By Monty Siekerman
Gas may have jumped to $2.45 in Ada, but it's the price of feed that matters to these Renegade Equestrian Drill Team riders, by far the most popular entry in the 104th Farmers and Merchants Picnic parade on Saturday morning. 

The drill team from Belle Center received hoots and hollers from the bystanders in their first appearance here. Samantha Mattevi is team captain. You'll find her working here in Ada at Tavern 101 and Bass Trucking. 

The day turned out perfect compared to last year's gully washers which put a stop to festivities. Rain for F&M and Harvest and Herb Fest has been rare.

This year's picnic saw several additions: a craft booth, more amusement and food vendors, and a wood carver, to name a few. Little Prince and Princess saw about $5,000 in tickets sold compared to $12,000 last year. The F&M receives 90 percent of ticket sales. There was no beer tent with entertainment this year, it just didn't pay off to have one.

Kaylee Watson, 9, was crowned Little Princess while Riece Clark was named Little Prince.

A good size crowd attended festivities throughout the day. More people than usual lined Main Street for the parade, drawing many children with sacks for the candy that was tossed to them. Hint for next year: kids at the beginning of the parade get more candy that those at the end of the parade because the candy stock hasn't run out.

A plea was made for more volunteers to help with next year's picnic. This year has been organized by past committee chairmen without anyone taking the overall chairman's job...but the day succeeded after all due to the past experience of the leaders.