SEE RELATED RIVERFEST 2024 COVERAGE:
PHOTO GALLERIES: Parade , Party in the Park , Art in the Park , Taste of Monticello
ARTICLES: Family Fun Night , Pie-Eating Contest , Royal Ambassador Coronation
MONTICELLO — Riverfest 2024 is sure to go down in Monticello’s history books as a memorable event.
Taking place during the first heatwave of the season, the 48th year featured a full slate of family fun in the hot summer sun — along with some rain and even some baseball-sized hail.
Citizen of the Year Jim Dickrell was a ubiquitous presence over the four-day Riverfest run. All 6-foot-2-inches of his lanky frame were easily spotted towering above the crowds, sporting his signature royal blue Lions Club polo at most every event, including the Block Party, Party in the Park, Family Fun Night, where he judged the pie-eating contest, and the parade, where he was the grand marshal.
Mayor Lloyd Hilgart was also a familiar figure, taking part in nearly every festivity, whether it was manning the grill at the Block Party alongside fellow volunteers; at the parade, where he rode in the cargo bed of a Hummer wearing a stars-and-stripes cowboy hat, throwing out candy and koozies; handing roses to the 10 Monticello Royal Ambassador candidates; or, perhaps most memorably, emerging as the triumphant winner in the pie-eating contest.
While Hilgart, Dickrell and many others have been attending Riverfest for decades, there were also plenty of newbies checking it out for the first time.
That included 1-year-old Harlow Martin, who visited the joint Art in the Park and Taste of Monticello events held on Saturday at Ellison Park with her parents.
“She’s having a blast,” said mom Jenny Martin. “She loves the food. I gave her some mac and cheese. She likes seeing all of the dogs too.”
Food and dogs — of the edible variety, that is — were also the focus of Thursday’s unofficial start to Riverfest, where a Block Party at the Monticello Community Center drew about 600 people eager for free hotdogs, soda and homemade desserts.
The edible delights continued into the late afternoon and evening Thursday at the Party in the Park, held by the Monticello Chamber of Commerce & Industry at Ellison Park on the banks of the Mississippi River.
There, Monticello resident and Chamber member Ron Martin, owner of Sweep Home MN, was handing out free slices of ripe watermelon at a booth by the park pavilion.
The watermelon was much appreciated by two young first-time attendees, 6-year-old Cass and younger brother Baker, 4, of Monticello, whose mom said “they love watermelon more than anything.”
Sitting next to grandfather Bob Somerville of Monticello, 9-year-old Kenzie McCooley dug into a couple sweet slices, the juices dripping down her chin.
The pair was sharing a picnic table with Bonnie and David Stromberg of Monticello, who were enjoying dinner at Party in the Park.
“I don’t get pizza often, so this is a treat,” Bonnie said of the slices she had just finished, as David strode off to get his second burger of the night.
“My husband had a hamburger and fries and he said it was fabulous,” she said, with the call of another proving irresistible.
A cooler treat on offer was being served up by the Young Professionals of Monticello group, led by Dexter Hanson, who were handing out free sno-cones.
There was more to do than just eat at Party in the Park, including plenty for the younger set, with face painting care of MontiArts, a makeshift hair salon run by the Monticello Royal Ambassadors and candidates adding fun wash-out color to young heads, and a whole games area for kids.
Chamber member Michael Richardson of Country Financial was in charge of the high-striker, a carnival-style mallet game that had gaggles of little boys lining up to test their strength.
While Benik Rauch, 8, of Big Lake was looking forward to playing the games, his little sister, Lyna, 6, couldn’t wait to take a ride on the Harold Express.
“She’s excited for the choo-choo train,” mom Becca Rauch said.
The miniature red Harold Express train was also offering kids free rides during the Art in the Park and Taste of Monticello events held on Saturday morning into the afternoon at Ellison.
While Saturday dawned rather rainy, it didn’t stop folks from coming by to check out the 78 vendors who were selling their artwork and other creations at Art in the Park, including 28 craftspeople who were new to the event this year.
Artwork for sale included everything from the traditional — like paintings, photography, woodwork, wall decor, hand-thrown pottery and jewelry — to more unique creations, like carvings made from tree stumps, marbled cutting boards, colorful glass birdbaths, wire tree art and fanciful lawn decorations.
Many visitors were shopping for gifts. That included Gwen Moore of Isle, who picked up a custom-made sign cobbled together out of old Minnesota license plates. Spelling out “Our happy place,” Moore said it would make a one-of-a-kind housewarming present.
Toward the center of the park, about 10 different vendors were selling food to hungry attendees in the Taste of Monticello. Popular picks included Chinese combo plates from Chin Yuen, nachos and burritos from Rancho Grande, barbecue from Rocket Ribs and slices from Pizza Ranch.
Earlier, on Saturday morning, Ellison played host to the annual Riverfest Beanbag Tournament, in which Team MC emerged victorious. Cornhole play continued throughout the day, though on a less competitive scale.
The rainy Saturday morning also saw another competition, in the form of two road races held along West River Street.
Riverfest’s inaugural one-mile race had two victors, with 62-year-old Rollie Vetsch of Big Lake taking first place for the males, with a time of 7:48, and 9-year-old Isabelle Hadash of Monticello emerging as the female winner, with a time of 9:02.
In the traditional 5K road race, the winners were 19-year-old Noah Mahoney, coming in at 15:48, and 16-year-old Isabel Mahoney, with a time of 17:35.
Later, on Saturday afternoon, the day’s final contest was held at the Monticello Community Center Pool, where the Riverfest Duck Splash replaced the traditional duck race due to bridge construction.
Monticello’s trio of 2023-24 Royal Ambassadors each took a turn splashing into the pool from the slide, grabbing one of the approximately 5,000 yellow rubber duckies in the water.
In the Duck Splash, Garnet Gilligan of Monticello won the $2,500 grand prize, while John Gaetz, Susan Smith, Ann Lundqust, Terry Sowers and Caitlyn Master each won $1,000.
Later in the evening, Saturday’s Riverfest festivities wrapped up with the annual Street Dance behind the MCC, which featured opening act Betty Danger followed by headliner Raised on Radio playing rock classics.
Fortunately, the dance ended shortly before the weather took a turn for the worse. A powerful thunderstorm came through late Saturday into Sunday morning, sending down destructive hail, along with high winds upwards of 60 mph.
While the storm struck all throughout the area, the city appeared to be hit particularly hard, with a photo taken by a Monticello resident showing hail chunks about the same size as a baseball.
City crews from Monticello Public Works quickly snapped into action, cleaning up debris and preparing before Sunday morning’s worship service and afternoon parade.
While parade-goers were treated to sunny skies Sunday, the day dawned hot and only continued to heat up as it wore on, hitting a scorching high of about 92 in the afternoon.
This year, more than 130 units took part in the Western-themed procession, which lasted for nearly two hours, kicking off at noon and running until about 2 p.m.
As the parade opened with local American Legion and VFW Honor Guard members leading the way, things quickly got off to a rocky start, with one of the guardsmen suffering a health problem as the marchers passed by the MCC on Walnut Street. After he was loaded into Wright County Sheriff Sean Deringer’s SUV, the parade went on as planned.
Highlights included the St. Michael-Albertville/Monticello Marching Band, which put on quite a show; foil-wrapped hot dogs, complete with mustard and ketchup packets, passed out by the Pork Chop Guys; and a zippy go-kart spectacle courtesy of fez-wearing Shriners from the St. Cloud-based Osman Shrine.
Following the parade, the area behind the MCC turned into a Sunday Funday celebration, with live music, food, bounce houses and bingo.
In addition, the Monticello Fire Department created a pop-up splash pad to help people cool down, spraying bathing-suit clad children with a hose from the ladder of a fire engine.
This is also when ceremonies were held for Citizen of the Year and Monticello’s Royal Ambassador coronation.
Most Popular
Comments / 0