www.bigstonelake.com | Page 1

Big Stone Lake Area

Chamber of Commerce

Bi-monthly Newsletter

August 10, 2015

Calendar of E vents

Monday, August 10: Citizens for Big Stone Lake

meeting from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, August 11: Big Stone Arts Council

meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ortonville

Library Media Center

Wednesday, August 12: Clean up the Town for

Cornfest Day

Thursday, August 13: Social Media Lunch from

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Library Media Center;

Topic: How You Use Social Media

Thursday, August 13: Author Jack Pearson at the

Ortonville Public Library at 3 p.m.

Friday, August 14—Sunday, August 16: 77th

Annual Cornfest in Ortonville

Saturday, August 15: Nature Story and Craft at Big

Stone Lake State Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wednesday, August 19: Chamber

office closed for tourism meeting

Wednesday, August 19—Sunday,

August 23: Swift County Fair in

Appleton

Cornfest Schedule of Events! It’s officially Cornfest week!

The 77th Annual Cornfest gets started Friday with

the arts & crafts vendors opening at 4 p.m. All the

mainstays are back, too: the Chuckwagon

Jamboree from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at St. John’s

Catholic Church; the Ice Cream Social from 6 to 9

p.m. at the Big Stone County Museum; the

Ortonville School Foundation Golf Tournament

(see page 7 for details!); and DJ Nate in the Beer

Garden at 7 p.m.

Saturday highlights include the annual Dad’s

Belgian Waffle Feed from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Fire

Hall; 3D Archery Shoot from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at

Minkota Archery Range; Family Time from 10

a.m. to 12 p.m.; Big Stone Cruisers Annual Car

Show from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; free G3 boat

rides from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and pontoon rides

from 1 to 3 p.m.; and fire department water fights

from 2 to 4 p.m.

Sunday kicks off bright and early with registration

for the 5K/10K Run/Walk; All Faith Church

Services at 8:30 a.m. at the Museum; Hallelujah

Hooligans from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Sweet Corn

Feed from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Helicopter Rides

at 12 p.m. For a full schedule of events, click here

or find one on page 6 of this newsletter!

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Kids Toy Raffle! Inspired by Charles Bartz' love of children and

Moose Lodge's mission of caring for children, a

kids wagon, twister trike and four bikes will be

raffled off at Cornfest!

Kids can sign up for their age category all

weekend long at the entrance to Lakeside Park!

Thanks to the Moose Lodge #407 of Ortonville for

donating the items! And thanks to Bob & Sue from

Ortonville Hardware for providing these items at-

cost to the Moose!

Cornhole Tournament! Sign up for Cornfest’s version of a bean bag

tournament: Cornhole tournament!

The tournament, sponsored by Barr’s Conroy

Electric, is in its 3rd year at Cornfest. This year,

the tournament is Friday, August 14 at 5:30 p.m.

behind the beer gardens.

The Cornhole tournament entry fee is $10 for a

two-person team. All ages are welcome!

Register your team by

emailing the Chamber

here. Registrations will

also be taken before the

tournament. Payout will

be based on

participation.

All Ages Triathlon! Run around the track, bike to the pool and swim in

the pool in this All Ages Triathlon!

The Triathlon begins at 8 a.m. Saturday, August

14 at the Ortonville Athletic Field.

Entry fee is $25, which includes a t-shirt.

Call the Ortonville Pool at 320-839-3426 or the

City Office at 320-839-3428 to register.

Imaginick! Prepare to be amazed by magic and to be

entertained with comedy when Nick Bretz, aka

Imaginick, takes the stage!

Hailing from Perham, Minn., Imaginick will

impress the audience of all ages with his

prestidigitation at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 15 at

Lakeside Park Gazebo. Sponsored by the

Ortonville Public Library, Stoney Run Lodge and

the Big Stone Lake Area Chamber.

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BSLA Sings Competition! Warm up those vocal chords, Big Stone Lake

Area: a singing competition is on its way to

Cornfest!

Fifteen to 25 year olds compete to be the voice

representing the Big Stone Lake Area in the state-

wide Minnesota Sings competition, where they

will compete for prizes! Contestants must live,

work or go to school in Big Stone County and

must be able to attend Minnesota Sings in

Minneapolis September 27. Entry forms are

available here and are due August 10.

The Big Stone Lake Area Sings competition is at

6:30 p.m. Saturday, August 16 at Lakeside Park

Gazebo. Contestants will be ranked by judges

Tammy Ragan, Jennifer Neu and Mark Lindquist.

Tammy Ragan is the kindergarten through 12th

grade vocal and general music teacher for Clinton-

Graceville-Beardsley Schools. Jennifer Neu is the

vocal music instructor at James Knoll Elementary

and Ortonville High School. Mark Lindquist, an

Ortonville native. runs a motivational speaking

and entertainment firm based out of Fargo, N.D

and makes his living as a speaker, author and lead

singer of the Mark J. Lindquist Big Band.

What a Musical Weekend! Cornfest comes alive with musical entertainment!

There is roller skating at Sioux Historic from 6 to

10 p.m. Saturday! The Rock ‘n’ Roll Farmer is

playing at the VFW both Friday and Saturday

nights at 9 a.m.!

The Hallelujah Hooligans, a gospel group from

South Dakota, will start things off at 12 p.m.

Saturday in the Gazebo. They are sponsored by

Living Hope Fellowship Church.

Sponsored by Ortonville Chiropractic Clinic, the

Kanten Bros. take the Gazebo stage at 2:30 p.m.,

and then head up to Headwaters for a 6 p.m. show.

And don’t forget about the dance with hourly

drinks specials at Sioux Historic at 7 p.m.!

Cover band Eclipse will be rockin’ the Beer

Garden starting at 9 p.m. Saturday.

Pop...Boom...Bang! Fireworks! Thanks to community and local

business support, fireworks will

be a part of the 77th Annual

Cornfest!

The display will be at 9:45 p.m.

Saturday, August 15. The view is

great from Lakeside Park!

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Grand Parade! With military veterans Muriel Geier and Dwayne

Koehntopp leading as Grand Marshals, the

Cornfest Grand Parade is Sunday, August 16 on

Minnesota Street!

The parade will start at the intersection of the Golf

Course Road and Minnesota Street. It will end at the

intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Minnesota

Street by the Ortonville school.

Parade applications are available online here or stop

by the Chamber office to pick one up. Drop off

applications to receive a parade unit number. A map

of the parade route and additional lineup instructions

are also available at the Chamber office.

Note: if you are throwing candy from your unit,

make sure it reaches the curb. There will be a

garbage trailer at the end of all parade units. Please

throw away any garbage in there.

5K/10K Run/Walk! On Sunday, August 16, runners and walkers will

take part in the annual Cornfest 5K/10K Run & 1

Mile Walk on the Big Stone National Wildlife

Refuge’s Auto Tour Route!

Registration begins at 7:45 a.m. Saturday, with the

run/walk beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Divisions include both mens and women in age

categories 14 and under, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-

49, 50-59 and 60 and over.

The entry fee is $20 for the 5K/10K

Run and $3 per person or $10 for a

family of four for the walk.

Applications can be downloaded here

or are available at the Chamber

Cornfest Button Drawing! Buy a Cornfest button and get a chance to win

Chamber Bucks!

Not only does the button support Cornfest and get

you into the Sweet Corn Feed Sunday, August 16,

but if your number is drawn after the parade, you

could win in a drawing for $250 in Chamber

Bucks! Need not be present to win.

First place is $100; second and third place is $50.

Ping Pong Ball Drop! The Chamber will once again be throwing out

numbered ping pong balls during the Grand

Parade, and those lucky enough to catch one have

a chance to win prizes!

Following the parade at 4 p.m., there will be a

drawing for $200 in Chamber Bucks. You must be

present to win. Please return the ping pong balls to

the Chamber at Lakeside Park.

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Board of Directors

Katie Adelman, Chamber Director

Dustin Roggenbuck, President

Greg Peterson, Vice President

Sue Kulbeik, Secretary

Board Members

Artie Arndt

Mark Berg

Sue Kaercher-Blake

Scott Conroy

Lisa Merritt

Karen Oakes

Steve Roggenbuck (charter member)

Mary Ann Ulrich (charter member)

Contact the Chamber

987 U.S. Highway 12

Ortonville, MN 56278

320-839-3284

chamber@bigstonelake.com

Find Out “What’s Shakin’”

at the Chamber

On KDIO Thursdays at 9:05 a.m.

bigstonelake.com

facebook.com/BSLAChamber

twitter.com/BSLAChamber

Kids Pedal Tractor Pull! Get the kids ready for the state-sanctioned Kids Pedal Tractor Pull!

The contest is at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, August 15 at Lakeside Park.

The Big Stone Pedal Pullers will be running the contest and will

hand out wood plaques for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each age

group. Ages include kids four to 11

years old.

Thanks to the Kids Pedal Tractor

Pull sponsor Minnwest Bank!

Auction Items! Get your game on with one of ten decorated bean bag (or

Cornhole!) board sets! They are a new addition on this year’s

Cornfest Auction!

The other item is decorated chairs that can be

used outdoors as a flower planter holder or as

a piece of deck or patio furniture. It can also

be used indoors as an additional seat or as a

conversation piece.

The 7th Annual Cornfest Auction is Sunday,

August 16 following the Grande Parade. It

will be at 4 p.m. at Lakeside Park Gazebo.

All proceeds raised from the Cornfest Auction

go to the Chamber’s Downtown Revitalization

Committee!