Clayton Brickyard Day 2021 will be having an abbreviated version for this year’s celebration. Though they will not have their entire line of normal activities, they want to honor Clayton’s proud past, including a parade-only event.

Clayton’s 2021 Brickyard Day Celebration will be on August 7th. It is abbreviated because the announcements relating to the pandemic that strongly suggest that they could have the usual activities came too late to plan things properly without problems.

Parade 

Parade staging will begin at 9am along Railroad Rd, with judging at 9:30am. The parade will start at 10:30am on Mason Road and ends at the Clayton School. Parade entry forms are available for pickup at the Real Estate Marketplace in Deer Park. The form is also available to download and print at: DPGazette.com/brickyard2021. You will need to fill it out and email it to Loretta Huss at [email protected].

For more information or to participate in the parade, they are asking you to contact: 

Loretta Huss at [email protected] or Kathy Moore at [email protected]

Honored Citizens

The parade will feature honored citizens for 2021, Mike and Teri Sardinia.  Both Mike and Teri graduated from Whitworth College (today Whitworth University) and moved on to continue their studies at Washington State University.  Eventually, Teri entered the education field, Mike began practicing as a veterinarian, and careers led them to make their home in southwestern Washington for ten years.  In 2003, they had the opportunity to return to the general Spokane area and chose to settle in Clayton, along with the many draft horses (mostly Clydesdales) they had accumulated by then.  Currently, Teri teaches high school biology at Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls. Mike is a professor of Biology at Whitworth University in North Spokane and a practicing veterinarian. 

While both Mike and Teri enjoy their respective professions a great deal, they are equally passionate about their farm activities and community events, all done with draft horses.  Morning View Farm is completely horse-powered, and July of each year will find them being used to mow, rake, bale, and pick up hay stored in the barn for winter feed.  Fall activities include a few horse shows and skidding some logs in to be cut up for firewood.   During the winter, horses can be seen plowing snow on the farm and moving hay out of the barn to more convenient feeding stations.  Springtime usually provides opportunities for teams of horses to pull plows, disks, and harrows as some small-scale areas are prepared for planting.  If you happen to drive by on Bellstar Road while they are out using the horses for something, feel free to stop by.  

Even though moving 12 horses and equipment for a farm is a huge task, only a few weeks after arriving in August of 2003, they participated in their first area community activity – the North Idaho Draft Horse and Mule Show in Sandpoint, Idaho.  October 2021 will be the 16th time that their Clydesdales have provided rides for families at the Deer Park Pumpkin Lane event the Saturday before Halloween each year. In addition, Clydesdales have led groups of Christmas carolers through Deer Park 14 times. Though in a slightly different format, thanks to the Open Door church worship team, this event happened a few times during 2020 when many activities were canceled. 

Horses played a significant role in developing agricultural practices that improved people’s lives, and laid a foundation for the modern technology used on many farms today.  Mike and Teri consider it a privilege to keep a small part of this knowledge alive, and are grateful to the North Spokane Farm Museum for inviting them to demonstrate horse-drawn implements at their Farm Heritage Days event for 15 years now.  In addition to putting up hay, summertime is also the season for parades.  Mike and Teri have participated in both the Settlers Day parade in Deer Park and the Brickyard Day parade in Clayton nearly every year since they moved here, 17 times now.  Most of those have been pulling the float for the Open Door church.  Even though not able to attend the Clayton fair each year due to a date conflict with the Western Regional Clydesdale show, they still find ways to contribute to their hometown fair by presenting the royalty during the Clayton Rodeo opening ceremonies each July. They anticipate that 2021 will be the 13th time for this.  The Morning View Farm Clydesdales were even asked to lead the groundbreaking in 2006 when the fair moved to its new home in Clayton.  

Mike and Teri appreciate the connections they have made here in Clayton and plan to continue horsing around with Clydesdales for many years to come.

Stuff the Bus

As part of Brickyard Day 2021 and in conjunction with Deer Park School District, a “Stuff the Bus” drive will be happening 10am – noon. Stuff the Bus campaigns are community-wide efforts to get school supplies into the hands of those school students in need. They ask people to bring new school supplies to help “stuff the bus” for school children of all ages. They list backpacks, pencils, pens, markers, erasers, folders, paper, binders, glue as just a few in a long list of needed supplies for the kids.

For more information, please contact Loretta Huss at [email protected] or give her a call at 509-290-2394

T-Shirts

Brickyard Day organizers have also created a Brickyard Day 2021 T-shirt with a “Heart of Bricks” theme to support struggling local small businesses. They say the Heart of Bricks reflects the tough, honest love settlers of the area brought with them more than a century ago. The shirts are for sale at Yoke’s Fresh Market in Deer Park, and on the day of the event at the Clayton Grange.  Shirts will cost $12, with proceeds donated to Deer Park Quaranteam, which supports local small businesses. 

Clayton Grange Breakfast and Lunch

The Clayton Grange has elected to hold their usual benefit breakfast in conjunction with the celebration, beginning at 8am, and a picnic lunch at the grange starting at 11am.

Save the Date

Clayton Brickyard Days and Clayton Grange Breakfast and Lunch

August 7th

8am – Breakfast at Clayton Grange 

10am – Noon – Stuff the Bus

10:30am – Parade

11am –  Lunch at Clayton Grange

Photo Provided By Clayton Brickyard Days

Photo Caption: Starwars at Clayton Brickyard Days 2018