Yacolt kicks off Rendezvous Days with family kickball tournament

Yacolt’s Rendezvous Days opened Friday, July 3, at the Ballfields with awards at 5:30 p.m. and a kickball tournament at 6 p.m., giving the town a simple entry point into a full night of family programming. Teams signed up through Town Hall for a $10 fee, with rosters capped at 10 players.

That setup made kickball the front porch for the rest of the evening. A BBQ vendor and Kona Ice were on site, and the night rolled into a movie at the Ballfield at dusk, turning one short game window into a longer stay for parents, kids and anyone coming for the food, the awards and the film.

Opening ceremonies carried the civic weight Yacolt wanted at the start of the weekend. The town recognized the Parade Grand Marshal, Citizen of the Year and Historical Significance, and it framed the 2026 celebration as part of America’s 250th Birthday. Rendezvous Days ran from July 3 through July 5, so the kickball game was not a stand-alone pickup event but the first sporting stop in a larger festival calendar.

The format was built for participation, not exclusivity, and that has been the pattern for years. In 2024, Yacolt’s Rendezvous schedule limited the kickball field to the first 10 teams, set the entry fee at $10 per team and allowed groups of five to 10 players, with all ages welcome. The town has used kickball to open Rendezvous Days before, and that consistency has made the game less about a bracket and more about getting households to show up early and stay late.

The field itself fit that role. North Clark Little League identifies the tournament site as the North Clark LL complex at 721 North Amboy Avenue in Yacolt, and the league directs teams back to Town Hall for details and registration. That arrangement leaves little mystery: bring a roster, pay the entry fee and the night is already built around you.

Yacolt was incorporated in 1908, and the town’s history page says the Yacolt Burn remained the largest wildfire in Washington State history until 2014. The rest of the weekend carried the same community-first structure, with the BigFoot 5K and 10K runs, the Yacolt Freedom Parade, a Kids’ Zone, a vendor market, train rides, a sidewalk chalk contest, a watermelon-eating contest and fireworks all on the schedule.