Elysian energy

Great food, good company, and celebrating the birth of the United States of America: Independence Day in a nutshell.

A couple thousand people were in and out of Elysian to celebrate the city’s near week-long Fourth of July Celebration from June 29 to July 4.

Kicking off the celebration was the Miss Elysian Pageant on Thursday, June 29, at the Elysian Fire Department. Miss Elysian 2022 passed on her crown to Desirae Domonoske while Madalyn Miller retired her Junior Miss Elysian duties to Payton Miller. A more in-depth story on the pageant is in this week’s paper.

Friday, June 30, was a beautiful day for two medallion hunts, while Saturday was the kids’ fishing contest along with kids’ bingo and the bean bag tournament. The Johnny Holm Band hit the stage at 9 p.m. and played until 12:30 a.m.

Sunday was the busiest day of all. The Elysian Fire Department held a pancake breakfast featuring Chris Cakes from 8 a.m. to noon; diners were offered the option of either finding a seat near the fire hall or taking their breakfasts to go. 

While Elysian residents and visitors enjoyed a hearty breakfast, downtown Main Street was occupied by a flea market. Vendors ranged from local businesses like Ty’s Ginseng to others selling Ecuadorian table runners and wooden pan flutes.

There was also the “28th Annual Elysian Car, Truck, Rat Rod, Motorcycle and Tractor Show” on the western blocks of Main Street, where 50 vehicles were judged. On display was a bit of everything from an old John Deere tractor to classic muscle cars like Chevrolet Camaros and Novas.

Throughout most of the morning, the Wendt Sisters (Brenda and Lynda) performed under the entertainment tent with the Father’s Daughters performing from 1 to 3 p.m. The kids’ power pedal pull also took place at noon.

After a few rounds of bingo at 7 p.m., the fireworks went off from Lake Tustin Park.

Monday, July 3, was less tightly scheduled with a chicken feed at the American Legion from 5 p.m. until the food was gone. However, the fireman’s street dance, featuring Smokescreen, was a four-hour long affair.

As is tradition for Elysian’s Fourth of July Celebration, Independence Day featured two different parades: the first one took place on Lake Francis and featured decorated boats. The second, arguably the most popular event of the celebration, took place on Main Street at 2 p.m. People wanting a decent spot for the grand parade had to get there at least an hour early; folks were already taking up spots before noon.

In between the parades were face painting by Making Faces of Mankato and the 37th Annual “Bob Childs” Turtle Races. After the parade was an arm wrestling tournament.

Throughout the celebration, there were food trucks such as Polly’s Pantry, Kelm’s BBQ, and Wiste’s Meat Market. Main Street Venue also provided refreshments like water, lemonade, and strawberries and cream.

Unlike the weather for most of last weekend’s local celebrations, this week was almost perfect. Although Mother Nature did threaten to make the last day of Elysian’s Fourth of July Celebration stormy, it turned out to only be a typical humid summer day, capping off a week of music, parades, and everything red, white, and blue in Elysian.