The Chamber of Commerce kicked off its Celebrate Becker event in the Becker High School fieldhouse Saturday. With over hundreds of  people in attendance, it was a day full of fun and prizes. From gift baskets to free candy and samples, many came away as winners.

 

Food vendors Pizza Depot, Kettle-icious, Café Pawz, Los Ortizes and Becker Food Pride charmed their customers with pizza, fajita nachos, kettle corn, donuts, and other treats and beverages at the concessions. Tables were filled with families eating and socializing. 

 

Meanwhile, women from Pebble Creek Golf Course had set up a mini-golf mat where kids and adults were invited to practice their rounds. They wanted to encourage members of the community to join leagues. Jennifer Fingarson said they will be starting a drive soon in order to raise money for equipment so that those interested in getting involved (either socially or competitively) as new golfers don’t have to pay for all the required gear.

 

Becky Olmscheid watched her son play golf at the Pebble Creek booth and said she was having a great time. “I’m not sure if my son would want to get into golf. He’s more into other sports, but my husband plays ALL the time, which is probably why he’s curious. We’re actually going later this afternoon to Pebble Creek!”

 

The vendors were actively interacting with members of the community all day. Although a couple of booths owners were businesses selling something, a majority of the business owners just wanted to say hello or become more familiar with the Becker citizens.

 

Al Scherping, who sells custom gifts, apparel, signs and banners at Majestic Creations, has been coming to Celebrate Becker for as long as he can remember.

 

“As a local business owner, it’s neat getting to know the variety of people in your community. I love it,” he said.

 

In addition to the giant bouncy houses, golf mat, and bag toss corner, there was also a pitching cage set up, with a speedometer, so people can see how fast they pitch. Grace Wilhelm (10th grade) and Corey McDonald (11th grade) from the Coalition of Independent Students (CIS) manned the area and handed out balls to kids that wanted to throw them. CIS is the name of the high school robotics league at Becker and they are led by dedicated mentors and coaches.

 

“We are volunteering, because we want to spread the culture of STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] throughout the community,” said Grace. 

 

Over 45 vendors were present, including: Carpet One, Sherburne Mental Health Collaborative, Anytime Fitness, the Becker Senior Center, Riverside Church, Girl Scouts, Ace Solid Waste, Edina Realty, Oak Realty, Haller Realty, Becker Spine, Hubbard Studio, Vision Taekwondo, Mary Kay and more.

 

The Celebrate Becker committee did an astounding job of planning for this day. Lynette Brannan, Becker Chamber office manager, commented that the Celebrate Becker Planning Committee started organizing this event last October, and they are the reason this event was a success. Others that contributed their time, funds, and efforts were the sponsors, crew of volunteers to bring things up and take them back down and the Becker High School custodial staff.

 

Everyone’s hard work paid off, as was evident by the sight of Becker people enjoying themselves as they went from booth to booth. Some were getting advice for remodeling their home with Josh Williams from Workhorse Construction, while others engaged with Thrive experts about nutrition or talked flu symptoms with Coborn’s pharmacist, Trent Anderson. In general, a lot of families spent the afternoon relaxing or playing with their kids, neighbors and friends.

 

Other activities that filled the town with visitors outside of the fieldhouse were the Medallion Hunt, Shirt Selfie Content, Bingo, Senior Center activities, Craft Fair and the Fat Bike Blitz Race.