It’s the last weekend of July, and after Sunday you might possibly have heard a citywide collective sigh of relief.
We started the month with the Fourth of July celebration at The Lake complete with fireworks lighting up the sky to bring the day to a close.
Next was the Terry “Butch” Connell memorial ride July 9. Hundreds of folks in cars, motorcycles, UTVs and even a bus participated in the countywide poker run that raised money for Dollars for Scholars.
Less than a week later, 15,000 free hotdogs were served up to droves of hungry carnivores for the 60th annual Hot Dog Night July 14.
Hot Dog Night was the kickoff to the Cardinal Pride weekend that welcomed untold numbers of out-of-town and local Cardinal Alumni for a three-day bash.
The three days included greeting old friends and family while enjoying the best of what Luverne has to offer in food, drink, music, alumni parade and again fireworks.
The next weekend, the Rock County Revival took center stage in the Luverne city park with worship, testimonials, preaching and activities.
This weekend the Rock County Fair and the Minnesota State Legion Baseball Tournament take over the town.
The fair is three days of everything that one could imagine at a fair – midway, cows, pigs, sheep, horses, chickens, ducks, geese rabbits and all kinds of other 4-H exhibits … donkey races, enduro races, concerts, farm equipment, new and old, and daily activities and shows for the young and old alike.
Eight teams from across the state will be playing on Redbird Field vying for the Minnesota State Legion Baseball Tournament Championship.
All of that fun was in just one month. Thousands of visitors and locals attended many of these events, and some attended all of them.
None of these events happen without the hundreds of volunteers that work behind the scenes for months, even years, to put these events together.
Along with the volunteers there are the businesses that donate tens of thousands of dollars to finance these events.
More often than not, the volunteers and business don’t get the thanks they deserve.
So, that being said, I want to thank those that had any part in pulling off one of the greatest month-long parties of family, friends, faith, fair, baseball, fireworks, food, drinks, parades, concerts – all of which make Luverne the place we love to call home.