KELLIHER, Minn. -- The small community of Kelliher came alive during its annual Big Bog Festival this past weekend, reveling and reuniting in the joys of summer.
Spanning three days, the majority of the festival took place on Saturday, July 10, including many children’s games, a car show, a parade and a flea market, among other activities.
The event was limited to just Kelliher this year -- a change in set up as the annual festivities have long been divided among the communities of Kelliher and Waskish.
“We had the festival in Waskish and here, too, because it was combined together, but this year Waskish couldn't do it,” said Susan Newman, an organizer of the event’s vendors. “Maybe next year they’ll join in again.”
The summertime tradition kicked off on Friday with a potluck picnic and games in Kelliher’s Paul Bunyan Park along with band music at the local liquor store. On Saturday, vendors lined a street in the center of town selling various knick-knacks and merchandise, such as rocks and crystals, antiques, kitchen goods, flower arrangements, wood carvings and jewelry.
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Nearby, children of all ages took advantage of the numerous bounce houses -- some with water features to fend off the heat -- while other attendees chowed down on food and drink.
One vendor, Sophia’s Lem-a-lade Stand, catered lemonade to folks looking to cool down and snack on sweet treats. It was led by a 6-year-old named Sophia, who for the past two years has been on a mission to raise funds through her stand to support her uncle’s medical expenses.
“Sophia’s uncle is needing a heart transplant, so she is raising money to help him,” said Shelli Krueth, an organizer of the event. “She is at the farmers market every Friday and anything that she can be at she is there selling her lemonade.”
Although the event served as a way to bring the community together again since the coronavirus pandemic, it also acted as an opportunity to support various charitable causes. Earlier in the day, the festival’s 5k Bogtrot was held, which brought out walkers and runners to support the fight to end Alzheimer’s.
“We did our run for Alzheimer’s this year, and next year I think we might do it against child abuse,” said Crystal Schnurpel, the Bogtrot’s organizer. “It was a good run and everybody enjoyed the route.”
Schnurpel’s husband Slayde also partook in fundraising efforts for the day, acting as a key player in the festival’s popular dunk tank. While Newman said they were unsure of where the tank’s proceeds would go yet, she said she expected it to be highly successful.
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“Boy, are we going to be making money off Slayde,” Newman said with a laugh. “He’s just mouthing off at those kids and getting dunked so bad. It’s what happens when he tells those little softball girls that they can’t do it.”
The summertime event -- which wasn’t always called the Big Bog Festival -- has a long and intricate history, a 2014 Pioneer article said. In 1972, Kelliher coordinated with Waskish to hold its first Wild Rice Festival.
After continuing for more than 25 years, it was renamed Kelliher Days. In the mid-2000s, the towns decided to name the festival after the 500 square-mile peat bog just north of Waskish, known as the Big Bog.
And the name has stuck ever since.
“It was the Wild Rice Festival forever, but because Deer River has a Wild Rice Festival we had to change our name, so it was Kelliher Days for a while,” Krueth said. “Then it changed to the Big Bog Festival when the interpretative center opened up in Waskish.”
Yet, according to Krueth, even before the festival had a name, there usually was some type of goings-on to celebrate summertime in the area.
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“We’ve always had a festival here,” Krueth said. “It’s the city's celebration.”
“It’s just something for us to do,” Newman added. “It’s not as big as usual because of last year with COVID, but hopefully it’ll get better each year again.”
For many attendees, the weekend festivities served as a reunion of sorts. Oftentimes, people could be heard exclaiming that they hadn’t seen each other since before the pandemic.
And when the much-anticipated parade -- whose theme was “Hindsight is 20/20” -- commenced down Main Street more than 100 people from around the area came together once again to celebrate the occasion.
“We’re finally back,” said the parade announcer. “It feels good after a lousy 2020, and it feels good to be able to do this again.”
Games, including bingo and tug-of-war, were held after the parade, and a wild rice pancake breakfast and family games extended into Sunday to round out the weekend.
