By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

The New York Mills Summer Festival and Lund Mania planning committee have been hard at work getting everything ready for their annual summer festivities. Everything from a Fish House Festival to a street dance and more will be taking place on Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13.  ¶  Latham Hetland, one of the organizers of the annual event, said that there are a lot of returning staples this year which the community will enjoy, including activities for all ages, delicious food, and lots of fun. 

¶  Kicking off the event will be the Lund Mania Fishing Tournament on Friday morning, before the Fish House Festival begins on Main Avenue at 10 a.m. where artists from all over the area will be painting their own designs on a spear house.

Running along with the Fish House Festival, will be the Great Boat Hunt at 12 p.m., which has a novel change this year. Instead of one boat with many clues, there will be 50 boats with one hour to search for them to win prizes both big and small.

“We’re going to have many boats around town instead of just the one boat,” said Hetland. “Each boat has a surprise prize. Some will be little pries, some will be bigger prizes. This year we’re going to hid them in public places and in businesses.”

From 1-5 p.m. a free swim time at the Legried Community Pool will be open for families to cool off from the summer heat. From 4-7 p.m. a fish fry, food vendors, inflatables, and a pie and ice cream social will be available after the Fish House Festival wraps up for the day.

From 4:30-5:30 p.m., the excitement of The Boatville Drags will come to a head as everyone can watch and cheer for their favorite team participating in the pedal boat races this year. This event is sponsored by Magnifi Financial and the Farmers & Merchants State Bank.

At 5:30 p.m., the Lund Mania Fishing Tournament results ceremony will take place where the top winners will be announced.

At 6:30 p.m. the fish house artwork from the Fish House Festival will be raffled off along with a live auction with the Perala Bros. Auctioneers and the NY Mills Regional Cultural Center.

At 7 p.m., the annual parade will roll through NY Mills, showcasing community organizations, businesses, high school class reunions and more.

Once 9 p.m. rolls around, the day is capped off with a street dance and live music from “Whiskey Business” to end the day of excitement.

Saturday also features the Lund Mania 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament at 9 a.m. and the Mills Messy & Mighty Fun Run at Smith Park Field/Track at 1 p.m.

“I feel like we always come up with new things, we try to change thins a little bit every year,” said Hetland. “It just keeps getting bigger, which is good. The parade keeps growing, people love the parade, so we’re grateful for that. You find something that works and you keep growing that. The fishing tournament keeps getting bigger, I feel like the excitement is getting bigger too.

“It’s always just fun seeing the people together in town, it gets such a sense of pride in the community,” he continued. “Seeing people you haven’t seen in a while, everybody being able to relax and do something fun and different for the whole family.”

Hetland emphasized the importance of the volunteers, organizers, and sponsors of the event each year.

“The biggest thing is there’s so many people that help out with different parts of it that it’s become so efficient to be able to put this large of an event on because everybody just knows what they’re supposed to do and it’s just great to see that.”