby was declared to be Lucia Worhatch for the birth to nine months age group; Seth West for the 10 to 18 month age group; Jozlyn Turland for the 19 to 24 month age group and the Look a Likes were Jaden and Sarah Nelson.

The kids decorated bike winners were Lesa Murph in first; Gunner and Tanner Washke in second and Oliver Peterson in third place.

Shelly Pope

The Petersburg Gymnastics Cheer Camp earned the honor “Best of Parade”.

Parade entry winners were the Humane Society placing first; Concerned Citizens of the Unorganized Borough placed second and Petersburg Hockey Club brought in third place for the Organizations. Petersburg Gymnastics – Cheer Camp placed first; Alaska Airlines came in second and the United States Forest Service finished third for the Businesses. Route 66 placed first; the Red, White and Blue Walkers came in second and Full Circle Farms finished third for the Neighborhood and the Lutheran Church placed first for the Religious Groups. Petersburg Gymnastics – Cheer Camp was named Best of Parade as well.

The Chamber of Commerce raffle prize winners are: First place, Devon Guthrie, two tickets on Alaska Airlines and $1500 cash; second place, Lynn Smith, $1000 cash; third place, Franc Fernandez, $500 cash. The list of other prize winners is on the window at Papa Bear’s Pizza.