Detroit Lakes: A 4th of July Classic

By Bryce Haugen
Contributing Writer

It’s a ubiquitous lingering legend. Around two decades ago, Playboy Magazine declared Detroit Lakes one of the top party destinations for Independence Day, when the mile-long beach in the city of 8,000 was the nexus of drunken debauchery for many thousands of visitors.

Lifelong resident Bridget Nickolauson has fond teenage memories of the bedlam of yesteryear, but now as a mother, the gas station clerk on the city’s main drag appreciates the celebration’s transition into a family-friendly event. “It was a lot crazier, a lot more people, but it’s nicer now,” she says. “Now a lot of people stay home, buy their own fireworks and try to outdo the neighbors, and they party where they drink, to avoid DUIs.”

There’s still a bounty of public recreational options over the Fourth of July weekend in Detroit Lakes, from live music at bars near the lake, to theater in the city park, to just lounging on the beach, all anchored by an impressive fireworks show at dusk Sunday. And many of the activities are free.

“There’s something for everyone,” says Cleone Stewart, Detroit Lakes Tourism Director, “It’s just a fun area to be in.” Down at the park last Friday night, in full view of the beach, thespians performed Shakespeare in the city’s outdoor band shell. Free performances of the “Merry Wives of Windsor” continue tonight through Saturday at 7 p.m. A hundred yards or so away, a crew of local young adults gathered next to the nine-hole disc golf course and offered ambivalent views on the following weekend.

“It’s still lots of fun, but not what it used to be,” said Casey Hoffman, an MSUM student who has attended the 18-plus dance party at the adjacent city-run Pavilion in past years. This year, she plans to go tubing on the Ottertail River, a fifteen-minute drive east of town, before heading back to watch the fireworks. “The river is where the party’s at,” she said, “Everyone’s drunk. You see way too much of everyone.”

As he tended to a jug of orange juice, 18-year-old Nick Selk summed up the main reason the rowdiness he’s not old enough to remember has toned down. “A lot of them bastards driving around,” he said, pointing to a Detroit Lakes police officer pulling through the adjacent parking lot. Seconds later, Officer Beau Shroyer stopped his car and asked Selk to take a breathalyzer, which he passed. Shroyer shrugged off responsibility for any sort of decline in atmosphere. “We’re just doing our job,” he said. “From the time you start till the time you’re done, you’re just dealing with crazy drunk idiots.”

Not far from the park, walking his dog Buddy near the popular pizza shack and bar Zorbaz, Tom Harper confessed to skirting the no-booze-on-the-beach policy in the past by putting cocktails in an insulated mug. “What the cops don’t know don’t hurt them,” said the 52-year-old land surveyor who lives a few blocks away. He loves walking along the lake on the Fourth. “There’s some nice scenery on the beach,” he said with a chuckle. “And we can make way better time than cars.”

Those looking to experience the festivities from the water can launch boats at a public access site or rent them at J&K Marina in the heart of the strip. People looking to get away from the hustle and bustle needn’t drive too far for access to more than a dozen golf courses, three mini golf courses, two flea markets and the Go-Putt and Bump amusement park.

But the main action is near the lake. At Zorbaz Friday night, Joey Pederson claimed her hometown on Independence Day is “a must see. It’s a time to rekindle relationships with old, lost friends and just let yourself go.” From across the table, pitcher in hand, her friend, Moorhead resident Josh Van Raden, 23, confirmed those views. “On the Fourth, asses are tight, cheaps are drink!”

Besides beer, pizza and nachos, visitors to Zorbaz will have a double helping of live music on Sunday with performances by the Hardwood Groove at 5 p.m., followed by Fargo-Moorhead bluegrass outfit the Johnson Family Band at 9 p.m. Down the road at the historic Lakeside Tavern, G.B. Leighton performs Friday and Saturday and Martin Zellar of Gear Daddies fame takes the stage Sunday.

Those venues have been packed to the gills in past years, so get there early. Last year, Fargo resident Sean Dyer, 25, tried unsuccessfully to get into an at-capacity Zorbaz in the early evening, so he and his girlfriend roamed the beach for awhile before the fireworks show. As a first-time visitor to Detroit Lakes on Independence Day, he said he was struck by “the oddly disproportionate number of males to females in favor of males. Wandering packs of them.” The family-friendly environment, he says, ran contrary to the legend he had heard about for years. “It felt like I had missed out on something.”

But that calmer, something-for-everyone, family-focused event is the right fit for Detroit Lakes these days, Tourism Director Stewart says.
Historian Carrie Johnston agrees. That’s the way it was dating back to the late 1800s when the Grand Army of the Republic, a Civil War veterans’ organization, planned much of the local celebration. Johnston, Becker County Historical Society Executive Director, says that in the sixties, with construction of the city beach and Zorbaz, a crazier crowd dominated, culminating in the Playboy recognition.

But these days “we’ve really turned a lot of focus back,” she said. “We’ve really gotten back to that earlier atmosphere.”

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)