Bakken, Gates tabbed LSSCD Grand Marshals

LIME SPRINGS - A pair of “behind the scenes” community volunteers will ride in the Lime Springs Sweet Corn Festival parade as Grand Marshalls on Sunday, Aug. 10, beginning at 1 p.m.

Connie Bakken and Charlene Gates, a pair of retired golden age widows who have been involved in the Lime Springs Community Club for years, both say they’re “underserving” of the honor, but agree it’s a proud moment in getting recognized.

“I’m just proud of Lime Springs,” said Gates, who was also honored in 2005 with her husband Larry as Grand Marshalls. “It takes a village to keep Sweet Corn Days going, but that’s the kind of town Lime Springs is – we all work together,” she said

The pair “do a lot of things together” in volunteering for the Community Club that helped start what was initially called “Flea Market Days,” the brainstorm of “instigator” Ernie Tibbits, who has since passed away. 

Gates said she was president of the Community Club at the time and the inaugural one-day event included a large flea market along with a evening street dance before it was decided to “give away some sweet corn” a few years later, getting corn donated by local growers.

“Everybody loves the word ‘free,’” said Gates. “Of course, it took off,” later adding free watermelon thanks to CUSB Bank and eventually hamburgers, which were initially sold by a local organization before the Upper Iowa Beef Producers eventually decided to give away the sandwich.

Gates called Sweet Corn Days “one of the most successful” small town festivals in northeast, noting there are people who “can’t wait for Sweet Corn Days.” The two agreed the festival has become a homecoming for people who have moved away and local residents “can’t wait to host” festival attendees, calling it a “holiday in Lime Springs.” 

Gates said graduates of the former Cresco High School typically host class reunions during the festival, getting a chance to celebrate with their hometown and catch up with old friends. 

Gates says although she’s in charge of one of the key beautification projects – hanging flower baskets - for the city as a project of the Community Club, there are a number of people who volunteer to make Lime Springs a better place to live. 

She said the Community Club also organizes a community Easter egg hunt, hosts “Christmas in Lime Springs” and places promotional signage for various events, including the giant ear of corn that’s been a flagship advertisement of the festival for years.

“Things don’t just happen,” Gates said, noting one of the other things she accomplishes is simply pulling weeds and trimming trees on public grounds. “We need a lot of volunteers to get things done,” Gates said.

Operating Gates Upholstery in Lime Springs for years with her husband and later on her own, Gates said she’d been in business in the community for 35 years, including operating the former “Rendezvous Lounge” restaurant and bar from 1980-94.

Gates said she doesn’t feel like she gets as much accomplished in the community as she once did, noting “that’s why I dragged my feet” when they wanted her to be a Grand Marshall again. 

Bakken, retiring as an assistant/bookkeeper with Eye Care Associates (formerly Cresco Family Optical) after more than 36 years, said she decided she needed to keep busy, so she joined the Community Club. 

“I wanted to start being more active in the community,” Bakken said, recognizing the Community Club as “a very active group,” joining the organization nearly s decade ago.