Photos by Per Peterson
A GROUP OF GIRLS look in awe at Nellie’s new doll during opening night at the pageant. Attendance for the first weekend was 948 — 436 Friday and 512 Saturday.
SATURDAY MIGHT HAVE BEEN FULL OF FUN at the Village Fair, but the excitement of the day — and likely the heat — were too much for 2-year-old Layne, who took a cat nap on her mother Ashlee’s lap. Ashlee is a 2006 graduate of Tracy Area High School.
ABOVE: HEIDI DANIELOWSKI — better known during the pageant as Mrs. Olseon — was one of the performers who took part in Saturday’s re-enactment portrayed a group of Walnut Grove citizens preparing for the 1876 centennial celebration. RIGHT: Laura, played by Raelynn Mattison, proudly shows Pa a big fish she caught in a scene from Friday’s “Fragments of a Dream” performance.
MEREDITH DURAND of Belle Plaine pets Bucky, a miniature gelding, at Saturday’s Villiage Fair.
ABOVE: THE PAGEANT SINGERS were in fine voice at opening night of this year’s “Fragments of a Dream” pageant. Singers are, from left: Connie Knott, Ella Knakmuhs, Elizabeth Johnson, Kerry Knakmuhs, Jay Fultz and Burke Gardner. RIGHT: Gary Froiland entertained the crowd at the Village Fair on Saturday. LEFT: Fred Plaetz portrays Lafayette Bedal in the pageant.
LEFT: This year’s Laura, Raelynn Mattison, shared a laugh with Walnut Grove historian Dan Peterson at the Village Fair. RIGHT: In a scene from the pageant Friday, Mr. Oleson listens as his wife explains how much children need their mother as he departs for Chicago.
