by Ted Stone
staff writer

Baudette expects to draw several thousand people to town again this year for Fourth of July celebrations.  Festivities include music, food, crafts, two parades, a 5-kilometer run, all kinds of entertainment and, of course, northern Minnesota’s most spectacular fireworks display.
Just as in previous years, the design for the fireworks show is being kept secret, but Mike Hovde, president of the Baudette-Lake of the Woods Chamber of Commerce, said at least part of the display could pay homage to Willie Walleye’s 50th birthday.
And there’s another 50th anniversary in addition to Willie’s this year. Fourth of July activities will include a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Baudette Air Base, with a reunion held over the holiday weekend for the 692nd Radar Squadron. According to Shelly Phillippe, a local organizer for the reunion, more than 150 people are expected in town for a weekend get-together. Activities will include a fish-fry on Friday night and a squadron float for the Fourth of July Parade, as well as other reunion and Independence Day events.
According to Hovde, Fourth of July entertainment this year will include the magician Craig Carlson, who will perform at 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The SkysBlue Band will play on the Main Avenue free stage from noon until 2 p.m. and the Fort Francis Highlanders will take their bagpipes on stage at 3:30 p.m. For the evening street dance, Tami and the Bachelor will perform. In addition to the main Fourth of July Parade at 2 p.m. there will be a kiddy parade at 1:30 p.m.
Other activities include a pie and ice cream social, a cake walk, bingo, arm wrestling, half-hour cruises on the Leonard C, milk-carton boat races, a kiddy carnival, kiddy races and a diaper derby. The street dance will go from 7 p.m. until midnight, with the fireworks display beginning about 10:15 p.m.
Hovde said $12,000 is budgeted for the fireworks at this year’s celebration. As many as 5 or 6 thousand people have come out for the display in the past and, Hovde said, with this year’s holiday falling on a Saturday, he wouldn’t be surprised to see the same kind of turnout again. “It draws people from all over really,” he said, “but northern Minnesota most specifically… People come from as far as Thief River Falls and well up into Canada.”
Hovde said it’s important to note there will be food and merchandise vendors again at this year’s celebration. Vendors open at 11 a.m., he said, and most will stay open until after the street dance in the evening. He said that he’s excited to see the locally-owned Walleye Wagon, after a few years absence, back again this year.  
Fourth of July buttons are on sale at local businesses, as well as along the parade route, starting an hour before the parade. There will be a button draw again this year with $1,000 in chamber bucks for prizes. A brochure, announcing specials from merchant sponsors, will be included with the $5 button purchase.
Hovde also noted that the beer garden will be open again, but operated a little differently than in past years to comply with city regulations. Beer and pop will be purchased with tickets this year and alcoholic beverages will be restricted to the designated area. All proceeds will go to help defray the cost of the fireworks display.