Annual Labor Day Celebration in Graettinger Iowa—Sept 2006

We attended the 110th Annual Labor Day Celebration over the weekend in LeAnn’s home town of Graettinger Iowa. Graettinger is located in northwest Iowa about a 3 hour drive from the twin cities. As we drove down, we saw some of the downed trees from the recent tornados just south of St. Peter. The trees along the river bank on the east side of the road were heavily damaged for about 1/3 of a mile, while the trees on the west side and up the hill were all in fine shape.


We arrived about 9:30 Friday night and then LeAnn’s sister Sue and her nieces Heather and Heidi arrived shortly after. They then headed off for downtown to go to the Legion club and listen to a local band, then headed to the new tavern in town.

Saturday was cloudy with rain off and on, but the activities went on as normal. Ray went over to the antique tractor pull. The tractors are divided into different weight classes and then pull a sled with a sliding a block that makes it harder to pull the farther down the track it goes. The track is groomed between each pull so everyone has equivalent conditions. The gals went to some of the local garage sales, but found very few bargains.

In the afternoon we headed to the demolition derby. There were lots of participants in cars that ranged from small compacts (like an old Chevette similar to one LeAnn had many years ago) to larger full-sized cars. Generally, the larger cars fare better. Most contact is initiated with the rear of the car to protect the engines and radiators. The area is kept moist and slippery and up to 11 cars went at a time.
Once a car is stuck or disabled, they break off a stick on their roof to indicate they are out and wait for the end of the race. Winners of heats come back for the finals. Losers have another opportunity if they can get their car working again before the consolation round. It is amazing how quickly they can get a car back in running condition after being knocked out. Some cars were running without tires after they were stripped from their rims, and many were smoking while running. A few had some small fires that the fire department put out before they became a problem.

On Sunday we went down on main street to attend the carnival. But before we even got to the carnival, we stopped for ice cream at the local drive-up. We had some cones, malts and twisters before we went out on the midway. We played some ski-ball and also tried a game that you attempt to stand up a beer bottle using only a ring on the end of a string. When we were at the state fair, the guy running the booth could do it every time and showed you how to do it in order to entice you to play. Ray tried it here and did not have any luck.

Hailey and Kara took a ride on Spin the Apple, and Kara did the Tilt-a-Whirl. There was a nice crowd on main street despite the threatening skies. We also stopped for popcorn at the tiny popcorn booth that has been making popcorn for many, many years. The popcorn machine itself has been in use for over 75 years and is still working. LeAnn and her sisters came here often when they were growing up.

LeAnn and her mom went to the talent show in the evening. Along with the local talent, the Labor Day Queen was crowned. All the royalty for the parade on Sunday was also there.

On Labor Day Monday, LeAnn started up and drove her mom’s 1950 Chevy around town and out to the country. Ray, Kara and Hailey went along for the ride. We saw a few other old cars coming into town for the parade as we were driving around.

The car only gets out a few times a year, but it is fun driving something that old. LeAnn’s dad had it restored back in the 80’s, and would occasionally drive it in the parade. They even had an antique and classic car show in town for a few years.


We went to the parade in the afternoon with LeAnn's aunt Ruth, cousins Barb and Darwin and their families. The parade was made up of lots of floats, tractors, fire trucks, beauty queens, and of course politicians. Elvis even made an appearance in one of the cars and the Shriners brought their six wheel swamp buggies for some narrow street precision driving. Most of the units threw candy for the kids, but some even had mini Frisbees, pencils, and slap on bracelets. The kids filled up their bags with goodies and the adults enjoyed seeing so many people they knew. we bought some raffle tickets both for the cash prizes and for the quilt being raffled to support the local ambulance. Hopefully we will be a winner!