Celebrating fruit, history
Stanhope combines annual Watermelon Day with its quasquicentennial observanceBy HANS MADSEN, Messenger staff writer
Article Photos
STANHOPE - At least one of the visitors to the 51st annual Watermelon Day had a long journey, judging by his bright red tasseled hat, red T-shirt with white buttons and the full white beard - you might guess the North Pole.
It's actually Clitherall, Minn., and the Santa look alike enjoying the day's festivities was Dennis Berry.
Originally from Webster City, Berry was enjoying spending time with relatives and friends gathered for a reunion timed to coincide with the annual celebration.
''I've got people here from California and Detroit,'' he said.
His parents are from Stanhope and he has scores of relatives still in the area. A group of his cousins had their own float in the parade.
''Used to be half of Stanhope were our relatives,'' he said.
As he went to look at another game set up in the park, a group of friends began singing, ''Here's comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, laughing all the way.''
For the record, he does play Santa for his town in Minnesota as well as private clients.
Not only was a major holiday represented in the crowd, this year's celebration also included a birthday. Stanhope is 125 years old this year, and the quasquicentennial celebration was combined with the Lions Club-sponsored Watermelon Day.
There were plenty of things to do and see. The Sugar Creek Cloggers danced and the Mirage Middle Eastern Dance Troupe gyrated. The Sheltered Reality Drummers made some serious music and there were plenty of rides and games set up in the park for the children to enjoy.
There were also hundreds of watermelons to be eaten.
Feeding hundreds of people those hundreds of watermelons has been honed to a fine art through the years. One worker picks up the melon from the parked refrigerator truck and rolls it down a chute to the cutting table. Here four workers slice the melons then distribute them to the hungry and thirsty crowd.
It worked pretty well for Kirk Hill, 11, of Stanhope,
''I've eaten five and I'm eating a sixth one,'' he said between bites.
Longtime Stanhope resident Doug Follman makes the day's celebration a family event. Three generations were in attendance.
''It's an opportunity to bring people back together,'' he said.
Follman was planning on entering the watermelon seed spitting contest which according to him, only has one rule other than not stepping over the starting line for the participants,
''They have to leave in their dentures,'' he said, convinced that doing otherwise would lead to an unfair advantage.
Contact Hans Madsen at (515) 573-2141 or hmadsen@messengernews.net
