The Powell Economic Partnership hosted its annual celebration of the town’s namesake, John Wesley Powell. The two-day event featured bike races, games for the kids, a cornhole tournament, and a bourbon tasting. 

In 1869, Powell took a three-month trip down the Green and Colorado rivers. The surveys he took of the West, including the Grand Canyon, mapped out the West and shaped how water is managed in this part of the country. Powell recognized that agriculture in the arid West would require an infrastructure program, which was a key influence behind the Buffalo Bill Dam and the extensive irrigation system that farmers in Powell, Willwood, and Heart Mountain depend on to this day. 

This year’s John Wesley Powell Days had a lot of water-related themes, including a water setting station, with demonstrations by Trent Reed, general manager of the Shoshone Irrigation District. For irrigators, it’s a quick motion to siphon water from the ditch to the field, but for the uninitiated it can take some practice. 

The Gravel Grinder race on Saturday brought out 14 racers who competed on a 20-mile course around the city. The race had a couple water-related challenges. At one stop, racers pushed boats across a tub of water with a fork in their mouths. 

Many of the racers wore a beard in homage to Powell. Tim Warner, who raced on team TDubiya, had grown his own beard. 

“I’ll save the one they gave me for the kids,” Warner said. 

It was Warner’s first time competing in the Gravel Grinder. He moved out to the area about a year ago to work for the National Park Service. 

“It’s a great way to get off the couch and meet some people,” Warner said. 

Jessica Lum, grants manager for PEP, brought a gray beard, which she said was part of a wizard costume. 

In the end, Tucker Loeffen won first place. The Powell resident said the water challenge was a bit tricky, but it was a nice race.