Elysian Mayor Mack Evans and first lady Jan Evans

as Grand Marshals of the 2007 parade on Main Street.

Reflections on the Fourth

A letter to the community by Mayor Mack Evans

Congratulations, Elysian!

It's Sunday, July 8th, and the 2007 celebration is all over. As I write this letter of thanks to the community, I reflect back on what the fourth means for our town. We really topped ourselves – this was probably Elysian's biggest & best ever.

Preparation for the 4th started months ago. On Friday, June 29 at 2:00 p.m., when we sat down with KDHL Radio from Faribault to do a live broadcast and described all the happenings for the July 4th celebration, we really felt proud of the special week we had planned.

First up, the 5th Annual Miss Elysian Pageant along with the 19th Annual Princess of the Lakes. A free Teen Dance followed.

Saturday, June 30, the day started off with the Kid's Fishing Contest. The rest of the day had activities for everyone: Cribbage and Bean Bag Tournaments, Legion Chicken Feed, and the Talent Show. The evening ended with dancing to "Sound Waves" under the tent.

On Sunday, July 1, the Pancake Breakfast had lines forming down the street past the fire trucks. The 13th Annual Car Show had the largest showing of cars ever, the Flea Market attracted shoppers to the tent throughout the day, and the Fireman's Bingo had all tables filled to capacity.

Tuesday, July 3, we had the Kid's Pedal Pull and then the Annual Elysian Firefighter's Dance with music by Smokescreen. I think everyone in the county was there!

And then the big day - Wednesday, July 4th. The city of Elysian was honored by WCCO Radio with the "Good Neighbor Award." It was given to all the volunteers of our city for all the hours of work involved in the July 4th celebration. The announcement was on three times throughout the day. An estimated one million heard about our little city of Elysian and our big accomplishments over the air waves!

The Boat Parade began a beautiful day for Elysian with many decorated boats parading around Lake Francis for all to see. The Kiddie Parade and Grand Parade were held on Main Street with the highway patrol giving an estimate of 20,000 spectators.

I would like to commend everyone for utilizing the garbage bags that were handed out after the parade. The city has never been so clean after a parade. WCCO was right saying we are a "Good Neighbor City."

After the parade, the annual Turtle Races and Arm Wrestling Tournaments were held. Of course, the grand finale of all was the fireworks show on Lake Francis. It was said the lake looked like a little city in itself with all the boats and pontoons anchored, watching blazing "colors in the sky."

The fourth of July was over but Elysian wasn’t done yet.

On Saturday, July 7, the 24th annual Rookie's Triathlon was held. This year, over 300 athletes of all ages arrived and competed to the best of all their abilities in the 90-degree heat. It says a lot about the triathlon community and our community when the cheers are just as loud for the last racer in as they are for the one who crosses the finish line first.

Following the triathlon, the final event of the week was the Raffle Drawing held at the Tourism Center. Over 5,000 tickets were sold this year.

We couldn't have had more fantastic weather every day. The volunteers for all events worked extra hard this year, which is probably why this was the best 4th. I won’t mention any names because I do not want to forget anyone but, volunteers, you all know who you are, and we hope you're all back next year.

Speaking of volunteers, I had been feeling a tinge of sadness in the days leading up to the celebration. Roger and Marlys Boyum have always been a fixture in our volunteer efforts over the 4th and it seemed they weren’t going to be able to be part of things this year. But, they surprised us all.

When I was cleaning up in the Community Tent on Sunday night, I looked up and there was Roger Boyum, back in Elysian for the fourth. It was one of the best things to top off our 2007 celebration. That’s my best memory from this year’s fourth of July. What’s yours?

Thank you all and congratulations, Elysian!

Mack

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