BRICELYN &045; The main summer event in Bricelyn falls on the Fourth of July, but don’t forget about the two days worth of events leading up to it.

Bricelyn’s summer celebration kicks off on Sunday with the Children’s Theater presentation of

&8220;Meg and the Golden Key&8221; at 7 p.m. and a pie social at the First Lutheran Church at 8 p.m.

Following the pie social will be dances for teens and adults at 8:30 p.m. The teen dance will take place at the city park, while the adults can shake it at the American Legion.

Men’s softball and women’s volleyball tournaments will get under way at 9 a.m. on Monday while

across town, the classic car show will begin.

The fourth annual mini-golf tournament as well as minnow races will also take place Monday. At

the minnow races, contestants pick a minnow to race in a trough with separate lanes. Each person can use a straw to make bubbles to get the minnow to swim towards the finish line.

A parade will run down Main Street at 1 p.m. with a horse show and bingo in the park following.

An ATV and snowmobile bog will start at 3 p.m.

From 5 to 7 p.m., there will be a chicken barbecue followed by a variety show at 7:30 p.m. at the Bricelyn school building.

Stub Highway 253 will perform a patriotic show at the athletic field at 9:30 p.m. and a fireworks display will light up the sky at 10 p.m.

The Fourth of July on Tuesday starts with the Firemen’s Pancake Breakfast from 7:30 to 11 a.m. At 9 a.m. and softball and volleyball tournaments will continue.

The antique tractor pull begins at 10 a.m. and the Bricelyn Museum and the Little Red Schoolhouse will be open from 10 a.m. to noon.

&045; Jeff Budlong

NORTHWOOD, Iowa &045;&160;The Fourth of July celebration will again have plenty to offer to everyone who comes to Northwood to commemorate the holiday.

Activities will start at 6:30 p.m. today with a softball tournament that continues on Saturday and Sunday.

On Sunday, people should bring a chair to the 11 a.m. church service at Swensrud Park.

From 5-7 p.m. on Monday a community picnic will be held in Swensrud Park. This will be followed from 7-9 p.m. by the celebration Iowa Singers & Jazz Band (formerly State Fair Singers).

Scheduled events on Tuesday begin at 7 a.m. with a breakfast hosted by the United Methodist Church until 10 a.m. The 5-kilometer run or walk starts

8 a.m. at the Main Museum.

The parade will start at 11 a.m. with food in Swensrud Park to follow. There will also be smiley face train rides, carnival games, Aristocrats car display in the park, temporary tattoos by cheerleaders and other activities.

A basketball tournament will be held at the courts from 1-2 p.m.

The Miss and Mr., and Little Miss and Mr. Northwood citizen awards, citizen’s award and youth skits will be presented at 2 p.m.

From 2-4 p.m. the museum buildings will be open.

A fishing contest will be held from 2:30-3:30 p.m. A Lion’s Club duck race and the FFA Pedal Pull are scheduled for 3 p.m.

Bovine Bingo will be put on by TUNE &045;&160;Totally United Northwood Effort &045; at 3:30 p.m. by the pool, and fire department water ball fights and pool games start at 4 p.m.

Evening events at the Worth County Fairgrounds include a TUNE BBQ at the 4-H booth starting at 5:30 p.m. and food at the grandstand by Special Events.

A fire department raffle takes place at 7 p.m.

An 8 p.m. program will feature Reminisce with Byron and Karolyn singing big band, ’50s and ’60s hits. This program also features comedy magician Lee Coe.

The Fourth of July celebration in Northwood will conclude with a fireworks display at 10 p.m.

&045; Ed Shannon

AUSTIN &045;&160;For Freedom Fest, all sorts of events are planned for Austin’s Family Day in the Park

Monday with nearly constant performances in the Bandshell Community Park starting at 2 p.m. and ending at 10 p.m. Performances begin with Bridget’s Dance Conservatory. Jane Taylor Academy of Dance, Mariachi Estrella, Fellow 2 Trio, Escalade Harmony Quartet, Community Jazz Band, Irish Minstrels, Rush Hour and the Austin Community Band. Meanwhile, there will be carnival games, a titanic slide, a kiddie pillar crawl, a moonwalk, bingo, an arts and crafts show, and chainsaw art demonstrations between 2 and 8 p.m. in the rest of the park. There will be a fireworks display at dusk.

The Grand Old Fourth kicks off Tuesday at 11 a.m. with a 150-unit parade down Main Street, and again the stage will be full all day long at Bandshell Community Park. From 1 to 8 p.m. kids can play carnival games, and there will be a free ice cream social at the Westminster Church parking lot. Entertainers including a juggler/stilt walker, a magician and a clown will stroll around the park between 2 and 6 p.m. A big fireworks display will take place at dusk.

&045; Kari Lucin

BLOOMING PRAIRIE &045;&160;An Old Fashioned July 4th starts Monday in Blooming Prairie’s City Park. Between 4 and 9 p.m., concessions and &8220;Taste of Blooming Prairie&8221; food stands will be open, and the Order of the Eastern Star will hold a pie and ice cream social. There will be water war games, a moonwalk, remote-control stock cars and a monster truck racing arena.

Starting at 5 p.m., there will be an area art show at the south end of the Blooming Prairie Grade School, and an iron man obstacle challenge just south of the Blooming Prairie High School. The evening concludes in the park with a live performance of &8220;Median&8221; at 7:30 p.m. and a magic show at 8 p.m. Teens can dance at the Servicemen’s Club from 8 to 11:45 p.m., and anyone 21 and over with a Fourth of July Button can attend the downtown street dance from 8 p.m. to 12 midnight.

On Independence Day, a flea market will be at the high school all day. The City Park will have games from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., including water war games, hole-in-one miniature golf, and remote-control stock cars. Sign up for the open doubles horseshoe competition by 9:30 a.m. to participate, or head to bingo between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., all at the park. The Blooming Prairie Jazz Band will play at 11 a.m., and the parade will head through town between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Fireworks will be set off in Victory Field at 10 p.m.

&045; Kari Lucin

WASECA &045;&160;The Waseca County Historical Society on Saturday presents its fourth annual Chautauqua in the natural and historic Maplewood Park overlooking Clear Lake Saturday in Waseca. The cost is 5 cents, just like it was in 1883.

The Chautauqua is a cultural and social movement started in the 1870s and flourished in America until the mid-1920s. During that time there existed hundreds of touring &8220;chautauquas&8221; that presented lectures, dance, and music bringing culture to the people as they toured the nation.

This is an educational and entertaining event for the whole family which begins with gospel singing at 10 a.m. and continues through 4 p.m. The art tent for kids will have projects and creative activities for families. Johnny Appleseed will perform at his little stage in the woods. Area artists will be painting along the trails while Al Batt will lead groups on nature walks.

Peter Ostroushko, a musician and composer of the award-winning soundtrack of &8220;Minnesota: A History of the Land&8221; will perform in the big tent at 3 p.m.

Waseca’s first Chautauqua took place in Maplewood Park in 1883.

&045; Jeff Budlong