The two towns close to us are Ely and Tower, they’re roughly equidistant from where Mud Creek Road ends at 169, Ely to the east and Tower to the west. Ely’s bigger, with over 4,000 inhabitants, and a variety of restaurants and cafes, bars, gas stations, grocery, liquor and hardware stores, barbers, etc. Also a large number of outfitters-supplying and guiding trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area is the major source of the town’s economy. And I’ve already mentioned its radio station, WELY. Tower was a thriving town during the height of the lumber and iron mining undustry, but now is reduced to a population of around 500 with one grocery store, one restaurant, one cafe, one bar/laundromat…a pretty quiet town. Its only hardware store closed a few years ago when a big True Value opened up off the highway just west of town.
Although they’re different in size, Ely and Tower both have big parades for the 4th of July. We attended the Ely parade last year for the first time, and decided to check out the Tower event this year.
Main Street in Tower on a regular weekday...
...and waiting for the parade.
Seeing the town fill up with ten times its normal population is pretty impressive! More than an hour before the start of the parade there are kids in line with all sorts of costumes and a large variety of modes of transportation (bikes, scooters, wagons, skates, pogo stick, unicycles, go-karts). The VFW contingent begins the parade, and the huge line of kids follows immediately after them.
At the very head of the line...
Daisy Bay is on the west end of our half of the lake, I’m not sure where the clown and sumo wrestler hail from. After a number of cars and floats with Miss Tower-Soudan and other beauty queens with their princesses, the Ely Klown Band appears. These are the Ely volunteer firefighters, greatly enjoying dancing around in drag.
Ely Klown Band
More floats and boats presented by families, businesses and municipal offices, then Senator Al Franken comes zig-zagging down the street shaking hands. Minnesota’s other senator, Amy Klobuchar, was also there, although we missed seeing her.
Senator Al Franken
This is the most popular entry in the parade, generating huge applause as it moves down the street. (Minnesota’s state government had shut down on Friday following a political impasse in the capitol.)
Most popular entry.
Then the traditional fly-over by a couple of F-16 fighter jets from the 148th Fighter Wing of the Duluth Air National Guard.
More celebrities.
One of the reasons we came in for the Tower parade is that it gave us the opportunity to meet Jeff Forester and his family. Jeff had written a fascinating history of the logging industry in the area which I had read a couple of years ago, and he has property on the south side of Pine Island, actually not far from us as the crow flies. We’ve been corresponding by e-mail since then but never seemed to be on the island at the same time. But it finally happened, and we’ve gotten to know his lovely family, his wife Allie and daughters Billy (11) and Daisy (8). Daisy was a winner in her age group in the fifty-yard dash, one of the many events following the parade.
Allie & Jeff Forester.........................................with Billy & Daisy