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   Well, here I am writing this note on Thursday.... in the afternoon after the 4th of July parade this morning and the Turtle Races yesterday afternoon. No wine yet. I have to write this article first.

   So, it was a double whammy event!  First things first, we excelled at the turtle races. All hands on deck and everyone was exemplary in their duties. All the games were staffed with happy camper volunteers and the kids down at the actual races did a fine job dealing with 618 turtles and racers and tons of relatives. It was a mob scene most of the time. With Emery and Sawyer in charge and Addie and Brandon as assistants we managed to get everyone’s turtle raced. On the ground doing the judging, Sadie, Dawson and Pat did their best to spot the Slowpoke and Green Ribbon winner in each of the 28 heats we ran!  That’s 20 or 25 turtles in and out of each race. And, not to forget our turtles, the little gems. Willy always does an outstanding job of caring for the little dickens! So, we ran 618 turtles...last year it was 690. We were a little light. But this is another one for the record books. Onto the next challenge.

Resort race winner...

Five year old Riley and three year old Mia from St. Cloud captured the win this week representing Diamond Crest Resort. Photos submitted.

   What about our 4th of July Event? That is our fearless leader’s Judy’s event. And what a show she puts on! The sidewalks were stuffed with people and they kept coming. Young, old, babies, puppies..tons of them! There were chairs already in the street at 7 this morning and some said they spotted chairs yesterday early evening... reserving space for their families. The tradition lives on! The weather held and we had a beautiful day. And, a record number of registrations for the parade. The Longville Volunteer Fire Department was our Grand marshall. How cool is that? The VFW led us out and Jess once again with her angelic voice sang the national anthem. Sweet.  Next our Sheriffs and  EMTs...and on and on. The parade lasted about an hour! How’s that for small town Longville?

Turtle race champion

This week’s Grand Winner was seven year-old Ira Borland from Owatonna, MN. 

  Then the show begins. Actually, last week I was thinking of Paul waking up the city...this week it is Judy’s turn. She’s on site before 7. The first to come are the bouncy houses. There were 4 HUGE bouncy houses. The kids are nuts about them. The little ones are all cued up, shoes off, waiting, while they are still being blown up! So, the parking lot is turned into a food court and children’s haven. It warms your heart. Thousands of happy people. That goes until about 2, then the kids are pooped out, Grama and Grampa too. But then the young adults are drawn to the beer garden that Sarah has at the Docksider and Craig gets everyone signed up for an afternoon of cornhole. Beer...cornhole tournament? What could be better to finish off the afternoon? Then, get some dinner, drinks and show up for the BEST Fireworks ever over Girl Lake. That’s our town for you. We are proud of it and we love it! Back to the races next week.

Slow Poke champion

This week’s Grand Slowpoke ended in a tie, with eight year old Noah Maupin (top) from Suwanee, GA and two year old Elena Tschida (bottom) from Sauk Centre, MN taking home the win.

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