Story + Gallery + Video: Sun shines on Luverne's Buffalo Days celebration
Community's annual summer festival draws capacity crowdsLUVERNE — With blue skies and plenty of sunshine, Buffalo Days in Luverne was a rousing success this year. The beautiful weather brought people out in droves.
- Chip champs
- Packin' 'em in
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LUVERNE — With blue skies and plenty of sunshine, Buffalo Days in Luverne was a rousing success this year. The beautiful weather brought people out in droves.
“There was quite the crowd Friday night for the car show,” stated Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge. “Main Street was packed full.”
On Saturday, the mouth-watering aroma of all the delightful festival foods had many giving into temptation. A large crowd settled in to munch on a blooming onion, buffalo burger, gyro or funnel cake while watching the Tae Kwon Do demonstration at noon. High kicks, spins and breaking boards kept the audience entertained and enthralled.
Participants ranged from young children to adults, and each was given the opportunity to show the audience their moves. The demonstration is a long-standing tradition at Buffalo Days.
Wes Grieme is in his 30th year of instruction at Luverne Tae Kwon Do, and according to Chris Nowatzki, the Buffalo Days demonstration is why his oldest daughter became interested in becoming involved with the art.
“(The demonstration) went well,” Nowatzki stated after the event. “We’ve been busy preparing for a tournament that was a week and a half ago, and getting ready for testing next week. I’m very happy with how today’s event went.”
A short time later, another demonstration that drew a crowd had people smiling and clapping. The Spotlight Dancers, wearing shiny outfits that gleamed in the bright sunshine, performed a variety of dances. From the preschool class to older teens, the dancers kept the audiences entertained with their talent.
Another popular event, the buffalo chip flipping contest, had people laughing and cheering on the competitors. The winning team showed the crowd a sterling performance, earning themselves this year’s trophy and significant bragging rights. Members of the winning “Tom James” group included Britton Stratton, Logan Stratton and Jennifer Joldersma, all of Luverne.
The variety of arts and craft booths ranged from pottery to paintings and also included the opportunity for people of all ages to pet an alpaca.
“We’ve had a lot of visitors,” said David Smith of Grand A Alpacas of Jasper. “There’s been such a nice turnout today, and the weather cooperated nicely.”
In his fourth year of participating in Buffalo Days, Smith said people are more aware of alpacas now than they were when he first started bringing the animals.
“It used to be that everyone called them llamas, but a lot of people now know these guys are alpacas,” Smith stated.
It wasn’t just children who were eager to touch the fur on one of the fuzzy creatures. Adults were just as curious, and couldn’t resist reaching a hand through the fence to give an alpaca a pat on the head.
Tags: buffalo days, news, luverne, festivals
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