By Lori Ehde
The 51st Annual Tri-State Band Festival will be staged in Luverne this weekend, and a group of local volunteers is set on painting the event red, white and blue.
In light of the Sept. 20 terrorist attack on America, Luverne VFW Commander Randy Jensen thought it would be a good idea to give the American flag a lead role this weekend.
The Luverne American Legion and the VFW in Luverne and Hardwick have arranged for more than 2,000 miniature flags to be distributed to parade watchers Saturday.
He envisions both sides of Main Street to be a blur of waving stars and stripes. "It's a super great way to show our patriotism," he said.
Most companies that make the traditional miniature cloth American flags were out of stock because of the national move to fly Old Glory in the face of terrorism.
So Jensen had Tollefson Publishing print the flags, and he ordered the sticks separately.
Then he called on residents of the Mary Jane Brown and Minnesota Veterans nursing homes to assemble the flags. They along with workers at the Rock County Developmental Achievement Center and boys at Pinnacle Programs Inc., Magnolia, had the job done by Tuesday.
Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Pinnacle boys will distribute the flags to crowds on Main Street starting at 9:30 a.m.
Representatives from the three veterans groups and their auxiliaries and local National Guardsmen will march in mass colors to lead off the 10 a.m. parade.
More than 2,500 students make up the 22 bands that will participate in Saturday's Tri-State Band Festival.
The bands come from Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa and will join thousands of people visiting Luverne to take part in the longest running festival of its kind in the Midwest.
The 10 a.m. parade will be followed by the field competition at 1 p.m. at the Luverne High School athletic field.
Entrance to all field events will require the purchase of a Tri-State Band Festival button, which will be available at the gate as well as on Main Street prior to the parade.
American Red Cross volunteers will accept donations for the Relief Fund for America at the gate to field competition.
The guest band for this year's event is the University of South Dakota Marching Band from Vermillion, S.D. They will perform at both the parade and field events.