IML annual Rake the Lake Festival planned

The City of Iron Mountain Lake will be having their 2nd Annual Rake the Lake Festival on May 30. Iron Mountain Lake City Clerk Lanette Kunz said that right now she is working on getting sponsors together for the t-shirts for the event.

“Everyone can advertise for a good price and have nice t-shirts,” said Kunz. “That morning at 8 a.m. we will start off with raking the lake with old bed springs, rakes and john boats. We will do whatever we can do to get in there and get the moss out.”

In addition, they will be serving lunch starting at 11 a.m. They will have pulled pork sandwiches and sides for $5 a plate or $3 for just the sandwich. Kunz said they will also be serving root beer floats, regular and sugar free, for $2a piece.

The band Dreamcatchers will perform at 1 p.m., and at 5 p.m. trivia will be held in the park at a cost of $5 per person to play. Kunz said Mike’s Market in Bismarck has been extremely generous.

“They have donated gift cards to us as an incentive for the trivia,” said Kunz. “The first 20 people who sign up for trivia will be given a $10 gift card to Mike’s and it’s one per family. What we are hoping to do is raise money to continue to stock the lake with fish and to help the city pay for the chemicals that are needed to treat the lake.”

There may be some local craftsmen set up with some booths – with bird houses or different crafts or hobby items for sale. It will just be locals within the community who will be set up. There will also be a 50/50 raffle with one of the items being four St. Louis Cardinals game tickets for the June 2 game. Raffle tickets can also be purchased at city hall.

“We will also have free kids activities so the parents can work while the kids play,” said Kunz. “Last year we had Frisbee golf, potato sack races and other fun things for them to do. They will be supervised by our board members.”

The names of all of the volunteers will be put into a drawing to win prizes and throughout the day names will be drawn for free food, free trivia admission or a t-shirt.

“Last year we probably had at least 100 people that came out for the event and I expect to see even more this year,” said Kunz. “The county officials really support this and they were here last year and plan to attend this year as well.”

Kunz said that they plan to bring the swan boat out since it has been a big hit in the past and the kids really enjoy it. She hopes to maybe help raise some money with it to help the community.

“Volunteers will line up on the shore and once a boat drops the springs in the lake they will start pulling a rope to draw the springs back in,” said Kunz. “We drained the lake last year by pulling the plug on the dam and since we did that we are hoping that there won’t be as much moss this year. If we do have a lot, we will be prepared to get it.”

Iron Mountain Lake invites everyone to come down and help rake the lake and enjoy an afternoon in their community. The events will kick off at 8 a.m. that day.

Summer Breeze made her debut on the waters at Iron Mountain Lake during last year’s Rake the Lake Festival and was a big hit with the kids.

Renee Bronaugh is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-518-3617 or rbronaugh@dailyjournalonline.com