Jam-packed Saturday

CLOVIS — Food, fun, face painting and other festivities overwhelmed Clovis on Saturday — most of it completed despite heavy rains that dropped nearly half an inch on the city mid-afternoon.

The annual Pioneer Days Parade kicked off the family activities in the morning, while the annual rodeo was scheduled to bookend the fun on Saturday night.

Many of the parade goers found their way to the first Pioneer Days Tailgate at Hillcrest Park.

It was full of food booths, game booths, a chuck wagon and even a mechanical bull for anyone brave enough to take a ride.

Brooklyn Zunich, 12, and Tavin Speed, 7, both of Clovis, put on their game faces to ride the bull. Both said it was fun, but difficult, and both took multiple attempts to master the beast.

Destanee Myers, 7, the 2017 Little Buckaroo Rodeo Princess also took a shot at riding the bull.

"It was kind of hard," Destanee said after getting bucked off.

This was her first year participating in the Little Buckaroo pageant and she said she loved it.

"My favorite part (of my outfit) is the sash," she said.

The tailgate had an unexpected set of visitors. Blizzard and Boo were traveling through town when they heard from locals that Pioneer Days was going on this week and they would fit right in.

Blizzard is an 11-year-old Texas Longhorn who has traveled around the country with Sally Jo "Boo" Wilkins and Doc Dison, both of Canyon City, Colorado, for about a decade.

The trio were heading back home from east Texas when they hit Clovis.

"We've met some wonderful people here," Dison said.

The parade is a staple of Pioneer Days each year.

Kendyn Stagner, 4, and her mom, Sarah Stagner, of Clovis, are regulars. This year, their favorite float was the chipmunk entered by Kids Go Wild, according to Mom Stagner.

"Kendyn got really exited when she saw (the float). When you have kids, you change what you like," Sarah Stagner said.

The Kids Go Wild float won first place in the business/commercial category.

Also Saturday, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish hosted its revamped Fiesta. The party included food, games, prizes, prayer and live music that continues today.

There was one casualty to the rain on Saturday:

"Zoo Music," has been rescheduled to 7 p.m. this Saturday in hopes of attracting drier weather.

Organizers said Clovis Community Band will perform and plans to pass out kazoos to children in attendance.

Parade winners

Marching/walking Units

1. Cannon Air Force Base Color Guard

2. Clovis High School Marching Band

3. Curry County Mounted Patrol

Floats: Business/commercial

1. Kids Go Wild

2. Relay for Life

3. Bender Auto Group

Mounted units

1. Rodeo Royalty Queens

2. Curry County Mounted Patrol

3. High Plains Horseman's Club

Motorized: Antique vehicles

1. Zia Power Sports

2. Shriners Association

3. Bill's Auto Service

Floats: Clubs / organizations / churches

1. Curry County employees

2. Red Hat Floozies

3. Cub Scout Pack 226

Other

1. Epsilon Sigma Alpha Beta Phi Chapter

2. High Plains Historical Foundation

3. Plains Regional Medical Center.

Rainy Pioneer Days

Pioneer Days saw sunshine on Saturday morning, but heavy rains fell overnight Friday and on Saturday afternoon.

Here are 48-hour rainfall totals across the region, as of 3:30 p.m. Saturday, according to KVII-TV weather stations:

House: 1.46 inches

Clovis: 1.23

Elida: 0.27

Melrose: 0.15

Portales: 0.11

Farwell: 0.02

Bovina: 0.01