Despite lacking funds and the COVID-19 pandemic, Cloquet city officials have decided that the show will go on when it comes to this year's Fourth of July celebration.
After meeting with local health and county officials, the Fourth of July Event Committee presented the City Council with an itinerary for the celebrations that they believe will allow for a safe and fun community experience.
Their proposal included a rough draft of event plans, as well as opinions from officials advising against the hosting of a traditional Fourth of July celebration due to limited vaccinations and venue capacity.
In traditional years, the majority of the events are held at Veterans Memorial Park. According to Cloquet Public Works Director Caleb Peterson, social distancing guidelines allow for a park capacity of 2,478, with a typical Fourth of July seeing up to 5,000 attendants.
Because of this, the committee has opted to hold modified events throughout the town with only a few activities tentatively scheduled to take place at Veterans Memorial Park.
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"Instead of offering our event as we typically do — we'd like to bring it back in pieces," the committee proposal said. "These are still major events that families hope for in the celebration, so we feel our community will be happy."
The city council unanimously approved the planning committee's proposal, with celebrations scheduled to kick off July 3 with live music performances at the Northeastern Saloon & Grille, followed by an array of plans for the following day.
Fourth of July Itinerary:
8 a.m.: Sawdust 5K run/walk
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.: Car Show
10:45 a.m.: Sawdust one mile run/walk
11 a.m.: Aerial Flyover
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11 a.m.: Outdoor parade
12 p.m.: Basketball scrimmages
10:10 p.m.: Fireworks display
Road closures scheduled throughout the day include Avenue B, Cloquet Avenue and Old Main Street.
The planning committee shared that they are currently very low on donations, with a loss of $3,500 in business donations from years prior. They plan to continue monitoring the money and will upgrade events if more donations come in.
Donations can be mailed to: Cloquet 4th of July Celebration, 225 Sunnyside Drive, Cloquet, MN 55720.
