by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
A big parade, street dance, fireworks, golfing, a bike rodeo, a kids’ run and the Libertyville party are all part of Sartell SummerFest 2017, which will take place Friday through Sunday, June 9-11.
This will be the 25th annual Sartell SummerFest.
The following is a line-up of events:
Friday, June 9
- The annual Libertyville Party will start at 5 p.m. on the grounds of Pine Meadow Elementary School. The free event, sponsored by Liberty Bank Minnesota, will feature many activities for children such as inflatables and face-painting and many more hands-on fun things to do. The LeSauk Township Lions Club will serve food with proceeds being donated to schools in Sartell.
- At 6 p.m., the 1K Kids’ Fun Run will begin for children ages 5-12 at Pine Meadow Elementary School. The kids will run a loop around the Libertyville party that will take place on the school grounds. The registration fee is $10 per child until May 22. After that time, the cost will increase to $15. Race-day registrations will be accepted. Proceeds from the run will help support recreational programs in the Sartell area. To register, to volunteer or to find out more information about the Kids’ Fun Run, go to http://sartellsummerfest.com/3.html.
Saturday, June 10
- At 10 a.m., the Libertyville Parade will start, with an expected 13 marching bands and scores of other parade units. The parade will head north on Riverside Avenue from Sartell Street to Seventh Street N., finishing at Sartell Middle School. The judging area will be set up on Riverside Avenue across the street from the DeZurik Water Control company. Parking for people with physical challenges will be available in the DeZurik parking lot. Parade-entry registration forms can be found at SartellSummerFest.com.
- From 1-3 p.m., a free Bike Safety Rodeo will take place for children in the parking lot of Sartell City Hall. The event is sponsored by the Sartell Police Department, BLEND and Project BrainSafe. Young participants should bring bikes and helmets so they can learn about bike-riding safety tips, such as how to bike safely in a roundabout. Free bicycle tune-ups will also be given.
- At 5 p.m., the gates will open at the beer garden and food court for the Great River Bowl & Partners’ Pub Street Dance. It’s a rain-or-shine event. The dance party will feature music by the ever-popular Diamondback and also by country/rock band Radio Nation, one of whose members is the Sartell-St. Stephen School District’s band director Dave Lumley. Radio Nation will start playing at 5:30 p.m., and Diamondback will perform from 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. At about 10 p.m., during a Diamondback intermission, the Blue Line Sports Bar & Grill Fireworks Show will brighten the night sky just south of the street-dance area.
Sunday, June 11
- Blackberry Ridge Golf Club will host a SummerFest Golf-Game Special that will include 18 holes and a cart for $19.07 (the year of Sartell’s founding, 1907). To register, call 320-257-4653.
For more information about any of the above, visit SartellSummerFest.com.
Sartell SummerFest 2017 is sponsored by Liberty Bank Minnesota, Great River Bowl & Partners’ Pub and Blue Line Sports Bar & Grill.
At Sartell SummerFest 2015, a balloon magician makes an animal balloon for a young visitor.
At the Libertyville Party at Sartell SummerFest 2016, families wait in line to enter the giant inflatable pirate ship under attack by a humongous octopus.
A color guard, ablaze with colors, marched down Seventh Street during the Sartell SummerFest Parade two summers ago.
Dave Lumley, one of the members or local band “Radio Nation,” will perform at the Sartell SummerFest 2017 street-dance party June 10. Lumley is also the band director for the Sartell-St. Stephen School District.
