Published: Monday, August 20, 2012 1:08 AM CDT

Yankton’s Riverboat Days summer celebration had an autumn feel to it this year, which helped bring thousands of people out for the festivities.

Randy Oliver, co-chair of Riverboat Days, said some of the new things this year included the tractor pull and the air shows that took place on Saturday and Sunday.

“Everything went great this year, the weather worked with us, with the exception of the little bit of rain that we got Saturday morning,” he said. “Otherwise, the weather all worked out, even though it got cool in the evenings, which is both good and bad. But otherwise, everything worked out extremely well for us.”

He added that the Meridian Bridge, which had not been open for previous Riverboat Days, is something officials might try to incorporate for future years.

“It’s a good thought to incorporate the bridge into Riverboat Days,” Oliver said. “However, when you start separating things, it makes it more difficult, along with the liability factor of people being on the bridge.”

Oliver noted it is also a challenge thinking of what they can put on the bridge that is suitable for the area and interesting for the crowd to enjoy.

Meanwhile the nice weather helped out the Yankton Area Arts festival held at Riverside Park.

Rebekah Scott, who owns Rebekah Scott Designs, and sells purses and other accessories, was selected as the craftsman best in show winner for this years event.

“I sell everything myself and they are all my own personal designs also, so I sketch them all out myself,” she said. “I do the prototypes and then go on to design them.”

She added that 10 to 15 of the fabrics that she uses are hers as well.

“It means a lot to be best in show. I’ve been in business for nine years and so when you’re in business for yourself, you don’t always get a pat on the back unless it’s from your family or friends,” she said. “So the accolades that come outside of my family and friends are really nice.”

She added that judges go through all of the art tents and vote on a variety of different categories to determine the best in show winners each year.

“I love Yankton Area Arts, and each year they come up to us and tell us we’re in the running (for best in show), and this year we finally won it so it’s really exciting,” Scott said.

Scott, who is from Valley Springs, travels throughout the area to sell her items, with about 50 percent of her business coming from the Minneapolis-area, but she travels nearly every weekend to the five-state area.

“Sales at Riverboat Days this year have been fabulous,” she added. “We met our sales goal at 3 p.m. Saturday which is amazing.”

The other best in show winner was Pat Gerlach photography, who won in the fine artist category.

Captain and Belle for this years Riverboat Days were Dave and Brenda Spencer.

“It’s been an honor and a nice recognition,” Dave said. “We’re proud to represent Yankton in the big festival we have here all summer long.”

He added that he is looking forward to whoever will be captain and belle for next year so they can enjoy it as much as he and his wife have.

“It’s fun to see people down here (at Riverboat Days) that we know,” Brenda said. “It’s been a great honor to go around here and see people from other communities and how much they look forward to Riverboat Days as well.”

The Spencers were notified that they were this years Captain and Belle in April.

“We were overwhelmed and honored when we found out we were selected,” Brenda said.

Dave added that he was humbled when he found out about the honor because there have been a lot of great people who have previously been captain and belle, and there are a lot of deserving people in Yankton.

“It’s been a fantastic turnout this year,” Oliver said. “It’s been at, or above, previous years turnouts and both bands that headlined on Friday and Saturday night drew great crowds.”

Oliver added that a lot of the vendors have done nothing but thank board members for the hospitality the city of Yankton has provided for them.

“Vendors have said this is one of the best shows they come to,” he said. “It makes everyone feel like we accomplished something after we’ve worked hard on this for the past 12 months.”

The winners during Saturday’s parade were:

Vehicles:

• Robert Nissen

• Duke Ellingson

• Main Street Bridal and Great Tuxes

Commercial:

• Vishay Dale Electronics

• Future Look Salon

• Rupiper Travel and Tours

Non-Profit:

• Yankton Community Library

• Sacred Heart School

• Yankton Childrens Theater

• United Way of Yankton

• Yankton Area Ice

Follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal