Dodger Days, Wagon Train made weekend memorable
2022’s Friendship Wagon Train rolled into Dodge Center last weekend providing an added activity to Dodger Days, a new community-wide event. Although the two events were not officially connected they both provided enjoyment to area residents.
Dodger Days involved four days of summer fun over the Father’s Day weekend. The Friendship Wagon Train is a yearly event in southern Minnesota that raises funds for Special Olympics.
Most of the Dodger Day events were held at North Park and the event was appropriately kicked off on Friday morning with a rededication of the park.
Numerous improvements have been made to the park over the last several years including construction of a picnic shelter, adaptive playground, trails and a pollinator garden. The tennis courts, parking lot and dugouts have been improved as well as a variety of electrical and landscaping work.
The city received an initial grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources with additional funding received from the Dodge Center Foundation, City of Dodge Center, Peoples Energy, Dodge Refreshed and other individuals and companies.
“Thank you for the three-year project,” City Administrator Bryce Lange said at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Friday activities included a variety of yard games at the park sponsored by the Dodge Center Library and a cannonball diving contest at the adjacent Natalie Webb Aquatic Center. Uriah Vagness was the winner of the cannonball event.
Following the contest, the aquatic center was open for free swimming until 7 p.m. A beanbag tournament and the Dodge Center Fire Department cook-out rounded out the day’s activities.
While Dodger Days was under way in Dodge Center Friday, a group of wagons and riders was gathering at the Dodge County Fair Grounds in preparation for the start of a week-long wagon train.
After breakfast provided by the Kasson Lions Club, the Friendship Wagon Train headed east on County Road 34 for a stop in Dodge Center, adjacent to North Park. Arriving at the park about 10:30 a.m. they had time to rest and provide water for the horses, greet the visitors and enjoy lunch provided by the Dodge Center Lions.
The wagon train included wagons and riders from southeastern Minnesota, as well as from throughout the United States.
Michael Cunningham said he had come from Tennessee with his wagon and mules, John and Jack. Cunningham said he brings his team to wagon train events throughout the country and has been to Minnesota 15 times. The mules, of course, are transported to the events in a trailer to the rides but that means they do have over 20,000 road miles to their credit.
His family, he said, always had horses and “my daddy at one time had 51 brood mares.” He added he brought his father to Minnesota to participate in the wagon train several times.
The wagon train, he said, stops in a town and a lot of people stop by to pet the animals and ask questions.
“I don’t come up here for the rides,” he said, “I come for the people, I come for friends.”
He knows many of the participants, he said, as they often travel to various events.
Closer to home, Bobby Hanson and Mary Waldron of Chatfield brought their horses, Montana and Foxie Lady. The two raise quarter horses and said that Montana, who sometimes seemed a bit nervous during the stopover, was participating in his first wagon train, while his calmer partner Foxie Lady is a wagon train veteran.
After their stay in Dodge Center the group reorganized and headed out of Dodge Center to Hayfield where they would stay the night. From there they will continue their trip through the area before wrapping it up on Sunday. Participants pay a fee to take part in the wagon train and donations are collected along the way. At the conclusion of the ride all monies raised are given to Special Olympics.
Meanwhile, the family-friendly events continued at the park with a Venom Softball Tournament, a soccer tournament, a Chalk Art contest sponsored by the library and ice cream available from Faith in Action.
The event continued into the evening with music on Main Street sponsored by the Annadine, a movie at North Park and concluding with fireworks.
Sunday featured the traditional Father’s Day weekend fly-in breakfast sponsored by the Rochester Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 100, the Dodge Dash 5k and a car show.
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