MACLEOD PAPPIDAS | THE DAILY WORLD
Members of the Grays Harbor Mounted Posse get away with bags of loot during the annual bank robbery re-enactment in Oakville Saturday. Teams competed for the best applause in a variety of robbery scenarios including the Oakville High School cheer squad.
MACLEOD PAPPIDAS | THE DAILY WORLD
A clown pops a wheelie on a mini motorcycle at Oakville’s Independence Day Parade Saturday.
The Independence Day Parade and horseback bank robbery re-enactment that almost wasn’t went off without a hitch in Oakville Saturday.
The Oakville Chamber of Commerce initially cancelled the events due to a lack of manpower, but a last-minute surge of volunteers made the annual event possible.
State Route 12 was temporarily closed off as horses, marching bands, clowns and tractors made their way down Pine Street for the parade. This year the site of the bank robbery was changed from Pine Street to a field on the north end of town.
Instead of performing the mock crime at the Sterling Saving Bank, volunteers constructed a faux bank and manned it with live tellers. Then a variety a groups took turns robbing the bank, competing for audience applause. Most were on horseback, but some tried different approaches, including the Oakville High School cheerleading squad and a six-year-old sister and brother team who made their getaway in a 1930 Ford.
The re-enactment is a reference to what is reportedly the last horseback bank robbery in Washington, which took place in Oakville. While the date for the robbery is uncertain, lore has it that the criminals escaped into the woods and were never captured.
