Have you ever heard someone that lives in a small town say “There is nothing to do here,” I have many times and it couldn’t be farther from the truth!

This past weekend in Madison if you couldn’t find something to do or somewhere to be then you must be living under a rock! There was something for everyone. Most communities, if not all have a summer celebration. Canby has Hat Daze, Dawson, Riverfest, Appleton, Applefest, Minneota, Boxelder Bug Days, Montevideo has Fiesta Days and Granite Falls has Western Fest just to name a few. The town celebrations are all different and have some fun activities. My job at the radio station actually takes me to all the local community celebrations.

Madison has Stinker Days on Friday and Dragonfest on Saturday. Actually this year the town celebration started Wednesday at the ballfield for Chamber Night at the Ballfield. There was an amazing crowd and perfect weather to watch two ball games. It was a huge community gathering at the ball park. I can’t remember the last time I saw that many people there. The Madison Chamber did a fantastic job promoting the event.

Two of my grandsons, Zane and Eli stayed with us over the weekend and had so much fun. We attended the baseball game Friday night and Eli got a $1 for returning a foul ball to the concession stand and he also did some commentating on the radio with me.

I just got done doing the Baseball Coaches Show on Saturday morning, when I was asked to drive Rodney Rye’s pickup in the Madison parade. Rodney owns Ryes’ Tree Service in Porter and is a good advertiser with us. Their driver couldn’t make it, so they needed someone to drive their pickup because Rodney and his wife Darlene were going to sit in the back of it during the parade. So my wife drove me out to the start of the parade and Rodney and Darlene were thrilled to see me. That was when I found out they are the Porter Harvest Festival Senior King and Queen! They have been married for 65 years, they got married two weeks before I was born! We sure had fun in the parade. It was an awesome parade and my grandsons had a blast watching it on main street and got a lot of candy. The Madison High School class of 1973 was in the parade celebrating their 50th high school reunion. It was the largest class ever at Madison High.

After the parade we spent some time with our two grandsons. They played bags in our yard and grandma and grandpa won by one point. Then we went down to the fireman’s water fights which were fun to watch and found some free root beer floats. My favorite event is the Ribfest at the Happy Hour Sports Bar. My friend Dan Tuckett makes the best ribs. As usual Zane and I are the rib eaters in the family and ate too many ribs! Later in the day I took the boys to the Madison swimming pool. I am embarrassed to say I can’t remember the last time I was inside the pool area. I was so impressed with the Madison swimming pool. The boys sure had fun going down the slide and climbing the rock wall.

Nothing to do in small towns people say! I totally disagree. If you look at the poster for Stinker Days and Dragonfest the list of things to do is endless. I am so glad I live in Madison.