In Appreciation Of Central Minnesota Hometown Celebrations

"I wasn't thrilled about spending the money."

The above quote is what my wife claims she is going to put on my tombstone because she hears me say it so much. While I may not rise to the level of the folks on that old TV show "Extreme Cheapskates," I am very interested in saving money wherever I can!

That's where all of the various Central Minnesota small-town festivals come in to play! Joetown Rocks, Rum River Days, Hometown Pride Days, Waite Park Spass Tag, Sartell's Summerfest and Granite City Days are among our family's favorites.

From the World's Largest Rubber Duck, to the carnival games at Joetown Rocks, the Granite City Days parade and everything in between, our kids' summers are full of family-friendly fun at a low (or zero) cost.

Last week, we participated in free Twins baseball clinic in Princeton. As we headed home, we saw a MASSIVE rubber duck looming over the horizon like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. Of course we had to stop!

There was no line for tickets. No pat down by security, no hassle to find a parking spot. We saw the duck, we pulled over, took a selfie and then checked out the rest of the festival. You know, how it should be!

On Wednesday I brought my two kids to Waite Park's Family Fun Fest/Spass Tag event. Although this year's event did not have my seven-year-old's favorite part of summer, the Bike Rodeo, there was still bounce houses, projects for kids to build from Home Depot (we got a fire truck and a basketball game) and plenty of kids to play with on the playground.

I'd say it took all of five minutes for my son to get over his bike rodeo disappointment before having an absolute blast.

We got to spend time outdoors with lots of fun things to do just a few minutes from our home, and (evil laugh) IT WAS ALL FREEEEE! 

I think we need to give some recognition to all of the folks who volunteer their time and efforts to planning and executing these events so well every year! None of this is possible without them and they are appreciated!

On Thursday we will check out the Waite Park parade and on Saturday we will do it again in Sartell with their Summerfest parade.. in fact, my wife has a special calendar on the fridge to keep us informed on which festival is going on in a given week.