By Bill Morgan, Staff Writer
Another year, another incredibly successful Freedom Days celebration.
As last Saturday’s parade floats lined up along Riley Avenue — rain drops trickled down from the clouds and threatened to wash out not only the ever-popular mid-morning parade, but the entire day’s worth of fun and activities.
Fortunately, the rain fizzled and although the clouds stuck around — the day’s events went right on schedule and enjoyment filled the streets of Becker.
The weeklong festival began Monday with the first of several scheduled daily clues to find the coveted medallion strategically hidden somewhere on public land in the city confines.
By Tuesday, Joseph Sieg — a tall, clever 14-year-old from Becker— casually came upon the prize hidden beneath a purple slide at “Alligator Park” at Third and Edgewood.
He confessed his mother, Teresa, figured out the location after the second clue that mentioned something along the lines of a” boy amongst girls”. She knew it must be along Martin Drive since it is surrounded by “girl” streets such as Abby, Carole, Diane and Laura.
This week, the Siegs gathered at Sherburne State Bank where Joseph posed for pictures and shook hands with the people who made him $100 richer.
Saturday is Freedom Days’ biggest day as they feature a early morning 5k and 1k race for adults and kids, followed by the fan favorite parade at 11 a.m. which kicked off a full day of fun, food and entertainment.
The parade participants began the day lining up along Riley Ave. in predetermined spots delegated by community center volunteers. The Becker fire trucks and emergency vehicles are the first to make their way down Central Ave., followed by farmers and their tractors. This year’s parade route was chock-full of eager youngsters and parents screaming to have their bags, buckets, pockets — and even upside-down umbrellas — filled with tootsie rolls, suckers, bubble gum, candy bars and gumdrops.
The Becker Dazzlers and Starz dance teams showcased their dancers at the corner of Hancock and Central Ave., where they wowed the crowd with their talents and expertise.
Michelle Remick and her Brain Freezze ice cream truck was parked along the road and she was kept busy — dishing out delightful treats to the throngs of Freedom Days attendees.
Food and beverage vendors lined the streets to serve their delicacies which included hot dogs, pretzels, pop and the area’s favorite gourmet treat — a pork chop seasoned to perfection.
Over at the community center, a Teen Zone was set up to give area youths a place to safely hang out, listen to music, play lawn games and sup on concessions. Some of the games featured were bean bag toss, volleyball, basketball and ladder ball.
Dean Downs of Dean-O-Mite Entertainment and his band played music in the early afternoon back at the gazebo that got the crowds fired up and they were followed by a dance band called Fugitives from 2:30 - 5:30 p.m. and a rock-n-roll cover band called Outside Recess from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The festivities were culminated by one of the area’s best fireworks show at 10 p.m.
