Help your community keep Festival in the Park going

 
Growing up in Rhode Island, community festivals weren’t a major part of the summer.
Instead, there were a couple spread out throughout the summer months, including the Gaspee Days Parade, held in my hometown, which commemorates the bloodshed of the American Revolution.
Most summer days, when we weren’t playing baseball or training for other sports, were spent at the beach.
Then, when I moved to Minnesota, I quickly learned that instead of carving out every weekend to catch a baseball game or check out a new lake, I would be covering various community celebrations.
They ranged in size, and the smaller the community, it seemed, the larger the events.
For example, only a few people live in Godahl, an unincorporated community between Watonwan and Brown County. Their Labor Day Parade was massive; I even remember running into the late U.S Congressman Jim Hagedorn at a Casey’s on my way to the parade with my dog, Finn.
Hagedorn was running for the First Congressional seat, and I was a young reporter likely grabbing an energy drink before covering the parade.
I jokingly asked him if he was going to the parade, and, in fact, he was.
The moral of the story is, people show up for parades and community festivals across the state.
So it was shocking to me when I was working on stories for the Kasson Festival in the Park supplement we are running in this week’s DCI to learn about the challenges they are facing.
I was speaking to a committee member who told me there are concerns about financial struggles and a decline in volunteerism. In fact, the festival could soon be in jeopardy of closing down.
While covering a festival in Savage, a diverse community right outside Minneapolis, I wrote a similar story, but in that case, it was almost too late.
Their festival was on life support after a number of volunteers decided to retire and financial support started running dry.
Their community festival, Dan Patch Days, was the city’s pride and joy for many years.
But it also was the subject of multiple front page stories for weeks and months as discussions took place about what to do.
It all worked out in the end, with the city council even agreeing to pay up to $40,000 one year, I am reminded from my previous reporting, for things like free music and fireworks.
As I learned from my current reporting, the City of Kasson currently allocates $10,000 a year to the Festival.
The rest of the funds need to be raised by volunteers, through businesses stepping up to donate and maybe a family or group of friends throwing $20 into the festival’s fundraising bucket.
Regardless, the festival needs financial help to continue to operate at the level they have for many years.
They also need volunteers. These festivals run on volunteer power, and while they’re dedicated, people move away, have life challenges come up, and quite simply, burn out.
That’s why it’s critical to have a robust group of volunteers to help with the different tasks.
Volunteering can be scary, especially when you may not know what is needed or where you fit in. But consider this: Events like Kasson Festival in the Park require many skills and talents.
Maybe you are good at Canva, or maybe you can come up with creative wording for social media posts, or are good at organizing volunteers. Whatever your talents, I am sure no community celebration committee is going to turn anyone away.
As this Rhode Islander has learned, community celebrations in Minnesota are sacred, especially in smaller communities, and it would be a shame to see any of them go away.