Archive for Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Soroco High School music students perform in Monday's Oak Creek Labor Day Parade.

Photo by Matt Stensland

Soroco High School music students perform in Monday's Oak Creek Labor Day Parade.

Oak Creek Labor Day organizers call weekend a success

Events see larger than expected turnout

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Fishing derby winners

Oak Creek Labor Day Fishing Derby Winners, size of fish

First fish caught: Morgan Geiger, 11"

Smallest fish caught: Carl Rossi, 6"

Largest fish caught: Greta Thurston, 14 3/4"

Most fish caught: Lillie Schaefer and Avyier Carl each caught three fish. The fishers were given a 30-minute fish-off, but the fish were no longer biting.

— For a Labor Day that at first was scaled back, then re-imagined, the final show was a success financially and in excitement, Oak Creek Labor Day organizers said.

Committee Vice President Sandy Wisecup said she had to pull children off of the inflatable bouncy house and the tiny train in Decker Park, nearly three days after they were set up.

The equipment was only supposed to be set up on Saturday, but after seeing how much fun the children were having, Wisecup said she left the toys in the park until late Monday night.

"I couldn't get the kids off it," she laughed.

President Judy Deming said the event raised more than $4,700 through a silent auction, band and comedian, hot dog sales, shirt sales, a horseshoe tournament and other activities. The auction alone raised $1,000, she said.

Although not all the bills have been tallied, Deming said she expects the nonprofit group to clear about $2,500. That money will be used for next year's event, she said.

"We had a bigger turnout in the park than we've had in years," she said. "Everything just went really well."

Oak Creek Police Department officer Eileen Rossi said the Labor Day festivities went off without any major problems, and it was one of the most relaxed events she has experienced.

"I've done 10 of them now, and it seemed less stressful and everything went very smoothly," she said.

As Deming, Wisecup and the committee tried to return to a more traditional Labor Day this year, two of the biggest changes were the removal of the beer tent from Decker Park and asking people to not bring their dogs into the park.

Although the Oak Creek Town Board declined to pass an ordinance forbidding dogs in the park, Deming said most people respected the request to keep dogs out of the park. Rossi agreed and said the dogs she saw were on leashes and did not cause problems.

"We were in the park all weekend, and everybody had dogs on a leash, and it seemed like everything was peaceful," she said.

The lack of beer caused a few complaints, Deming said, but there were also many families enjoying the park during that time.

Deming said she likely will continue to work on the Labor Day program next year.

"We did have a lot of changes this year, and I think it went so good this year, I don't think we'll change a lot," she said. "If we change anything, it might be beer in the park."

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