Amboy Territorial Days

Amboy Territorial Park lies at 21400 NE 399th St. in Amboy, an unincorporated town in Southwest Washington. Its grounds, play areas and restrooms are open to the public every day. A large pavilion with a full kitchen and stages is rented to local groups for family reunions, company picnics, weddings and music festivals. Through the year the park has also hosted the Lions Easter Egg Hunt, veterans’ celebrations and a Christmas Festival of Trees. The line at the foot of the park’s web pages reads “In the Heart of Logging Country.....”

The park’s own event comes in July. The home page places Amboy Territorial Days on the second weekend of the month, and the history page places it on the second full weekend. The 2026 celebration ran July 10, 11 and 12. The Amboy Territorial Days Association, a non-profit, all-volunteer organization, owns the park and runs the celebration. Whatever its events and park fees earn beyond expenses goes to improving the park and helping the local community.

Friday on NE 399th Street

The park opens at 3:00 on Friday afternoon, and the annual car show starts the weekend. The association invites owners to “show off your hot rod” beside contestants from around the county and beyond. In 2022 the Friday program also had bingo, a silent auction and a beer garden.

At 6:15 that evening comes the coronation of the Territorial Days Queen. The princesses spend the weeks before it selling raffle tickets, and the 2026 court sold 24,080 of them. The association announced that court as Queen Helen Goble, first runner-up Princess Tessa Moss and Princess Estella Domke, and listed a Mustang beside each name: green, white and red. The raffle was drawn on the Sunday. First prize was a $600 Sportsman’s Warehouse gift card. Second was a $500 gift certificate to the Amboy Hardware & General Store, and third was a $300 Butcher Boys gift card. Artisan, craft and food vendors work the grounds through the weekend, and there is a Kid’s Zone.

Half a mile on Highway 503

The parade steps off at 10:00 Saturday morning. Entrants line up on Highway 503 in front of Amboy Middle School and turn south along 503 toward the park. The whole parade is about half a mile long. The association’s Facebook page gives the route as starting at NE Chelatchie Road and ending at Carter’s Field on NE 399th. Entrants are told not to turn in at the park gate but to go on past it and break up in the field.

NE Chelatchie Road closes at 8:00 for the lineup. The main roads into Amboy close at 9:45 by the Facebook notice, or “around 9:30” by the celebration’s web page. After that no car is let through to park, so spectators line the roadside early. Entries compete in six categories: best float; kids’ marching units, scouts, bands and clubs; horse clubs, with “pooper scoopers required”; antique, classic and vintage cars and trucks 25 years and older; best load of logs; and working trucks, equipment and tractors. Each vehicle is asked to bring two spotters, and four if it is throwing candy.

The parade packet gives the 2026 theme as “Roots of the Community (Logging Through the Ages).” The park’s Facebook page gives it as “Roots of the Forest: Logging Through the Ages.”

The 2022 parade was photographed for Clark County Today. Its grand marshal was Clark County Fire District 10, which held its first meeting on December 28, 1960. The Battle Ground High School AFJROTC carried the flags and the Amboy Middle School band marched. Emily Livingston and Briana Franklin rode for the Clark County Fair Equestrian Court. Mike Wagner brought his own personal mini cement mixer, and Waylon McFarland waved from the roadside.

Lumber-Jacks and Lumber-Jills in the Waser Arena

The Log Show is held on the Log Show Stage in the Waser Arena, and contestants sign up on Saturday morning. The 2026 results show what was contested. Shane Felton took the Men’s All Around Logger title and Hailee Phelps the Women’s. Tedd Huhta won the high climb. Mike Truong won the stock saw chain race, and Kyle McKee won the modified saw. Darryl Durnford and Hailee Phelps won the men’s and women’s ax throw. There were choker-set races for men and women, and Dylan Eltz and Austin Roth won the double buck. Mike and Martha Nicholas won the Jack & Jill, and Martha Nicholas and Hailee Phelps won the Jill & Jill.

Some events were held over water. Felton won the obstacle pole cut over water, Huhta won the obstacle pole choker set over water, and Ben Clark won the log rolling. Children compete in ax throw, choker set and modified events in three age groups: 6 to 9, 10 to 13, and 14 to 17. In 2026 Waylon Durnford and Walter Durnford finished first and second in the youngest ax throw.

The same names turn up across the years. In 2022 Jeff Fetter Sr. and Arthur Fetter demonstrated the double engine saw. In 2026 a Jeff Fetter placed second in both the stock saw race and the log rolling. Aaron Brown worked the double buck with Greg Brown in 2022 and was second in the men’s ax throw in 2026. Kyle McKee was photographed in 2022 beside that year’s Bull of the Woods, Cory Knott. The show’s backers include logging and timber firms from around the region, among them Weyerhaeuser Company of Longview, Hadaller Logging of Kelso and Kaski Logging of Amboy.

Sunday at noon brings the lawn mower races. Contestants come from around the state, and the winners take home trophies. The association’s notice for 2026 added: “We may ask you to mow the grass on the way out...”

Margaret Smith’s anniversary

The Amboy Post Office was established in 1886, three years before Washington became a state. The association’s history says that in 1961 Margaret Smith, Post Master of the Amboy Post Office, organized a celebration for its 75th anniversary. It was held in Lucky Waldo’s field across from the Amboy School, land now part of the Battle Ground School District. The program had a presentation of princesses, a sawing competition and an organized dance at the Mt. Valley Grange.

Enough people took part that they formed a standing committee to repeat the celebration every year. Over time, money from the celebrations and from donations bought the multi-acre property where it is now held. Clark County Today’s 2022 account dates the first gathering to 1960 and says the community “had such a great time, they decided to turn it into an annual tradition.”

The same account says the only thing that ever paused it was the pandemic. After a two-year hiatus the celebration came back to the park in July 2022. That year’s Citizens of the Year were Larry and Beth Goble, who had lived in Amboy for more than 40 years and volunteered throughout the community.

The association’s bylaws were last revised on September 9, 2025. They state its purpose as “to celebrate the founding of the Amboy Post Office and the history of the Amboy, Washington area.”