McKinley to be July Fourth centerpiece

Longtime Creston residents remember the years when the carnival, water shows and crowds packed McKinley Park during Fourth of July festivities.

Since then, events have changed, died out or moved to different parts of town.

Tuesday, the Creston Parks and Recreation Board heard a proposal from KSIB General Manager Chad Rieck to return the event to its roots.

“My thought is, with everything that’s going to be going on at the park, I would love to take our cruise night and car show to the park,” he said. “I just think it’s more open. Along with us goes the BBQ Bash which is Rotary, Kiwanis and Lions.”

While the event has typically been held on a Saturday night in the Creston Automotive parking lot uptown, the July Fourth committee asked them to move to Friday, June 30 — the day before Party in the Park.

“We held it uptown because of Fridays After Five and other things happening uptown,” Rieck explained “But it was always a weekend off of Fourth of July. Now it’s kind of getting pushed into it, so why not take it all to the park.”

Not wanting to leave Fridays After Five alone uptown, Rieck spoke with the Union County Young Professionals who agreed moving the one night to the park would be a good idea.

“Rotary is actually the service group that night,” he said. “The thought came, what if we take Fridays After Five and put it at the bandshell, Party in the Park area. I thought it would be a neat thing to push more people to the park.”

Party in the Park is an annual music fundraiser for Parks and Rec. Rieck said the additional events would be a benefit. “It would be a benefit for you guys because you guys have the liquor license,” he explained. “You would get all proceeds from any beer sales that happen that night.”

In addition to Friday’s events, Rieck had an idea to fill the middle of the day Saturday in McKinley. The morning features the Greater 8 and 5K race and the evening hosts Party in Park.

“For the last 10 years we’ve been doing our tractor ride. We’ve traveled all over southwest Iowa,” Rieck said. “It’s been 10 years of doing it; we’ve gone the same route a couple different times. We’ve seen all of southwest Iowa. It’s time to do something different with our tractor ride. In doing that, I thought, what better opportunity than that weekend to do something.”

Rieck proposed changing the tractor ride to more of a tractor show and parade at McKinley Park near the historical village.

“Those guys absolutely love to show their tractors off,” Rieck said. “This will give them an opportunity to actually spread them out and kind of mingle with people a little bit more.”

He knows how much people in town enjoy watching the tractors go by, so he wants to ensure it remains a part of the event.

“We’ve always gone by the nursing home and the assisted living as we’ve left town,” he said. “I want to continue to be able to do that, to give those guys an opportunity to parade through town.”

From the park, the parade would go through Uptown, Howard, Osage, Townline to the hospital, Prairie, Lincoln then back to the park. “My thought was, It’s just going to draw more people to the park that whole day,” Rieck said. “We might get some people to stick around.”

Rieck has been in communication with the Farm Bureau about their tractor olympics. “They have a backing up contest or a slowest race contest. Some of those things we could do in the park, the roadway there or even the baseball parking lot.”

Parks and rec board member Gary Borcherding said it wouldn’t be a problem to host the additional events. “We usually close that street for the park,” he said. “We can just put in to close it longer so you have it.”

Rieck said he has heard some positive feedback about the change. “There are several guys who have not gone on the tractor ride that are excited for this because they have multiple tractors at home that can’t go fast enough to go 50, 60, 70 miles on a tractor ride,” he said. “It can be more of a show.”

In the past, KSIB has paid for lunch for anyone bringing a tractor. Board member John Kawa said parks and recreation could provide the food. Those without a free meal would be able to purchase food as an additional fundraiser for the parks.

“That’s what my vision is,” Rieck said. “Put all of our stuff into the 24 hours, from the two different deals we’ve done historically, centered around making a push for let’s make the park a little more recognizable, celebrate the park that we have, and let’s make the Fourth of July what Fourth of July should be again.”