Town’s traditions fill Fourth of July

Posted

Brenda Wade Schmidt
Enterprise

Flandreau will carry on its Fourth of July traditions this year with several holiday events.
Activities on the Fourth will center around the Moody County Museum’s Summerfest from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. There is no admission.

Summerfest
An ecumenical worship service will begin at 9:30 a.m., led by the Rev. Ann Spitzenberger.
Activities will include food booths with shaved ice, Indian tacos, burritos, eggrolls and kabobs.
The Depot stage will include accordion music by Darlene Hemmer at 10:10 a.m., vocal music by Amy Ellsworth at 11 a.m., the youth Advent Capelle Singers at 11:30 a.m., the adult Advent Capelle Singers at 12:30 p.m. and the Flandreau city band concert, beginning at 1 p.m.
A red, white and blue star quilt made by Cheryl Shaeffer will be raffled off at 1:30 p.m. Booths with other items for sale also will be open, and the museum will be open for tours.

The Flandreau Aquatic Center will be open from noon until 5 p.m.

Casino Fireworks
In the evening, the Royal River Casino will shoot off its traditional fireworks display across Veterans Avenue from the casino beginning at sunset. People can park in the casino parking lot.
There also will be food specials inside the casino, said Brandi Olson, entertainment and marketing manager.
The show is family-oriented and for the community, she said.

Airport Fly-in, Breakfast
 Activities will continue into the weekend with the Flandreau Airport Fly-in Breakfast from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. The Team of Angels will serve a breakfast of scrambled eggs and French toast for $6 for adults and $3 for kids ages 4-12.
The EAA Chapter 289 will give free airplane rides to kids ages 8-17 with a signed parent consent. Sanford and Avera health systems will have medic aircraft on the grounds, and other planes will be on display. For a fee, Harry Thompson will offer rides in his World War II plane.

Family reunions
The holiday also is a time that families also get together for picnics or reunions.
This year, the Jewett family will have its reunion at the community center with several days of activities, said Glenda Hansen. The family gets together every two years for a reunion, which has been held in various locations.
But the family likes coming home to Flandreau, she said. At least 83 people have said they plan to come, and anyone is invited to stop by for coffee and to catch up with the Jewetts.
“We have a picnic at the park. We have a golf tournament for family and friends. We have lip sync. We do family pictures and we have a game night. We walk to the cemetery on Sunday,” she said. “We have a lot of fun.”
Many people in the family stay for a week. The group also watches fireworks and takes in a community band performance.
“It started after our mother passed,” Hansen said of her mother, Marvel, who was 77 when she died in 1991. “We just decided to keep it going.”