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Events
 COME AND HAVE SOME GOOD OLD-FASHIONED FUN AT OUR FOURTH OF JULY
CELEBRATION!
For one day every year the sleepy little town of Mikana wakes up and
shows its stuff. On the day of “The Biggest Little Parade in the
World”, approximately two to three thousand people come to enjoy a
day of down home excitement.
We have street vendors, games for young and old, music, and the
PARADE.
To top it off, the following night magnificent fireworks are exploded
over Red Cedar Lake from Tagalong golf course. Just the sight of
hundreds of boats with their running lights glistening in the
evening, as folks gather to watch on the lake, is beautiful.
The fireworks are sponsored by the Mikana Parade Committee, area
businesses and private donations.
2010 - OUR 31ST PARADE!!!
THE MIKANA/CEDAR LAKE TOWNSHIP PARADE COMMITTEE
PRESENTS
"THE BIGGEST LITTLE PARADE IN THE WORLD"
SATURDAY, JULY 3, 2010
EVENTS OF THE DAY
FOOD AND FUN STARTS AT 11:00 AM
EVENTS SPONSORED BY THE PARADE COMMITTEE
BEFORE AND AFTER THE PARADE:
CHILDREN'S GAMES: FREE MOON WALK & MINI-TRAIN RIDES
THE RAFFLE DRAWING WILL BEGIN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PARADE.
TICKETS FOR THE RAFFLE WILL BE ON SALE UP TO THE TIME OF THE RAFFLE.
LOOK FOR TICKET TABLES AND ROAMING TICKET SELLERS TO PURCHASE YOURS!
2:00 PM: THE PARADE BEGINS!!
PLAQUES & CASH PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED FOR FLOATS IN THE FOLLOWING
CATEGORIES:
1. MOST PATRIOTIC, 2. MOST CREATIVE, 3. MOST HUMOROUS
2010 GRAND MARSHALLS & ROYALTY
GRAND MARSHALS: HAZEL EVERTSEN & HER SON IRWIN
MIKANA’S QUEEN: TONJA RAE HOLT
ATTENDANT: ABBIGAIL HOLT
LITTLE MISS MIKANA: EMMA LEAMY
ATTENDANT: ANNA LEAMY
THE FIREWORKS WILL BE HELD ON SUNDAY, JULY 4, AT TAGALONG GOLF &
RESORT. THEY WILL BE FEATURING FOOD & DRINKS SPECIALS, ALONG
WITH ENTERTAINMENT. THE FIREWORKS WILL BE HELD AT DUSK,
APPROXIMATELY 9:30 PM.
A "LITTLE PARADE" INFORMATION
"THE BIGGEST LITTLE PARADE IN THE WORLD" was started on July 4th,
1980. In April of 1980, The United States Hockey team defeated the
Russian team in the Olympics and a small group of people, fired with
patriotic pride, got together and marched through town waving flags.
That summer was the year of gas shortages and people were requested
not to travel on the Fourth of July. The idea was to have a parade
and Fourth of July celebration right in Mikana. Local businesses
were consulted and the enthusiasm spread. Jeanne Wolff came up with
the name of the parade, saying, "If we are going to have a parade,
let's have the biggest little parade in the world." She worked very
hard on publicity, (even trying to get into the Guinness Book Of
World Records).
In the next few years, Elsie Bartels invested her own money to have
parade buttons made, and the rest of the group agonized over whether
they could sell enough buttons to return her investment. They did.
Now the buttons are a guaranteed seller. Many people have button
collections that go all the way back to the beginning of the parade.
There is now a collection of all the parade buttons displayed in the
Cedar Lake Town Hall, created and donated by Howard and Emily
Helfert.
Some of the highlights of the parade have been: Jeanne Wolff dressed
as the Statue of Liberty, the Lombardo family as swamp monsters, and
Bob Quillen's outhouse. Joyce Jarzyna has been our Drum Majorette
every year of the parade, leading "Joyce's Jewels" a group of local
ladies singing patriotic songs. Our youngest participant was Tom
Plahn, pulled in a wagon dressed as a clown, and our oldest is
George Dana of Sarona, who came for many years impressively dressed
as Uncle Sam: looking as if he just stepped off a recruiting poster!
We have also had Minutemen, a Chinese Dragon from Long Lake, and
Cathy Hatfield as Lady Godiva. Yes, she was clothed!
We have had many fine people as our Grand Marshals, some life-long
residents, who have been justly honored for their many contributions
to our Township.
 MIKANA QUEEN, LITTLE MISS, AND ATTENDANTS
Our Mikana Queen, Little Miss Mikana, and their attendants are
another important part of the parade. We are very proud of our
democratic way of choosing these young ladies: the names of the
girls living in Cedar Lake Township are placed in a hat and drawn.
The Queen and attendant must be age 13 to 16, and the Little Miss
and her attendant must be age 5 to 9, by the Fourth of July. The
first name picked in each category is asked to become Queen or
Little Miss. The next name drawn is asked to be an attendant.
The Mikana Queen, Little Miss Mikana, and their attendants are
installed in a ceremony on the Saturday preceding the parade. After
the Coronation, there is punch and treats supplied by volunteers.
As the parade grew and the committee started to actually make money,
it was decided that the money not needed for the support of the
parade should be used to benefit the Township of Cedar Lake. Some of
the things done with the money include wiring the Town Hall for a
sound system, street banners with a goose logo proclaiming "Mikana:
Headwaters of Red Cedar River", and a historical marker in the park
near the dam, explaining the history of Mikana. Christmas street
decorations were purchased in conjunction with Barb's General Store
and monies were also used to refurbish the Mikana float, which was
re-done a few years ago in a very patriotic theme: red, white, and
blue, with American flags.
We have purchased tactical defense equipment (official wording for
flack jacket) for Officer Pete Weatherhead (approximately $1,500),
donated $500 to the Birchwood Community Education Project for their
library program, bought new sound equipment for the day of the
parade, and "Welcome to Mikana" signs which are erected at either
end of town.
The Parade Committee also spent its monies on new comfortable chairs
for the Town Board members, paid for half the cost of new vertical
blinds for the Cedar Lake Town Hall, and donates $1,000.00 every
year to the fireworks. Money was also spent to re-decorate the "Home
Town Spirit" float. In 2009, we purchased a $5,000
Stryker cot for the Birchwood Ambulance EMT's.
If you wish to enter a float, please contact Norma Jean Jankowski,
219-669-1815 Parade
Line-Up Chairperson, at
(715)-234-0022.
For Publicity Information, please contact Sara Wojciehowski at
234-9258.
Police: On November 13, 2006
Ben Kornbroke began reporting to Pete Weatherhead as the Police
Chief for the Village of Birchwood. Pete will be the Officer in
Command and have primary responsibility for the Town of Cedar Lake
and secondary responsibility for the Village of Birchwood, Town of
Edgewater, Town of Birchwood and the Town of Wilson, while Ben will
have primary responsibility for the Village of Birchwood and
secondary responsibility for the other four Towns. As growth
continues and criminal activity expands, the demands on Pete’s time
have far exceeded his available time. Because of our location in the
northeast corner of Barron County and the other Towns also being in
the remote corners of their Counties, Pete’s coverage is critical.
His ability to work the area and solve crimes has been not only a
benefit to us, but to each of the four counties he covers. Pete had
a 93% clearance of cases this year which is outstanding. As a result
of the addition of a second full time officer and equipment, our
share of Police Protection has gone up to $ 90,700 from $ 33,000.
Town Shop: We celebrated the grand opening for the Town Shop
in September 2006 with over 100 residents in attendance. It is state
of the art and built to handle the Town’s needs for many years to
come. We are working with Barron County to have them keep up to
three County trucks in the shop during the winter season. This will
allow those plowing to get to their trucks more quickly, get the
roads plowed more quickly, and to save fuel.
We have already agreed to rent a space to the County for one truck
in the shop for $2,500 for the season. Our timing on the shop could
not have been better. Brill State Bank gave us the best finance
option at $400,000 @ 3.75% for 10 years fixed.
Levy Limits: You may or not be aware that while Madison has
not imposed spending limits on the State they have in fact imposed
limits on Counties, Cities, Villages and Towns. Wisconsin State
Statute Sec. 66.0602 provides that Towns may not increase the local
tax levy for 2006 (to be collected in 2007) by more than the greater
of 2% or the percentage change in new construction less improvements
removed from the assessment roll in the last year. It restricts the
local tax levy but not the mil rate. Because we have been keeping
our local tax levy low by using reserves, going forward this limit
may cause us to not have enough money to complete necessary road
work or other projects. In the statute there is a provision for
exceptions as follows: “towns under 2,000 in population may exceed
the levy increase limit otherwise applicable under this section to
the town if the town board adopts a resolution supporting an
increase and places the question on the agenda of an annual town
meeting or a special town meeting and if the annual or special town
meeting adopts a resolution endorsing the town board’s resolution.”
It is unclear at this point whether it will be necessary to do this
but the Town board wanted you to know we may pursue it next year if
we feel the levy limits are keeping us from doing the right thing
for the Town of Cedar Lake. Whether or not we exceed the levy
limits, our budget must be approved every year at a special town
meeting held in November. This town meeting approves the budget and
the levy and is voted on by those residents who attend. The Town is
still one of the best forms of government. It allows for an
individual to be heard. The Town Board meets the second Monday of
every month at 6:30 pm in the Cedar Lake Town Hall. Please come and
help your town. Please also watch for the date of the Annual
Town Meeting. It is usually in April.
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