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FAIRMONT-- Friday, June 9 marks the start of Interlaken Heritage Days (IHD). Organizers spend the better part of the year panning and fundraising for the two-day festival which takes place annually in Fairmont. This year community members can expect to see some additions and location changes for events.
Rachel Greeley is one of seven committee members who have worked on planning this year's event. She shared that festivities kick off Friday evening at 5 p.m. with a free community meal at Heritage Acres. During the meal music will be provided by a band new to IHD.
"We have Blue Dirt Road this year," Greeley said.
The meal will consist of pork patties, hot dogs, baked beans, chips, cookies and water. The free meal will be served until it's out. Last year Greeley said they went through 600 pork patties within about two hours.
"This year we're planning for a thousand," she said.
The meat is provided by LB Pork and grilled by the Martin County Pork Producers. Other items are donated by HyVee and Culligan Water.
That evening inflatables and bouncy houses from Olson Rentals will be set up at Heritage Acres. Greeley said that 507 Cornhole is also hosting a tournament this year. Registration begins at 5 p.m. with a 6 p.m. start time.
Also happening Friday evening on Downtown Plaza in Fairmont is a Star Wars Night, hosted by Hawkins Chevrolet outside of The Fairmont Opera House. While the event is not officially part of IHD, it adds another event happening in the community over the weekend.
It will run from 6 to 10 p.m. with a showing of "Star Wars: the Empire Strikes Back" at 7 p.m. There will also be themed food and drinks for sale, along with Jedi training and other family events. This is the second year the event is being held in Fairmont.
On Saturday, June 10 a number of events will take place around Fairmont. The Borderline Cruisers will have its annual car show on Downtown Plaza beginning at 9 a.m. About 150 antique and classic cars will be on display.
This year, the Prairie Star Quilt Guild will hold a vintage quilt show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. inside First Congregational UCC. The group is holding the show to celebrate its 40th anniversary and thought mixing the vintage cars with vintage quilts would be a fun combination.
At Lincoln Park, the City of Lakes Garden Club is holding a garden party and plant swap from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. People can bring a plant and take a plant.
The IHD committee has a full morning and afternoon of events planned at Gomsrud Park on Saturday.
"We've got the D&S kids pedal pull that starts off the morning beginning at 10 a.m.," Greeley said.
She said traditionally the pedal pull is well-attended by kids of all ages.
Let's Go Fishing will also be at Gomsrud Park offering free pontoon rides, which will leave every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Inflatables from Olson Rentals will also be set up at Gomsrud Park on Saturday, along with five different food vendors, which will be set up in the parking lot area, along with a craft show in the park.
The Martin County Youth Foundation is sponsoring a balloon artist, face painting and caricatures, along with the Prairie Ecology Bus Center, all of which will be at the park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
"A new thing this year is The Zoo Man will be there with some live animal presentations throughout the day," Greeley said.
She said another new offering is canvas painting classes, which will be taught by Kimi Koppen. There will be one class at 11:30 a.m. for children and one at 1:30 p.m. for adults. The classes are offered for free to the first 30 participants in each and are sponsored by Fairmont Ford.
At 1 p.m. duck races will be held in the channel between Hall Lake and Budd Lake. The races are sponsored by Fairmont Chain Lake Lodge #64
The Fairmont Police Department, Fairmont Fire Department and Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service will have emergency vehicles set up at the park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for tours. Greeley said they were on site last year and saw a good turnout.
"They had about 400 kids come through which was pretty awesome," Greeley said.
Then, beginning at 6 p.m. is the Grand Parade, which perhaps draws the biggest crowd as far as IHD activities go. The parade will follow the same route, beginning at Heritage Acres, going up Lake Avenue through Downtown Plaza onto North North and ending at Lincoln Park.
Greeley said so far they have 50 units registered, though they'll take registrations all
week. Typically there's anywhere from 60 to 70 units. Most come from Fairmont and around Martin County.
"We've brought in some new entertainment this year. Jack Sparrow will be in the parade. The El Riad Shrine Steel Drum Band is a new addition as well," Greeley said.
Most units hand out candy and other goodies in the parade. Greeley said books are sometimes given out and 3M usually hands out a number of popular items as well.
IHD festivities will wind down for the weekend with a street dance. This year, the dance will be held in a new location. Instead of taking place on Downtown Plaza, it will be held at the Sylvania Park Band Shell.
"Fairmont has a lot of beautiful parks and the Sylvania Park Band Shell is so pretty. We decided we needed to move there. We want to highlight our parks as much as possible," Greeley said.
The street dance will feature a new band this year. Fat City All Stars will play from the beginning of the dance at 8 p.m. through 11:30 p.m.
"Green Mill will be hosting the beer garden this year at Sylvania Park," Greeley said.
There will also be five food vendors, including Green Mill with pizza, set up at Sylvania Park from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
"We're hoping for good attendance and good weather. We hope people will come from the parade and walk right to the street dance," Greeley said.