As Quarry Days quickly approaches, locals and out-of-the-area campers have the opportunity to camp in the main campground this year at the park unlike last year. If you recall a year ago, overnight camping was restricted in an attempt to gain better control of crowds from previous years. Plus a live concert in the park following the ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ was held with a portion of the camping area being utilized for that. The Dell Rapids city crews have made thousands of dollars in improvements to the popular camping sites (15 total) allowing for overnighters to once again enjoy festivities throughout Dell Rapids. The music will be held across the road in the city park amphitheater, and a permit was granted to have that area roped off with the music stopping at 1:00 a.m. For more information on other activities throughout June, check out the Big Sioux Media website.
Quarry Days Comes to an End
After a beautiful weekend in Dell Rapids, the 25th Annual Quarry Days celebration came to an end on Sunday. The weekend was full events from the Tour de Kota riders returning to Dell Rapids on Friday to go along with the golf tournament, Take Me out to the Ballgame, and Kory and the Fireflies concert. Saturday saw vendors in the park all day, along with a parade, 5K walk/run, burnout, mud races and street dance by 90 Proof. Sunday wrapped up the celebration with train rides, car show, Little Miss Quarry Days pageant and a fireworks display at the end of the day.
Pictures of this year’s celebration can be found on our <a href=”https://bigsiouxmedia.com/photos/>Photos page.</a>
Kory and the Fireflies Rocked the Park
Several dozens of concert fans crowded to the front of the stage at Friday night’s Kory and the Fireflies concert in Dell Rapids. The raw energy displayed by this four-piece rocker ignited the crowd into a sing-along, feel good atmosphere leaving your problems somewhere else enabling the fans to escape into a summer night in the park enjoying a mixture of rock. The concert had doubters throughout the community as the campground had been shut down to camping by the city council, and some questioned having a concert following the annual Take Me Out to the Ballgame for fear of vandalism to the baseball diamond by concert goers. The crowd was one of the best-behaved and respectful crowds, yet they were able to be energized and feed off the band while enjoying the concert at the park till shortly after midnight. One Baltic fan’s name, Brett Teveldal, was even drawn for a brand new guitar given away by the band with all the members autographing it. Kory and the Fireflies played songs from their previous four CD releases, and a handful of new songs from the Fireflies upcoming 5th CD with a mixture of cover songs ranging from Collective Soul to Elvis (ah, yes—the King and also Costello). This is one concert if you missed, you still have a chance to see and hear it (just not up close and personal). Big Sioux Media streamed the concert live, and will have an archive of the event up on the website. Just go to webcasts and click on the concert to view it.
Saturday Night Street Dance
As Quarry Days begins and continues throughout the weekend in Dell Rapids, there’ll be even more entertainment Saturday night at the Events Center as 90 Proof is the band that will be entertaining during the street dance. This four piece band has been jammin’ for just less than a year together, but the four talented musicians have been playing in other bands and at times with one another for many years. 90 Proof describes themselves as a ‘straight up bar band’ that plays a wide variety of music genres from country rock to classic rock, and some oldies mixed in as well. This all ages street dance will start at 8pm Saturday night, and the music will start out ‘slow to mellow’ and as the night wears on, the beat picks up as the dancers hit the floor.
Quarry Day Excitement Building
The excitement is already underway in Dell Rapids as Quarry Days officially gets underway Friday, June 22nd. The Tour De Kota started their annual bike trek in Dells and will conclude in Dell Rapids Friday which may lead to some participants to hang around for the Friday night baseball game and the concert with Kory and the Fireflies (which will be streamed live at Big Sioux Media). Then Saturday afternoon at the Dutch Inn the Mud Races will be held. According to Tom Herding, owner of the Old Dutch Inn and host of the Saturday afternoon events, registration for the ‘Burn Out’ begins at 1pm and competition at 2pm while registration for the Mud Races will be from 2pm to 3pm and the competition for the Mud Races start at 3pm. If anyone has any questions ahead of time, contact the Old Dutch Inn.
Kory and the Fireflies Coming to Dell Rapids for Quarry Days
As busy as we can be there is one event in Dell Rapids that is fast approaching that always provides entertainment, food, baseball, and alot of people. Quarry Days 2012 is June 22nd, 23rd, and 24th and one new piece of entertainment is a concert that takes place right after the baseball game, June 22nd. Kory and the Fireflies, a band that has regional and local appeal, has been performing for more than 18 years (the newest member, Al Berven, has been with the band for 10 years). Founder, Kory Van Sickle, told Big Sioux Media the music written, composed, and performed for crowds has a positive energy to it and if there are large numbers of people listening he would rather have their performances ‘lifting spirits rather than crushing them’. Other members that the Quarry Days crowd will see include Chris Beyer and Jason Vetos. Van Sickle says the chemistry and input from the other members when putting down a base line, or a lead guitar part is essential in their success. The concert will begin following the baseball game on Friday night, June 22nd, between the two amateur Dell Rapids baseball teams (PBR and the Mudcats) with special guest, Shawn Coles, opening up the concert. As the baseball fans walk over to the concert area the music will get underway….and a few songs later, Kory and the Fireflies will take the stage performing songs from their four previous CD releases, and songs from their upcoming 5th CD.