INDIANOLA — Gathered along Indianola Road, street vendors and community groups mingled with friends and neighbors, laughing and talking as they meandered through the street fair. A little farther downtown, the Indianola Dock was dotted with people admiring the sand sculptures taking shape on the beach below as artists and families worked quickly to finish their creations before the clock ran out and judging began.

Though hardly a typical day for the small community, Indianola Days had plenty of familiar activities and faces as well as a myriad of new events to buoy the festival.

“The people,” Indianola resident Summer Newman, 11, said of her favorite part of Indianola Days. “It’s hard to explain why I like it, it’s just fun.”

The Indianola Clubhouse presided over the entire weekend, which included a street fair, beach games, salmon bake and the ever-popular pet parade. The community has spent more than a year raising money to replace the foundation and update the interior, and Indianola Days was one of the first opportunities residents had to walk through it and see how their donations had helped the cause. It only worked to elevate the atmosphere of happiness as residents wandered around the inside, marveling at the new fireplace, and walked over the engraved paving stones outside the entrance looking for names of friends and family.

“The cool part is the big party,” said Indianola resident and Trillium School co-founder Kelly Asadorian. “Everyone waits for this all year, and everyone comes out for it. It’s really wonderful.”

The Trillium School booth offered face painting, done by Kate Newman, and a raffle for a carved bench and fire table during the street fair portion of the festival. Indianola resident and Trillium School co-founder Elisha Rain and Asadorian both said the celebration was a good opportunity to share more about the school with the public and have a lot of fun with their neighbors.

“All the people are wonderful,” Rain said. “From a school angle, it’s great for people in the community to see what we’ve been doing.”

Down at the beach Saturday morning, the sand was flying as residents went above and beyond the normal sand castles with creations like a tug boat, sea turtles, mermaids and a sculpture of the Earth.

“We got down here at about 7:45 in the morning to get a good spot,” said Indianola resident Kari Golden. “That’s the key, is getting a good spot.”

Her team was working off 10-year-old Charlie Golden’s design of Optimus Prime from the recently released “Transformers” movie. With only 20 minutes to the judging, the semi-truck was almost completely shaped and driftwood had been placed for the twin exhaust pipes just behind the cab.

Summer Newman was working with Patrick Newman and Malcolm Seboulisa, 9, on a sea monster bobbing in and out of the sand dunes farther down the beach.

“This is such a hassle, the head keeps cracking,” Patrick Newman said as he used a spray bottle on one of lower segments. “We’re having fun though.”