A fun- filled4th!
Balaton, Currie celebrate the 4th in grand fashion
Last year’s stormy and generally soaked 4th of July weekend is now nothing but a distant memory, thanks to a mostly pleasant weather holiday weekend in Currie and Balaton.
The two small towns hosted successful 4th of July celebrations this past weekend. The only glaring negative offered by Mother Nature was the depth of the Des Moines River, which affected Currie’s popular Duck Races.
The traditional event, normally set at the Currie bridge, was moved to the park. And instead of 1,000 rubber duckies flowing down the river, they were placed in a water containment tank, with the winners being chosen by some Currie children. Also, the corporate ducks, each decorated by employees of local businesses, technically weren’t able to compete in the “Fastest Duck” race, but the “People’s Choice” award went to Robin’s Nest, and DRLC won the “Fastest Duck” competition by virtue of a drawing.
“It went great,” said event organizer Shari Thomas. “The kids enjoyed getting in there to pluck a duck. It’s still more fun to watch them go down the river, but we did it one year when the water was very deep and you don’t know what’s flowing in that water. We lost a lot of ducks that year.”
But aside from that hiccup, other features of Currie’s big weekend went off without a hitch, including Thursday’s street dance which attracted more than 3,000 revelers who danced to the music of IV Play.
“That is a record,” said Thomas. “When I was standing at the gate, you look down the street — the line was like two-and-a-half blocks long. That was like that for about two hours. They just kept coming and coming.”
Another big draw, of course, was Friday’s huge fireworks display, which once again proved to be quite the spectacle thanks to Currie Town & Country and the Currie Fire Department.
In the park, volleyball and bean bag tournaments took place during and after the Currie Town & Country’s Membership Drive picnic. Serving up food at the picnic were youth group members from Tracy Lutheran Church. With a freewill donation, the picnic raised more than $3,000 for the Town & Country Club, which is well known for its philanthropic efforts.
“I would say we did about 350 burgers, and we had hot dogs, too,” Thomas said. “I would say there was over 350 people there. It was busy but everybody helps out so much — that’s what’s nice about it. All the volunteers, the fire department, the gambling committee, Town & Country. Everybody really helps out.”
Over in Balaton, Fun Fest was another huge hit, with contests, tournaments and games for all. That town’s street dance featuring HickTown Mafia was moved from 3rd St. to Central Ave. right in front the Balaton Municipal Liquor Store. The change turned out to be a positive one in two ways — it put the crowd closer to the liquor store, which, in turn, benefited the City in terms of liquor sales. The Legion beer stand was still on site, but mixed drinks were sold only at the liquor store.
“This year, (the dance) was more connected to the liquor store, and I heard nothing but good comments from the fire department, just how much easier it was with the crowd,” Balaton Area Chamber of Commerce Director Brita Fricke said. “The people weren’t walking back-and-forth leaving the dance to go over to the bar, then come back. It worked well on that street.”
Another change this year was having fireworks on the day before the 4th.
“It didn’t stop anybody,” Fricke said. “The golf course had an outdoor bar set up, and we had tons of people there, hanging out on their lawn chairs. It was awesome.”
And, of course, the nice weather played a factor — but this year, in a positive way “We got pretty lucky with the rain that came through overnight when it was planned for Saturday during the day,” Fricke said. “We had a little bit of rain during the pedal pull, but it didn’t stop anybody or make anybody leave.”
New this year to Fun Fest was a Sunday pickle ball tournament, which drew multiple teams; Karen Dolan and Paul Redding won the first-of-its-kind event. The bean bag tournament was won by the team of Trevor Eisfeld and Bruce Timmerman.
