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Who could have imagined a July 4 celebration (on the water) in Luverne?

Subhead
In other words
Lead Summary
By
Jason Berghorst, reporter

 
Growing up in Luverne in the 1980s and 1990s, I experienced a very quiet Fourth of July holiday in my hometown.
Some years our family would travel to Leota to see fireworks or maybe to Hills to swim at the Rez.
Any holiday activities were always in other towns. Luverne was closed for the Fourth.
Independence Day is a summer, outdoor holiday.
Luverne has no lake. There was no beach and no campground in town. Not even an outdoor pool to swim in.
Luverne was not a summer town.
Growing up on South Donaldson Street in my elementary years, one activity I did do in the summer was ride my bike to see “the horses”.
When going to “the horses,” I meant the barn and pasture down the gravel road at the end of Edgehill Street near the old gravel pit pond.
As a town kid, I had fun standing by the fence and petting the horses that were kept in that old barn right on the edge of town.
Things sure have changed.
Now the horses are gone. So are the days when there is nowhere to swim in town and nothing to do in Luverne on the summer’s biggest holiday.
Mike Davis also grew up on South Donaldson and he also rode his bike down by the horses and explored the old gravel pit pond that was behind that old barn.
A couple of years ago, Mike and his wife, Traci, purchased the land around the old pond. They had a vision far beyond what anyone else in town could possibly have had.
Mike and Traci saw a cleaned-up pond with a beach, patio and fishing docks on the water.
They could see a future of sharing their property with the community so families could enjoy summer days and nights right here in Luverne.
They could even imagine Luverne people celebrating the Fourth of July without having to leave town. That happened for the first time this past Saturday.
It’s safe to say I could never have imagined people gathering on the Fourth at a beach to watch a water parade, play volleyball, swim and fish right here in Luverne, all for free, where I used to go to pet the horses.
Thanks to the tremendous efforts of Mike and Traci and some of their friends, along with some support from city and county leaders and work crews, a tremendous transformation has occurred.
Mike will be the first to tell you his dream is still a work in progress. He and Traci have many more ideas and plans for the area, and the possibilities are exciting.
For now, many in the community are commending them for already creating opportunities for free summer fun right here in town.
They are investing their own money and time to create something cool in our old neighborhood, an area of town that was pretty much forgotten by many for way too long.
Thanks to Mike and Traci, kids in my old neighborhood  and all of us can do a lot more than pet the horses this summer.

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