SPRING LAKE PARK, Minn. – (June 2, 2016) – Looking to kick off summer the right way, Spring Lake Park’s upcoming Tower Days gives families a fun way to celebrate the warming weather. “Tower Days is a four day event. We start with a parade on Thursday, and that starts at 6:30 p.m. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get through our audience. We have the Patriot’s Marching Band and the Maple Grove Marching Band coming out, we have a couple dance studios, lots of vehicles and entertainment, Renaissance Festival folks come out, e have clowns, and a hot air balloon at the end of the parade,” said Spring Lake Park Recreation Department’s Marian Rygwall.
The annual gathering has a long history in the city and has evolved over the years. “It started bicentennial year when the water towers were painted red, white, and blue and a group of citizens decided lets do our community festival around that whole theme of red, white, and blue patriotic water towers. Back in 2000 that group dissolved so the city picked it up, the recreation department, along with a volunteer group committee that mostly consisted of Lions and some citizens in the city that come and help put ideas together, what they would like to see and we morphed it into more of a family event,” said Rygwall.
On top of the recurring attractions such as the parade, car show, water wars, lumberjack shows, and live music, some new things added this year are demonstrations from the Blaine Police Department K-9 unit, and a Ghostbusters interactive event. All the work that goes into Tower Days is to bring the community together. “It creates that great sense of community and we have a lot of neighbors that connect with each other. We have senior citizens bringing their grand kids and their families out to show off their community. We have a lot of people from outside the community that come in and discover Spring Lake Park so the businesses like to help sponsor it because it brings those people in. It’s just a real nice feeling, that small town feeling, and we’re in the metropolitan area but have a small town effect,” said Rygwall.
The event is funded entirely by donations, but a button can be purchased for three dollars that features artwork from a local student. Tower Days will wrap up with fireworks that cap off the excitement. “We have fireworks at the end so after the Rockin’ Hollywood’s we have fireworks shot off at Lakeside so that’s the end of the festival. Come out to Lakeside on each side of the lake you can get really up and personal, otherwise I’ve had people call me who are at the Blaine Airport saying great show,” said Rygwall. More information on Tower Days can be found here.
