Our little twin towns (Breckenridge, MN and Wahpeton, ND) have an annual celebration called Headwaters Day. Headwaters Day originated after the big flood of 1997 when the entire area was completely under water. Completely. Since then there have been flood precautions made to ensure the safety and well-being of the towns. Shortly after the big flood, this celebration began to bring the communities back together. All of the local businesses participate and donate what they can. Participants purchase a button for $3 for the day. That button gets you a pancake breakfast, admission into fair ground activities, a grilled lunch, a free movie in the theater that afternoon, etc. Its really quite the bargain and a whole lot of fun! Of course there are local venders, crafters, fundraisers, etc. This year we purchased 2 ducks for the duck races. What are duck races? Well, for $5 you get a rubber ducky that is marked. At a set time in the afternoon all the duckies are placed in the river on the Breckenridge side, released, and they float down to the Wahpeton side. The winning duckie gets the grand prize of $1500 cash. Pretty awesome right?!! Totally worth it. :-) I think I just like the idea of hundreds of tiny rubber duckies racing down the river. Yup....that pretty much makes me smile every time I think of it.
And the parade. This town can do a parade! Wow. A handful of firetrucks. Businesses really go all out and decorate their floats, throw candy (the good kind!...like skittles, m&ms, starburst, etc).....LOTS of candy!, they give away tickets for shows or raffles, they dance, they have the marching band playing. It is really really awesome. Hayden's school, St Mary's Catholic School, had a little float with K-1 graders on it throwing loads of candy, waving, and wearing school t-shirts. He had so much fun.
Okay, pictures.......I think they speak for themselves......
Wyatt, Hayden, and Yvette before the parade. Hayden was excited. Really. He was.
Such a dream come true for the day.
Wyatt looked like a little natural on that horse!
He loved it. Absolutely loved it. And was so proud to tell him dad what he did all by himself.
Yvette waiting for her brothers and dad to be done making a rope.
Such a fantastic community to be a part of! What a day.
So apparently Headwaters Day happens in a lot of towns that are on the river. Didn't know that. Thought it was special here or something.
ReplyDeleteSomeone had told me that the reason they make a big deal of it was because of the flood.
Any-who....it's a grand time!