Photos: FUN on the Fourth

What a Fourth of July it was! Crowds of people lined Cloquet Avenue rows deep in the morning as an unmissable military flyover kicked off the parade. They stood hands on hearts while the Cloquet Area Honor Guard passed, gasped at live wrestling on a trailer and tapped their toes to the live music. Children waited eagerly for more candy, scrambling to grab every last piece.

Then it was on to Veterans Park. There they found wiffleball, tiny train rides, inflatables, face painting, magic, balloons and lots of food and drink (but somehow not enough) followed by a movie in the park after dark.

Oh, and there was pie eating too, an adventure for both the crowd and the eight brave souls (mostly teenagers) who spent five minutes trying to eat a blueberry pie with no hands. "Nose plugs would be nice," said one contestant. "How would you breathe?" asked champion Xander Ripley-Jaakola (pictured, bottom right, after his win). The national birthday party ended in Cloquet and across the country with a dazzling display of fireworks.

Photos by Mike Creger, Edward Schulstrom, Jana Peterson and Levi Nelson