I know a lot of the Moorhead-Fargo community goes out to the lakes on the Fourth of July, but my family has almost always spent it in Moorhead. We loved it when MSUM put on their all-day Carnival in the center of their Campus. Ron, my spouse, and George Davis, now retired faculty, would co-chair the Ice Cream stand. When they were old enough, both of my kids loved working at it. Besides ice cream, there were clowns making balloon animals, and all sorts of traditional carnival games and food. If you got tired, or needed to cool off, Weld Hall ran nonstop old fashioned cartoons. At 5pm, things would slow down, and we’d walk home (I live between MSUM and Concordia) and have a family barbecue. In the evening, Ron would bike out to our grass spot by Holmquist Hall to get a parking spot, I would make popcorn and lemonade, and we’d fill the car with kids and blankets, and set up our grassy spot to wait for the Fireworks to start.

I miss the MSUM Carnival, but evening fun still remains. At 6:30PM, food concessions start at Nemzek, followed shortly with Inflatable games at 7:00, and a Kid’s Decorated Bike parade and Lake Agassiz Concert Band at 7:30pm. The Front Fenders will get us all revved at 8:30pm, and the Fireworks start at 10:30pm. And these are the very best of Fireworks!! I hope you and your favorite people to hang with have a wonderful 4th of July as we remember and appreciate our country.