For three long days last January, Moorhead feared the Fourth of July would lose its sparkle. But thanks to members of the Moorhead Business Association, the annual tradition is easing into its 44th year of highlighting families’ midsummer celebration.
And they’re looking for a few more volunteers to make “Moorhead Proud 5-6-5-6-Ooohs and Aaaahs” happen. (To join the crew, email the MBA: mara@firstavenuepromo.com.)
The 160-member organization of Moorhead businesses will need 60 community volunteers on the evening of the Fourth to keep the rockets, aerial shells, bangers and fiery bouquets safely bursting in air over Alex Nemzek Field at Minnesota State University Moorhead. They’ll help park cars, direct traffic, welcome families at the gates, keep the curious at a safe distance from the pyrotechnics, and handle the rest of the sundry chores that in the past were handled by MSUM staff.
“Our businesses have stepped up to do their part,” says MBA director Dave Hunstad, who with Mara Morken Fogarty has put together plans for the 2016 event. “Now, with the help of our residents, we’ll be able to carry on this family-friendly event that everyone can enjoy.”
It was a cold, dark day last January when Moorhead and its neighbors learned that, after 43 years, MSUM could no longer afford to sponsor its traditional Fourth of July festivities. But good news quickly chased away the gloom.
A few days later, Mayor Del Rae Williams told the Chamber’s State of the Cities event, “If you want to be a hero, it's about $40,000 to keep it going. That’s a happening thing in our community, and I hope you'll make that something that comes true.”
Her cellphone buzzed while she was still speaking. It was American Crystal president David Berg … pledging $10,000 to the project.
Meanwhile, Hunstad was on the phone with MBA then-vice president Anna Hanson, trying to come up with a way to keep the skies alight on the Fourth – an urgent topic of discussion all over town. They agreed that he’d spend a week seeking support for the substantial costs among members. “If I could raise half of what we needed,” he remembers, “I could keep plugging along.”
With Crystal’s pledge and another $10,000 from BNSF Railway, it took just two dozen additional businesses’ contributions to meet the goal: Sanford, Kovash Marine, Bell Bank & Trust, Moorhead Scheels, D-S Beverages, Xcel Energy, Town & Country and Central Minnesota credit unions, Paul Eidbo, Rick Electric, Camrud Foss Concrete, Eventide, Voxland Electric, the Fryn’ Pan, MSUM, Mayor Williams, Gate City Bank, Ringstrom Law, Lemke Home Improvement, Valley Premier Bank, Remodeling by Foss, Jaq’s Garage, Sig Olson and Sons, and Creatively Uncorked.
The fireworks display remains in the hands of RES Specialty Pyrotechnics, the same Minneapolis firm that organized past MSUM displays. Moorhead’s fire and police departments are sharing their long experience and procedures, along with F-M Ambulance and MSUM’s own security and physical plant staffs. Hunstad says the MBA is still looking for an organization that might consider offering simple concessions at the alcohol-free event.
The evening begins with a picnic and orientation for community volunteers (who’ll be decked out in custom bright-yellow T-shirts). The gates open at 8 p.m., with Post-Traumatic Funk Syndrome playing in front of the grandstand at 9 p.m. and the fireworks beginning at 10:30.
“We’re so grateful that our community stepped forward and shouted, ‘Let’s do this,’” Morken Fogarty says. It’s by far the largest event the MBA has organized since its inception in 2010. It’s one of three planned this summer, also including a golf tournament June 27 and “Welcome Back, Students” Sept. 8 on the First Avenue bridge.
“There are so many great traditions throughout the year in Fargo-Moorhead. This one is Moorhead’s,” she says. “It’s going to be a sparkling good time.”
And Hunstad adds, “It’s going to be a blast!”
