A annual Siouxland community celebration is the Ice Cream Days in Le Mars. Wells Enterprises is the located there and the maker of Blue Bunny Ice Cream.
A number of floats, mostly ice cream related, travel along the parade route. And a big hit is when the Blue Bunny folk go by and hand out frozen ice cream sandwiches. Even at 10 a.m. who can refuse such a treat. But one crowd favorite every year are the go carts driven by a Shriners group as they raucously careen up and down the street performing maneuvers and spinning out and often times laying rubber.
Another large contingent of floats this year was a family reunion. There were four floats, each filled with maybe 15-20 people per each one, meaning it was a large family and ever larger family reunion once all the kids, grandkids, etc. were added in. For a Saturday morning, it’s a nice way to start one’s summer weekend. Everyone screams for ice cream.
I live in the Siouxland area that encompasses a wide swatch of land in northwest Iowa, northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. The people that inhabit this area are generous folk and your basic honest, Midwestern people you like to have as neighbors. I explore the area and share observations, mostly photographic, sometimes through video, and and short text. All images and video are copyrighted material of the author.
Jerry Mennenga, Sioux City, Iowa
jerrylmennenga@yahoo.com