CRESTVIEW — The North Ferdon Boulevard Consolidated Ace Hardware store bustled inside and out Saturday as a variety of community and visiting organizations offered tasty treats and services.
Customers lined up to get autographs and have their photos taken with the All American Cowgirl Chicks, who were headliners at the weekend Old Spanish Trail Pro Rodeo in Baker.
Folks bought Camp Cards from Troop 773 Boy Scouts, examined a Dorcas Volunteer Fire Department fire engine, slid down an inflatable slide, enjoyed snow cones or picked up child ID kits and bike helmets.
Nicole Bouleton, 10, Miss Rodeo Okeechobee Princess for 2014, was one of the first in line to meet the Cowgirl Chicks. She and her dad, James, were in town to visit his brother, Andrew Boulton.
Stacey Barlow had Crestview Community Policing officer Wanda Hulion fingerprint her sons, Brantley, 2, and Hunter, 6 months, for child ID kits.
"It's always better to have it instead of not having it if there's an emergency," Barlow said as Brantley petted a Crestview Bulldog mascot statue nearby.
Hulion said that within two hours of setting up her table, more than 30 families brought in their children for ID kits, and she distributed almost half the bike helmets available.
Abraham Duty, 5, delighted in leaning into a huge tub full of chirping baby chicks, holding aloft one fuzzy little bird after the other as his dad, Larry, kept a careful eye on him.
Baker Rodeo representative Billy Graham joked that he got to chaperone the Cowgirl Chicks "because I'm the most harmless one in the group."
Getting serious, he added, "We're proud to have these ladies out here again."
"We're glad to be back here," Cowgirl Chick Hattie Claire said.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Chick Day activities draw crowds to Ace Hardware