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Friday, July 3, 2009
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Recession won't dampen celebration
Staff Writer The people who call Brainerd the Minnesota Fourth of July Capital say the celebration is free and has family, fun and enjoyment written all over it.
Nancy Cross, Brainerd Community Action, a nonprofit organization that has sponsored the Fourth of July Celebration for nearly 25 years, said the goal for the Fourth of July celebration is for families to build memories, to be safe and most of all to have fun.
But with the economy, will the traditional American celebration in Brainerd be the same?
Cross said the celebration has been affected by the economy, but the community shouldn't notice any changes this weekend.
A big change behind the scenes was the fact the city of Brainerd didn't donate its annual $10,000 to Brainerd Community Action for fireworks because of the tight city budget. Cross said Community Action ended up taking the money out of its own cash flow fund to pay for the fireworks.
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Barbie and Joe Perreault of Pillager relaxed Thursday in front of a travel trailer set up along the Fourth of July parade route in Brainerd. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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"The fireworks will be the same as they were last year," said Cross. "We contract for fireworks in December and at that time it looked promising that Brainerd was going to donate the money. When the city decided not to donate we had to take the money out of our fund.
"I've seen all donations down for the Fourth of July."
Cross said the nonprofit is down $15,000 in donations and it had to cut costs this year when planning the Fourth of July events. Cross said normally the organization raises $40,000 for the celebration. Cross said they spent a lot less money on marketing the celebration, meaning fewer posters, materials and advertising. Cross said they also negotiated harder for entertainment to get a cheaper price.
Cross said they also cut out most of the units in the parade that they pay money to come, such as the renown drum line from Sioux Falls, S.D. Cross said she was able to keep high school bands from Minnesota to march in the parade.
"You need music in a parade," said Cross. "The Brainerd High School band stepped up to be in the parade. It's hard to get a high school band together in the summer for a parade."
Cross said the parade - set for 4 p.m. Saturday - will have some new and old floats. Units will include the Flying Feather Clydesdales, Music General dancers, Sons of Norway from Brainerd, Blues Brothers, Mills Brothers Steamboat, 2009 Miss Brainerd, a Humvee from the Brainerd National Guard Armory and the Shriners go-carts. Plans are for 100 parade units, compared to 120 in the past.
Cross said there will be a lot more volunteers this year helping to make the Fourth of July a success. Cross said people will have a good time at this year's celebration and the weather looks promising.
The National Weather Service in Duluth expects highs Friday and Saturday to be about 75 degrees in Brainerd. There is a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for the Fourth of July. Sunday should be a nice day with a high near 77 degrees beneath mostly sunny skies.
Friday's event includes Honk for Hugs that runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at WWWI Radio that includes a free lunch, children's games and a silent auction for adults and children. The Show and Go Drag Racing runs all weekend at Brainerd International Raceway, with qualifying rounds Friday and Saturday and finals on Sunday.
Gospel Night featuring The Harbingers Quartet and The Great Adventure Gospel Band will perform at 7 p.m. Friday at Heritage Assembly of God Church in Baxter. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Tickets are available at the Brainerd Dispatch, Bethany Book Store in Baxter, KTIG radio in Pequot Lakes, Good Bookstore in Little Falls and Inspirations in Wadena.
There will be 11 bands that will battle it out from 4-11 p.m. Friday at the annual Battle of the Bands competition. Each band will perform 30 minutes and the winning band will perform in the Fourth of July parade Saturday.
Bands competing in the order they'll perform are Michael Eberhardt, Brainerd; Maybe Saints, Brainerd; The Imaginary Friends, Brainerd; Wandering, Pine River; A Friendly Guest, Brainerd; For What It's Worth, Baxter; Patience, Brainerd; Lovely Nightmare, Brainerd; Soulshine, Brainerd; Stoked Beyond Boredom, Brainerd; and No Shirt, and No Shoes, Knows Jesus, Brainerd.
Saturday includes traditional free events in Brainerd, starting off with the Jaycees Corn of the Cob Feed at noon on Adamson Field. The American Celebration Parade starts at 4 p.m. and the music on Don Adamson Field starts at 6 p.m. Entertainment includes Bill "The King" Musel, who volunteered his time, with his own Blues Brothers Revue and the Battle of the Bands winner. At 8 p.m., October Son and Headin' Back will perform. Then at 10:15 p.m., the fireworks spectacular ends the day.
Cross said people should watch the sky around 8 p.m. in case there is a flyover. Cross said she put in a request for the two U.S. Air Force F-16s out of Duluth to fly over Brainerd, but she said officials never confirm whether they'll come or not for security reasons.
Then from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday will be the annual Arts in the Park at Gregory Park.
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.
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