Mackay, Idaho is usually a pretty quiet town. It is settled in the Lost River Valley just below the Mackay Reservoir. The population in 2013 was 494 people. The graduating class at the Mackay High School this year was 6. Five girls and a boy, pretty small and pretty unique. What do we do on a Friday night in a town this size for date night?
Rally in the Pines
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During the week things are usually pretty quiet. But on the weekends in the summertime Mackay comes alive with various community activities. The Mackay Rodeo is pretty popular and is known for the wildest rodeo around. The fourth of July is a big hit with lots of activities and a fish pond for the kids. This weekend is no exception. We went to town to get a bite to eat for our Friday night date night. We live away from town and don’t always know what is going. During the day we had 47 Side by Side ATV’s go past our house leaving a long trail of dust. We didn’t think much of it since we live in a vacation area full of beauty, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, and of course ATV’s cruising around. But when we got to town, Holy Cow, Side by Side ATV’s were
everywhere. It was a pretty exciting little place. We had noticed on our drive into town the campgrounds were all full and there were ATV’s parked everywhere. The town of Mackay had even more people. We went to eat at one of the drive-ins, but it was so busy we decided to go to Sammy’s and eat. We visited with some of our local friends as we all talked about what was going on in town.
The event is called “Rally at the Pines”. People come from all over the country to participate in this action-packed event. The fun started on Thursday as they checked in. There were 1200 registered so they figured over 1500 people were in town. Now you see why we noticed the extras in our normally very small community.
On Friday the local High School Rodeo Club set up a fundraiser. They fixed the participants breakfast and later that day washed Side by Side ATV’s and 4wheelers. (A bunch of ambitious kids and parents considering the size of the club.) Later that day the participants took a sightseeing tour to various areas in the valley. That would explain all of the traffic past my house earlier that day.
After we ate our dinner we got an ice cream cone at Burger Time. We decided to stay for the parade down Main street. We settled into a parking lot and waited for it to start. Fun was had by all. It seemed the parade participants were having a great time. The parade started off with a team of 5 draft mules pulling a line of wagons. They just happened to be
passing through the county. The Side by Side ATV’s was decorated, and ready to go. I am not sure how many were in
the parade, but if you missed it the first time around, they drove around the block
and came past us again. This is a weekend-long event.
I thought I would share the fun by taking lots of pictures. I hope you enjoy them. Keep in mind all information is just the small town gossip on the street.
I look forward to the “Rally in the Pines” next year.
Please feel free to comment below.
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