Celebrating Small Towns

In the past weeks we have been to a couple of small town celebrations and it made me ponder what it is that makes some small towns thrive and others ... well others just fade away. I grew up in Kenyon, MN which is a small town that seems to be fading - many empty store fronts and not a lot of "spirit". The school is now combined with a neighboring town, there is only one grocery store and no place to buy a pair of undies - except maybe the second hand store. It's newspaper has been bought out by a conglomerate from Michigan - very little actual local news there anymore. Kenyon celebrates that there are roses planted on its boulevard. There is a parade that is fairly well attended and not a lot of people attend the other scheduled events.


Contrast that to New Prague, Minnesota. My cousin, Cheryl, and her husband, Dick, live near the town and they invited us to "Dozinky". So on a recent Friday night we joined them for cocktails at their home and then proceeded to a friend's home in New Prague. These friends own New Prague Times and Suel Printing. This newspaper is still thriving and reporting the local news for the local people. New Prague has its own school and I didn't see one empty store front on main street. "Dozinky", a Czeck Harvest Festival, has been held for 15 years. We were there for the Friday Cruise Night. 400 vintage and one of a kind vehicles cruised the main drag and the streets were filled with vendors and people enjoying themselves. We sampled jitnice (spicey Czeck sausage) and zelnicky (a cracker made with sauerkraut and caraway seeds) - both very unique and very tasty! The celebration continued on Saturday with a parade, dance performances, polka bands and old time storytelling. Maybe what makes a town "live" is its celebration of its heritage and culture.











Last Saturday, we took a drive to Waseca where there were 20 plus marching bands in competition. Waseca is a little bit bigger town, but still not 10,000. Its school has always had a wonderful music program and the town has always supported the schools. The parade included many of the bands and some added "excitement". It was a beautiful late summer day. The courthouse corner made a good location to view the parade and scoop in the candy. Niece Pam and her children took care of that detail.

The streets were lined with people... and they all stood when the flag bearers marched by.
This lady was part of a group of parade entries that were advertising the local newspaper. She choose to dress in it! Perhaps a healthy newspaper is another thing that keeps a town thriving.
And this white car provided some excitement. It was hauling the grand marshalls of the parade and just as it passed us, its brakes failed... A pair of kids walking with a banner was about a half a block in front of them. We could hear strange sounds and we saw the car getting closer to the kids. Then, in a burst of stupidity, the driver aimed the car toward the crowd! At that same time, a policeman who was standing near us ran to the car, jumped in and shut off the engine. Disaster was averted. It was a very scary few minutes! We were all flabbergasted when the car started again and after a couple of brake checks was allowed to continue in the parade. Thankfully there were no more incidents. I love small towns and parades and celebrations - it is what is truly good about America!