About Us
The Coon Rapids Snowflake Days began in 1964 as a Jaycee
project. It was conceived of the notion that that the City of
Coon Rapids needed a civic celebration that the entire community
could participate in. All of the neighboring communities had
summer celebrations so Coon Rapids thought they would try
something in the winter so as not to compete with their
neighbors.
By 1968, the celebration had grown enough to require broader sponsorship so
the Snowflake Association was created. The celebration has had a broad range of
civic leaders involved over the years, both as President of the Association and
as Marquis. The Marquis currently serves as a sort of celebrity grand puba.
We have had many events over the years, some have come and gone and some left
and came back. The Junior Royalty Program has been a part of the celebration
since the 1970's, went away for a short time and was revived in the early
1990's. The program is now stronger than ever. The Rotary Club no longer does a
pancake breakfast - they are now serving a delicious spaghetti dinner at the
Coon Rapids High School. The Softball in the Snow and Pee Wee Hockey Tournaments
come and go depending on whether someone steps forward to oversee the events.
The Dog Sled races have been a part of our celebration for the last 25 years or
so. The Minnesota Malamute Club always did a marvelous job with these. Matter of
fact, in 2003 the City of Coon Rapids built them a new track near the Compost
Site which they are able to use year round for practices and events. There have
been a few years with no snow so the races had to be cancelled.
Thanks to the generosity of the Coon Rapids Lions Club & Coon Rapids North
Star Lions Club, we were able to add a new event a few years ago - the
Children's Medallion Hunt. Lion Mike Peterson initiated this event and when Mike
passed away suddenly prior to the 2004 hunt, the committee named the event after
him and it is now known as the Mike Peterson Memorial Children's Medallion Hunt.
Now that the word is out that there are bikes as prizes for the winners we have
more participants than ever. One of the winners last year wanted to go right
over to the store and get his bike!! It really did go well and we hope to expand
on this event as it grows and offer not only the hot chocolate the Lions
provide, which goes over very well, but also include other concessions as well.
There is now a boys hunt and a girls hunt for children ages 5-10.
Our Kids Day at the Dam event has changed somewhat over the years due to the
unpredictable weather conditions! We now conduct a Children's Carnival at
Epiphany Church and School which offers many fun activities for the entire
family.
The Snowflake Days parade was normally held the same day followed by many
different activities, some of which have included bonfires, snowshoeing,
children's crafts, hot chocolate, concessions, face painting, story time.
The committee is always working very hard to find new events to add to our
lineup. Some possibilities would be horseshoes in the snow, bowling tournament,
spaghetti dinner, chili feed, archery tournament, ice fishing contest, band
concerts, cribbage tournament, cross country ski tournament.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to incorporate any of these events into
future celebrations, we'd love to hear from them. Of course, we would also be
interested in finding someone to host the event. Our committee is very small and
we are just not able to do it all. Volunteerism is the thread that holds a
community together and allows young and old alike to make a difference in other
people's lives. I believe the Snowflake Days celebration to be a good tool to
allow this to happen.
Diane Buszta,
President, Coon Rapids Snowflake Association
