Brittany Halbur, of Lehigh, used a net to get the snake out of the pit.

They’re not her favorite critters.

“This was not on my radar,” Halbur said. “I was supposed to do the log roll. Now I’m not going to.”

The pit provided Creo Davis, 12, of Dayton, with another useful commodity — mud to style his hair.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Knox Morriss, 5, of Lehigh, plays with the water coming out of a fire hydrant Saturday morning while waiting for the annual parade to start at the Lehigh River Days celebration.

“It works pretty good,” Davis said. “It gets your hair dirty; it’s kind of stinky.”

Breann Price, of Lehigh, was playing volleyball in the mud with her KG Roofing teammates. She was pretty happy with the liner.

“It helps with the rocks and sticks.” Price said. “It is kind of slick though.”

It’s not just the liner. Price explained that after the pit was dug, it was lined with six inches of sand under the liner. Then the “mud” was added. It was donated from a site an hour away. It wasn’t just any dirt either. It was the remains of samples; each one had been sifted. No rocks here.

“It was nice to play in clean mud,” she said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
The annual parade at the Lehigh River Days celebration gets underway Saturday morning on the east side of the river.

Her teammate, Tara Smith, of Lehigh, said her game was a little rusty.

“I failed miserably,” Smith joked.

She enjoyed the well-prepared pit.

“It was a little slippery but not as rocky,” she said. “I used to get cut up a lot more. No injuries this year.”

Leah Harris, 14, of Fort Dodge, is prior Log Rolling champion. She said she won her age division her first year. Had a third place showing the next year and didn’t place last year.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Kevin Griffith, of Lehigh, and his dog Axel wave to someone in the parade Saturday morrning during the annual Lehigh River Days celebration.

It was the log.

“It was waterlogged,” Harris said. “It just sunk.”

The key to winning?

“Balance,” she said. “That’s about it.”

Tyler Lane, of Fort Dodge, was watching his son, Holt Lane, 6, operate a small backhoe.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Breann Price, of Lehigh, returns the ball Saturday during the mud volleyball competition at the annual Lehigh River Days celebration. Price plays with team KG Roofing.

Yes.

A real backhoe.

It was Holt’s first time.

“I’ll let him go,” Tyler Lane said. “He’ll figure it out. They’re kids. They play video games.”

Holt got the hang of it pretty quick, taking his first scoop of soil. Does this mean he might be a future equipment operator.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Creo Davis, 12, of Dayton, shows off his fine log rolling form Saturday afternoon during the annual Lehigh River Days celebration.

“I have three boys,” Tyler Lane said. “I think this will be the one that will do it.”

Iowa Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, was on hand Saturday morning to take part in the parade. She was among the first to arrive.

“I got here about 9:15 to get the lay of the land,” Meyer said.

She arrived ready.

“We throw candy and notepads,” she said. “We get those ready the night before.”

She doesn’t ride.

“I always walk,” she said. “People know you’re there.”

Preparing for the parade means a nice shine and no dust for Lehigh Fire Chief Aaron Morriss.

“We wash the trucks and the side by side,” Morriss said. “I think it’s very good to show everybody what we have. It puts a face on the fire department.”

Of course, no parade through downtown Lehigh is complete without Ace, a potbellied pig that makes his home downtown.

One of Ace’s humans is Charlee Popp, 7.

“He likes the parade,” she said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Tara Smith, of Lehigh, found herself taking a sudden seat Saturday as she enjoyed the mud volleyball tournament during the Lehigh River Days celebration. Smith was also in the parade with Clowning Around.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Holt Lane, 6, of Fort Dodge, tries his hand on a real backhoe Saturday during the annual Lehigh River Days celebration. Lane quickly got the hang of the levers.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Asher Long, 8, of Lehigh, enjoys some nice cool mud Saturday afternoon at the annual Lehigh River Days celebration.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Ace, the potbellied pig, enjoyed the parade Saturday morning during the annual Lehigh River Days celebration. Ace got a few parade treats.