The Vasa Lutheran to Spring Garden Lutheran Church Tractor Parade and Midsommer Festival was blessed with picture perfect weather Sunday. That meant the most tractors in the history of their parade with 105.

A relative came all the way from Columbus, Ohio, to drive his brother's tractor in the parade and I had a great time visiting with KDHL listeners from around the area.

I went to Spring Garden to enjoy an awesome toe-tapping worship service that included some of my favorite hymns including "I'll Fly Away" and "Swing Low Sweet Chariot."

Pastor Cindy Fisher-Broin delivered a sermon about becoming angry while spending many hours weeding her garden and realizing it was probably the anger that helped her finish the chore.

Fisher-Broin said Jesus became angry at times too and it's probably what helped him complete his mission to sacrifice his life for all of us.

The food was incredibly delicious. Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn (it wasn't canned), lefse you could have plain, with butter, or with butter and brown sugar, a chocolate chip cookie and Ostakaka, which is Swedish cheesecake. The Ostakaka had fresh strawberries in it and whipped cream; it was very good. Water, lemonade and coffee were the offered drinks.

A bluegrass band performed before the tractor parade and after.

A Swedish pancake breakfast started the day at Vasa Church in Welch and next year I think I'll take in that side of the event.

The outdoor worship service at Vasa began at 10:30AM  and then they blessed the tractors and drivers before they took the approximately 10-mile trip to Spring Garden.

I brought my lawn chair and set up under an old tree on the church grounds with scores of other people. It was awesome to see so many young children there. Kids of all ages with their moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas.

Many drivers on the tractors were young people too.

The tractor parade comes into the Spring Garden Church grounds by the cemetery, which means we were sitting at the edge of the cemetery to take in the parade, and I thought that was interesting.

A number of the kids games were next to headstones in the cemetery and the stage for church and the band was at the edge of the cemetery.

So the cemetery has some life in it for the Midsommer Festival.

No solemn commital service, a lively event where people are in a more celebratory mood.

I watched the tractor parade and the genuine fun families were having together and, believe it or not, I didn't see any kids on their cell phones.

There were lots of cameras and someone even flew some drones overhead to take pictures.

Virtually every kind of tractor was in the parade. From John Deere and Ford to International Harvester and Minneapolis Moline. My favorite was the 1944 Co-op.

It's so rare to see one of these, and what I enjoyed most about it was the fact it appeared to be in its original condition.

There were classic tractors and modern tractors and everything in between.

Many people now buried in the cemetery drove those tractors when they were brand new.

One of the farmers I visited with said he came to the Cannon Falls area and bought a farm when he was 30 back in the '60s from a farmer who was buried in the cemetery.

I asked him if the farm living turned out to be a good choice and he said, "You bet. Oh there were some bad times financially, but there's no better place to raise a family."

Judging by all the smiles I saw Sunday on the picture-perfect day at Spring Garden I'd say he's probably right.

 

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