Jeanne asked a question or two about "Goose Fest" and the parade we went to today. Middle River is about 22 miles north of Thief River Falls. With the exception of this weekend, it's population is recorded at 322. Main Street comprises a couple of bars, a restaurant, a general store that's been in the same family for more than a 100 years (I wrote a feature story about Young's Store years ago), and a gas station or two. The school provides education for students K-8. High school students attend school in another, larger town (Greenbush, pop. 793) up the road. Middle River also has several churches and even supports a newspaper, which I find commendable.
The town touts itself as the "Goose Capitol of the World." That's the Canada goose, and really, the whole thing is about hunting, which along with agriculture, is among northern Minnesota's biggest industries. While Marv is an avid hunter, he doesn't shoot geese, because his wife won't cook 'em or eat 'em. He used to goose hunt when we were younger. He brought them home, and I promptly called a friend (a bank president who would obviously eat anything) to come and get them. I guess he gave up.
Back to the parade, hundreds, if not thousands, of people descend on this tiny town for this annual festival, which includes all kinds of activities. The parade was as good as a "big town" parade. I know from my newspaper days, that a lot of work goes into this event - all accomplished by a handful of people - which is pretty typical of Small Town, America.
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Thanks for sharing the information. The second you said, hunting...I thought d'oh! Can you tell that I'm from the "big city" where the thought of hunting didn't even occur to me??? LOL Here I'm thinking do the geese descend on the town during their migration? And that thought occurred to me because we see that every year around my neck of the woods. I'm a goofball! But I appreciate your sharing the info with me/us!
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