Eden Prairie Local News
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Tuesday, March 21
    • About
      • About EPLN
      • Team
      • EPLN in the News
      • Policies
    • Contact
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Subscribe
    Eden Prairie Local News
    • Home
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Public Safety
    • City
    • Calendar
    • Donate
    • Subscribe
    • More
      • Construction
      • Outdoors
      • Politics
      • Health
      • Spirituality
      • Community Service
      • Legacy
      • Obituaries
      • Arts
      • Family
      • Holidays
      • Letter to Editor
      • Listen
      • Jobs
    Eden Prairie Local News
    Home»Community Service»Schooner Days has grown into a hometown tradition
    Community Service

    Schooner Days has grown into a hometown tradition

    The three-day Eden Prairie Lions Club fundraiser rolls into Round Lake Park on Friday
    By Stuart SudakJune 2, 2022Updated:June 2, 20224 Mins Read
    Schooner Days begins its three-day run in Round Lake Park on Friday. Photos courtesy of Gary Stevens/Eden Prairie Lions Club

    Organizers of the first Schooner Days in 1964 had an ambitious motive for setting up the event, complete with a parade, skydiving, carnival rides and hootenanny music, in a pasture east of Flying Cloud Airport.

    “Not many people know where Eden Prairie is,” Lions Club member Larry Wilson told the Minneapolis Star in a June 4, 1964, story. “We’re trying to put it on the map.”

    Though what part Schooner Days played in putting Eden Prairie on the map is hard to measure, one thing is unmistakable. Over the years, Schooner Days has grown into a much-beloved early-summer tradition for generations of Eden Prairie residents.

    “We get a lot of kids coming back that are in their 20s and 30s,” said Gary Watkins, the Eden Prairie Lions Club’s past president who serves as its communications manager. “They say, ‘I’ve been coming to this thing for (years).”

    Advertisement
    Ad for Washburn-McReavy
    The bingo tent is a big draw.
    A Ferris wheel is just one of the rides offered at Schooner Days.

    Food, folks and fun

    This year’s annual Eden Prairie Lions Club’s Schooner Days rolls into Round Lake Park, 16691 Valley View Road, for the weekend on Friday.

    Hours are 4 to 11 p.m. Friday, June 3, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, June 4, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 5.

    Activities include carnival rides, children’s games, a bingo tent, food, beer (including Fat Pants craft beer plus wine and hard seltzer), music, and a pickleball tournament on June 4. (Registration for the pickleball tournament closed May 25.)

    Watkins said it’s the Lions Club’s biggest fundraising event.

    All profits made during Lions Club fundraisers are donated. None of it is used to support Lions Club operations. Funds from Lions Club members support its operating budget.

    Since July 1, 2019, the club has donated $110,150 for public safety, scholarships, social and community services, vision, hearing, diabetes and other foundations, and animal rescue and nature centers.

    This year, organizers expect the crowds to be back to levels not seen since the pandemic began. Watkins estimates the three-day event will attract about 2,000 or 3,000 people if the weather cooperates.

    There were no Schooner Days in 2020 (the only year since 1964 that it was canceled). Turnout at last year’s event, put together quickly, was about 70 percent of normal.

    “Everything is going to be there, the carnival and bingo,” Watkins said of this year’s event. “We’re expanding our beer selection, with more craft beers.”

    Admission to the event and parking are free.

    General parking is across Valley View Road in the community center and high school parking lots. Golf carts will shuttle people to and from the lots. Handicapped parking and the drop-off area are at the Round Lake Park tennis courts.


    The schooner in Schooner Days.

    What is a schooner?

    Schooner Days pays homage to prairie schooners (covered wagons).

    The schooner was considered the showpiece of the first Schooner Day (it was only one day then) in 1964. It continues to serve that purpose today.

    Gary Watkins said the schooner currently displayed by the Lions Club during Schooner Days and August’s Corn Feed is not the original one.

    “No one remembers the whole story, but apparently the original one was in rough shape, so it was sold in the mid-’70s,” Watkins said. “The current one was purchased soon after and was rebuilt by a team of 4-5 Lions.”

    He said the significance of the schooner comes “from the fact that covered wagons were sometimes called prairie schooners which connects with the prairie in Eden Prairie.”

    The Lions Club stores it in a garage at True Friends Camp Eden Wood when it’s not on display.

    “It’s great to have parents/grandparents make up some stories about what the west was like in the 1800s,” quipped Lions Club member Gary Stevens.

    Be Informed
    Sign up for the FREE email newsletter from EPLN
    Subscribe

    Comments

    Comments aren’t allowed on our site, but we do offer several ways to provide feedback, and have your voice heard. If you believe the story has an error, or would like to get in touch with the author, please contact us. If you would like to respond directly to this article, we welcome and encourage Letters To the Editor. You can find details on how to submit a letter on our contact page.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticlePickleball: It’s a big dill
    Next Article Phillips’ town hall focuses on gun violence

    More to READ

    3 Mins Read

    EP Optimist Club recognizes student essay winners

    March 17, 2023
    7 Mins Read

    That Southwest TV thing

    March 15, 2023
    2 Mins Read

    Photo gallery: EP Polar Plunge

    March 13, 2023
    Subscribe to get EPLN in your inbox for FREE!
    Recent Articles

    Pedestrian killed crossing Highway 5

    March 20, 2023

    Bud Grant remembered as ‘pillar’ at memorial service in Eden Prairie

    March 20, 2023

    Eagles capture third place at state with victory over Stillwater

    March 19, 2023

    Council to consider new flooring for gym

    March 19, 2023

    It’s been that kind of winter

    March 19, 2023
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    Eden Prairie Local News is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization EIN 85-4248265 | Copyright © 2020-2023
    • About
    • Policies
    • Jobs
    • Contact
    • Advertising
    • Subscribe
    • Donate

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

     

    Loading Comments...