2025 Camas Days: New rhythm for retired band director

Camas High School alumni may see a familiar face leading the 49th annual Camas Days Grand Parade this Saturday when longtime Camas High band director Richard Mancini slides into a new role as the parade’s grand marshal.

“I’ll be sitting in a convertible, waving,” Mancini, 62, said.

Behind him, the Camas High School marching band will entertain Camas Days crowds gathered along the parade route. Mancini taught band for 24 years before retiring in June.

The Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce’s annual two-day Camas Days festival runs from 10 a.m. Friday through 11 p.m. Saturday, July 25-26, and will feature two parades, bathtub races, 115 craft and commercial vendors, live music, a beer and wine garden, a used book sale at the Camas Public Library, a food court with more than a dozen vendors and plenty of family-friendly activities.

Camas Days regularly attracts thousands of visitors to downtown Camas, which can make it difficult to find a parking spot during the event. To help alleviate parking frustrations, C-Tran has partnered with the Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce and will run shuttles every 15 to 20 minutes on Saturday, July 26, from Camas High School, at 26900 S.E. 15th St., to and from the city’s historic downtown area.

The Camas Days Grand Parade, with its lineup of bands, dignitaries, floats, animals, drill teams and the annual Georgia-Pacific toilet paper toss, kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday and will make its way down Northeast Fourth Avenue between Oak and Adams streets in downtown Camas.

Mancini knows the route well.

“It’s usually boiling hot, but I plan to wear a suit and tie anyway,” Mancini said. “I know it’s an honor, but it is awkward to think about sitting and waving like I’m somebody.”

After four decades working in education — 24 of them in Camas and another 16 in Naselle, a town of about 500 people near the coast — Mancini is, undoubtedly, “somebody” to many former students.

In June, the Camas High School student newspaper, The Camasonian, noted that, “even after he steps away from the classroom, Mancini’s legacy at CHS will continue, carried on by the students he has inspired and the community he has built.”

It’s fitting, then, that the man who inspired generations of young Camas musicians and performers is leading the main parade during this year’s “Broadway Comes to Camas; It’s Showtime!” themed Camas Days.

Looking back on his days at Camas High, Mancini said he always tried to let his students lead the way.

“Watching the program grow was fun,” Mancini said. “I didn’t have any marching band experience when I got there because Naselle had no marching band. But I had marched in high school and college, so we started with that, and I let the kids come up with ideas of things they wanted to do. If it was good, we kept it.”

Mancini said students came up with many Camas High School band traditions, including the crowd-pleasing “Thriller” routine the band first performed during a football game halftime show in 2009, just a few months after Michael Jackson’s death.

In retirement, the longtime band director has already found a new rhythm. Last week, he and his wife, Denise Mancini, traveled the Washington Coast in their travel trailer with their grandchildren and little dog, Betty, a Maltese poodle.

“One of the things I’m looking forward to is spending time with my wife,” Richard Mancini said. “She’s been a band widow. … I’ll find ways to stay busy and keep in touch with the community.”

Kelly Moyer: 360-735-4674; kelly.moyer@columbian.com

2025 Camas Days Calendar of Events

Friday, July 25

10 a.m. to 8 p.m. — Vendor booths

Dozens of vendors will sell handmade crafts, gifts, food and more along six city blocks in historic downtown Camas.

10 a.m. to 8 p.m. — Food booths

Find food from around the world at food booths set up on Northeast Birch Street, between Northeast Third and Northeast Fourth avenues in downtown Camas.

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Used book sale

The Friends & Foundation of the Camas Library (625 N.E. Fourth Ave.) will host its summertime used book sale during the Camas Days festival. Find thousands of hardcover and paperback books at bargain prices. Book sale proceeds bring enriching events to the Camas Public Library.

11 a.m. to 7 p.m. — Kids Street

Children will flock to this festival favorite at Northeast Dallas Street and Northeast Fourth Avenue and enjoy a 50-foot inflatable slide, obstacle course, karaoke, games and more. A one-day wrist band for the Kids Street games and inflatables will cost $8.

11:30 a.m. — Kids Parade lineup and judging

Parade attendees will meet in front of Camas City Hall (616 N.E. Fourth Ave.), near the intersection of Northeast Fourth Avenue and Northeast Franklin Street, for a parade lineup and judging.

12:15 p.m. — Kids Parade begins

The annual Kids Parade will begin in front of Camas City Hall (616 N.E. Fourth Ave.), head southwest on Northeast Fourth Avenue and wind its way through the heart of downtown Camas.

5 to 11 p.m. — Beer and wine garden

Come enjoy adult beverages and live pop, rock, Americana and blues music on Northeast Birch Street, between Northeast Fourth and Northeast Fifth avenues in downtown Camas, at this 21-and-older, roped-off beer and wine garden. On Friday, the Sarah Lodge Band will open for the headliner, Freight Train Jaine.

Saturday, July 26

10 a.m. to 8 p.m. — Vendor booths

Dozens of vendors will sell handmade crafts, gifts, food and more along six city blocks in historic downtown Camas.

10 a.m. to 8 p.m. — Food booths

Find food from around the world at the food booths located on Northeast Birch Street, between Northeast Third and Northeast Fourth avenues in downtown Camas.

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Used book sale

The Friends & Foundation of the Camas Library (625 N.E. Fourth Ave.) will host its summertime used book sale during the Camas Days festival. Find thousands of hardcover and paperback books at bargain prices. Book sale proceeds bring enriching events to the Camas Public Library.

11 a.m. to 7 p.m. — Kids Street

Bring the young ones to this festival favorite at Northeast Dallas Street and Northeast Fourth Avenue and enjoy a 50-foot inflatable slide, obstacle course, karaoke, games and more. A one-day wrist band for the Kids Street games and inflatables will cost $8.

11 a.m. — Camas Days Grand Parade

A beloved part of the annual Camas Days tradition, the Camas Days Grand Parade begins at 11 a.m. and heads through downtown Camas along Northeast Fourth Avenue, between Northeast Oak and Adams streets. This year’s theme is “Broadway Comes to Camas; It’s Showtime!” and longtime Camas High School band director Richard Mancini is the grand marshal.

1 p.m. — Bathtub races

Teams will steer their bathtubs filled with ice-cold water through a street course during the annual Camas Days bathtub races. The popular event begins at 1 p.m. in front of Camas City Hall on Northeast Fourth Avenue in downtown Camas.

2 to 11 p.m. — Beer and wine garden

The beer and wine garden opens early on Saturday, and children will be allowed to enjoy the garden area until 5 p.m., when the space, located on Northeast Birch Street, between Northeast Fourth and Northeast Fifth avenues, converts into a 21-and-older, roped-off beer and wine garden once more. Saturday’s entertainment includes The Light Fantastic between 2-5 p.m. Later that evening, the Andrew Matthews Band will open for Saturday’s headliner, River Divide.

Sunday, July 27

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Picnic in Color

It’s not an official part of Camas Days, but the Downtown Camas Association’s annual Picnic in Color event in downtown Camas has become an annual tradition on the Sunday following the Camas Days festivities.

The free, family-friendly arts and crafts event will include tie-dye shirt making with UPWARD Camas; a puppet show at 12:30 p.m.; hands-on art projects from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Periwinkle’s Toy Shoppe; a 1:30 p.m. dance performance by Virtuosity Dance; duck decorating and a duck flume race sponsored by the Rotary Club of Camas-Washougal; an art activity hosted by the Artisans’ Guild of Camas; and more.