Saturday morning, dozens of people gathered at Lakeside Park in Big Lake to watch an 8-ft. by 10-ft. granite boulder being lifted off a truck bed by a giant crane and placed between a grove of trees to its final resting spot.

And not a leaf or a branch was distrurbed.

The event was put on by Big Lake residents Karen Blake and Linda Paulson. The two were the driving force in the effort to get this massive chunk of earth from St. Cloud to its home at Lakeside Park in Big Lake.

While Blake was on a road trip in 2015 to Iowa, she came upon the original Freedom Rock in Menlo, IA. After reading the article placed next to the rock, she learned an Iowan artist named Ray “Bubba” Soerensen was responsible for painting a scene on the rock, telling a story of Iowan natives that fought in different wars and were heroes because of their bravery and courage.

Blake and Paulson then teamed up to work their magic to get a Freedom Rock to their own hometown.

After four years of observing more than 70 of the 99 Iowa County Freedom Rocks, Blake and Paulson approached the City of Big Lake with an idea of getting their own Freedom Rock. With a resounding “yes”, the women lit the fuse to make their dream come true.

Fundraising began in 2019 with Blake and Paulson informing people, businesses, companies and organizations of their new project. With a goal of $30, 000, the ladies garnered $6,000 right off the bat.

Martin Marietta came forward with the idea to donate a rock from the Waite Park quarry and the project was taking shape.

Then COVID-19 hit, derailing some fundraising opportunities for the Freedom Rock. So Blake and Paulson concocted an idea to have pavers landscaped around the rock that would have inscriptions of veteran’s names, branches they served in and their date of service. If they sell 300 pavers, they expect to reach their goal to cover the costs associated with this tremendous endeavor.

Landwehr Construction of St. Cloud stepped up and offered to lift the giant boulder from the quarry and land it on a truck bed provided by T.J. Potter Trucking of Becker. Landwehr would then be responsible in lifting the rock off the trailer and gently place it in the exact spot Blake and Paulson (and the city) designated for its home.

Of the dozens who attended Saturday’s event, many were wearing shirts, jackets and hats identifying themselves as veterans of America’s wars. Many people waved small U.S. flags and members of the Big  Lake Hornet football team — dressed in jeans and their team jerseys — handed out the flags and posed for photos.

Mayor Mike Wallen was there. County Commissioner Raeanne Danielowski was there. Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer was there.

And now the Freedom Rock is there too.

Sorensen has made it his own mission to paint a Freedom Rock in every one of the 99 counties in Iowa and to do at least one Freedom Rock in all 50 states of the union. Sorensen is expected to begin painting Big Lake’s Freedom Rock in 2021.

For more information about the project, go to facebook.com/pg/biglakefreedomrock. Donations to the project can be sent or dropped off to City Hall at 160 Lake St. N. Call 763-234-0369 with any questions.