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KENNEWICK -- While some visitors to Water Follies fret over where to park or how to get VIP wristbands, true fans such as Jeff Goldsbury know not to sweat the small things.
"In 1988, I escaped from the hospital after my appendix ruptured," Goldsbury said Saturday, wearing a straw hat covered in racing buttons and sporting a deep tan. "That's a pretty drastic measure to take to be here."
He ripped out his staples and slapped a bandage on his open wound to make the races that year, he said. There was only one other time the 50-year-old Kennewick resident almost didn't watch.
"We were in mourning," Goldsbury said of 1982, the year Dean Chenoweth died qualifying with the Miss Budweiser.
"It's the only Sunday it rained during the races," he said. "I think it was raining for him."
Still, come rain or shine, Goldsbury and his wife Bonnie haul their RV out to lot 1-1, a prime location in Kennewick's Columbia Park he snagged seven years ago.
"Now all my friends know where I'm at," he said.
Thousands braved the 90-plus degree temperatures Saturday to watch the Lamb Weston Columbia Cup from the Kennewick and Pasco sides of the Columbia River.
Police reported few issues.
On Saturday, several people were cited for alcohol violations and a couple of others for overconsumption, reported Kennewick police Sgt. Ken Lattin. A minor also was arrested for an alcohol violation, Lattin said.
At the first aid tent, volunteers dealt mainly with bee stings and blisters. Volunteers said Follies fans did a good job of staying hydrated.
Water Follies for some, like Tony Ramey of Spokane, is a reunion of sorts.
"A lot of times it's the only time we see each other all year," Ramey said.
Ramey and his friend Matt Fromviller have been meeting up with old high school friends for more than 30 years on the banks of the Columbia River to watch the hydroplane races.
"We've got a friend in Portland, so this is a great central location for all of us," Fromviller said.
Though seeing each other every year beats 10-year reunions, Ramey says there's only one problem: "The years go by pretty quick, and so does our youth."
Over in the beer garden, 20-year Water Follies veteran Shanda Shipps met up with old friends who were squirting each other with squirt guns to keep cool.
Originally from Burbank, Shipps lives in west Seattle and comes back almost every year for the festivities.
This year, she brought Bee Granger, a Follies "newbie," with her across the Cascades.
"I said, 'You've got to go see the hydroplanes!' " she said, waving her arms in excitement.
On the other side of the orange VIP fence, Porko's Pals is the only noncorporate tent and is filled with hydroplane history.
A group of friends who used to pile in the back of a truck to watch the races years ago has grown into a group of 40 regulars and developed their own traditions.
From making their own sno-cones and cotton candy to having mermaids perform a synchronized swimming routine Sunday, the pals have even devised an initiation for new members.
"We're sacrificing a virgin tonight," said Cori Blake, laughing.
The "virgin" is the newest member of the group and the "sacrifice" is a dunk in a tub of strawberry Jell-O.
"We have so much fun it's ridiculous. And we have a complete wide range of people," said Blake. The ages of Porko's Pals range from 21 to 82.
Goldsbury said the crowds have become better behaved in recent years. He watched from the Pasco side for three years in the 1980s because fans were too rowdy on the Kennewick side.
"Now it's a lot more family oriented," he said. "I think the (Water Follies) association did a great job orchestrating it this year."
Goldsbury has advice for those in the Tri-Cities who avoid the Follies: "Suck it up and get down here."
"This is what the Tri-Cities is all about: Desert sun and water fun."
-- Dalina Castellanos: 509-582-1542; dcastellanos@tricityherald.com
