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| Celebration called a success |
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| Wednesday, 08 July 2009 | |
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Cliff Buchan News Editor All in all, the 85th annual Independence Day celebration in Forest Lake was a hit. So proclaimed a parade co-chair and the city’s chief of police following the end of the American Legion Post 225-sponsored event on Saturday. The four-day event ran July 1-4. “I think it went really well,” said Krista Richter, who co-chaired the parade with Kathy Diaz. “We received quite a few compliments on the fireworks.” “It went well,” said Clark Quiring, the city’s top cop. “We had a very good weekend considering the large number of people we had in town and the number of people consuming alcohol.” No official numbers of the parade crowd or fireworks crowd on Saturday night were made, but Quiring and Richter were in agreement that the 2009 crowds were larger than the crowds for the two events in 2008. Quiring reported no parade incidents and that the parade spectators followed the city’s “no tarping” rule along the parade route on Saturday. Parade spectators are not allowed to claim parade route spots before sunrise on the day of the parade. The rule was put in place last year by the city council to head-off past problems where parade spots were being claimed with chairs, blankets and tarps days in advance of the parade. Parade Winners Four trophies were awarded in the 2009 parade. They are: •E.J. Houle Feed Mill, Forest Lake, Hometown Pride Award (Forest Lake units only). •The Dance Factory, Forest Lake, Most Patriotic Float (any parade unit). •St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Forest Lake, Best Religious Unit. •Twin Cities Metro Pipe Band, Most Entertaining, (any parade unit). The number of parade awards could be expanded for the 2010 celebration, Richter said, looking ahead to next year. Legion Effort On behalf of Post 225 Richter said the celebration wouldn’t have been possible without the financial support of area businesses and organizations, the labor and financial donations of many individuals and the strong cooperation of the city of Forest Lake. The Legion fund-raising drive produced more than $30,000 from various community efforts, she said. Richter also had praise for the 100 or so volunteers who helped plan and carry off the Fourth of July celebration. “Our volunteer base was stretched pretty thin,” she said. “That’s always a factor. It’s hard to get volunteers.” Volunteers contributed hundreds of hours working the bingo tent, the kitchen, the beer garden, parade functions and the nightly task of cleaning up the Legion grounds and Post 225. Final numbers are yet to be compiled, but Richter said carnival, food, concessions, beer and bingo revenues should be strong. The Fourth of July celebration planning and sponsorship is a joint effort of Legion Post 225, Auxiliary Unit 225, the Sons of the American Legion and Voiture 44 40 et 8. Police Effort Quiring said the Forest Lake Police Department responded to a total of 215 calls from the start of the celebration on July 1 to the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, July 5. Along with solid public cooperation with the parade route rules, Quiring said most citizens who were stopped with alcoholic beverages in public complied with the city ordinance. Numerous citizens were contacted with liquor and most poured out their beverage when told of the city ordinance, he said. Tickets were issued only if the individual resisted in some fashion, he said. During the large fireworks crowd on Saturday night, officers were able to unite lost parents with their children in short order. “There were a couple of kids that were too young to tell us how old they were,” Quiring said of the five kids who became separated from their parents. Quiring said police received no reports of serious incidents and no injuries. Major police calls during the celebration looked like this: •Fireworks complaints, 17. •Driving under the influence of alcohol, 3. •Disorderly conduct, 4. •Underage consumption of alcohol, public consumption of alcohol and public drunkenness, 11. The chief said a major factor in the reduced number of alcohol-related driving was the sober cab service sponsored by State Farm Insurance and Roberts Family Funeral Home. The two Forest Lake businesses hired Lakes Taxi to provide rides at no charge on Friday night from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday. Quiring said a taxi cab and a 20-passenger bus were busy providing rides. The businesses paid for the first 15 miles of travel as a community effort to keep people who had been drinking from driving. Social Bookmarking ...       |
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