, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
, 
Despite careful planning and well-laid plans, Mother Nature had her way with Luverne’s 32nd Annual Buffalo Days celebration.
The weekend’s kick-off signature event, the Friday Night Cruise-In on Main Street, was canceled due to threatening weather.
According to Chamber Director Jane Wildung Lanphere, this is a first in the history of the town’s celebration.
“Special acknowledgements to Bill Miller and the Buffalo Days Cruise-In crew,” Lanphere said.
“They made a difficult call but the right one. There is always next year. As a side note, Bill had a call from a couple who had left Kansas City on their way to the car show but heard about the weather and wondered if it was going to be called.”
When it was first announced Friday afternoon that the event would be canceled, the sun was shining, and some wondered about the decision, but by 7 p.m. thunderstorms rolled through the area, reaffirming the cancelation.
Saturday’s parade enjoyed mild weather, but Lanphere said Arts in the Park suffered a bit. “Although it was a cool and windy day at the park we escaped the rain,” she said.
“We had several vendors that showed up on Friday and left after the storm. We also had a few that didn't show on Saturday.”
Vendors and visitors who did participate in the park had a good day, Lanphere said.
“All in all, it was a great day for the vendors,” she said, adding that the lawn art people did a “whopping” business.
“The crowd might have been a little smaller than usual because of the cold weather, but overall it went well.”
Another victim of the weather was Saturday night’s races at the fairgrounds. Officials made the decision to cancel the races due to wet track conditions.
The real story from the weekend was Sunday’s Tales from the Graves event in Maplewood Cemetery, Lanphere said.
“Tales from the Graves was outstanding,” she said. “We had terrific re-enactors who really played their parts well.”
She referenced Mary Jo O'Toole Hemme, who played the role of her grandmother, and Richard Bakken and Pete Bakken, who played Richard's grandfather and Peter’s great-grandfather.
“That was really great,” Lanphere said about the Bakkens. “The story was written by Richard's brother, Howard, who lives in North Carolina.”