By Anthony Dransfeld
Wardner Daze is always a family get together for the community of Wardner.
Friday night, August 17, kicked off with an outdoor movie on a giant outdoor screen in the town centre. The co-ed slo pitch at the ball field drew teams from Cranbrook, Calgary, Wasa, Jaffray (Mixed Bags, BA BlackTop, and Shake and Bake teams) and the home team Wardner.
The games were played under a blazing sun Saturday and Sunday with temperatures around 34 degrees. Many ball players took advantage of the close proximity of the Kootenay River to jump in between games. The horseshoe tourney had some good competition as well. Angie Jones organised the ball tournament. Bull River did a nice job preparing their ball field for this weekend, there were just a few gopher holes in the outfield, so the outfielders had to be diligent when running for a ball. When the dust settled on Sunday afternoon Cody Davy and Friends defeated Shake and Bake 12- 10 in the final game to win Wardner Daze, Dirty 30s of Jaffray finished third. Cody Davy and friends were led by Kim and Shaun Daniels, (brother and sister) and Warren and Carrie Luken. Cody made some great plays at third base in the final game against Shake and Bake of Jaffray, who were playing their second tournament in a row, in very warm temperatures. They were in the finals last weekend in Cranbrook. Everyone tries hard in the Wardner Daze tournament , but at the end of the day, everybody is playing for fun and enjoyment. Cody Davy is a cancer survivor and a terrific person, and ball player. The kitchen at Wardner Daze put out some really tasty food all weekend. Hats off to all those who played ball and horseshoes all weekend in the big time heat. The children at Wardner Daze had the most fun - an inflatable castle with a slide, lots of games and face painting. The 34c temperatures did not phase them in the least. The Wardner Daze volunteers had to work in the 34c heat the whole weekend. Hats off to them. Wardner is certainly a cool town, sitting on the banks of the magestic Kootenay River on Highway 3.