Join us this Friday, July 10th, 2015 for the 2nd annual Fish House Festival, which is being held in conjunction with the New York Mills Summer Celebration and Lund Mania fishing tournament. There are many fun activities planned for the festival and we are excited to host this great opportunity for artists and visitors to connect around a few of our community’s favorite things – art and fishing.
Artists will be painting on the street between 9am-5pm. Four artists will be painting an ice fishing spear house that has been custom built by Ron Hamm. The four featured artists this year are Bob Johnson, Troy Helget, John Peeters, and Pam Robinson. This spear house will be raffled off as the grand prize at 6:30 p.m., following the Lund Mania fishing tournament results. We are selling just 193 tickets at $10 each, and there are not many tickets left at the time of this post, so stop by the Cultural Center to buy your chance to win this one-of-a-kind spear house as soon as you can. 2nd prize is a Ron Hamm custom built and painted spear, and 3rd prize is a John Peeters hand carved and painted decoy. Other artists will be painting fish decoys and other cabin decor, which will be live auctioned off immediately following the raffle drawing at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds from the live auction will be split between each item’s artist and the Cultural Center.
Other activities throughout the day on Main Avenue, in front of the Cultural Center, include the following (all activities FREE of charge unless noted otherwise):
- 9am-5pm: Artists painting fish house, fish decoys, and other cabin & home decor
- 10am-noon: Fish-themed “Art in Your Park” at the Cultural Center – make a fish print using real fish caught in Big Pine Lake!
- 10am-5pm: 4th Annual Decoy Show & Artists’ Exhibit featuring paintings by Bob Johnson and Al Mohler
- 11am-2pm: Artist Reception – Cultural Center Gallery – check out the exhibit, enjoy light refreshments and meet decoy artists
- 1-3pm: Fish-themed “Art in Your Park” at the Cultural Center – fishy flags craft project
- 1-5pm: Live music on Main Ave – NYM musician Dave Virnala and traditional old time string band Trad & True
- 1-5pm: Variety of games & activities for kids & families including fish cookie decorating, face painting, sidewalk chalk art, giant jenga, bean bags, ladder golf & more
- 2-3pm: Uncle Larry’s Decoy Painting Class – paint your own wooden fish decoy, $5 fee, recommended for ages 10+, call 218-385-3339 to pre-register. Finished decoys may be entered into the youth decoy competition at the Cultural Center (through July 18th).
- 6:30pm: Fish House Raffle Drawing and Live Auction by Bachmann Auctioneering, on Centennial Drive in front of City Hall
This event is sponsored by Lund Boats Brunswick, the National Fish Decoy Association, Bachmann Auctioneers, EOT Darkhouse & Angling Association, Cenex/Hardware Hank, and Scott’s Bait & Tackle. Thanks to all of our generous sponsors! Please click the logos below to visit the websites of these fine businesses/organizations.