Schooner Days rolls in with rides, crowds and record fun

They ran out of bingo cards on Saturday. That’s how big Schooner Days got this year.

The Eden Prairie Lions Club’s annual fundraiser drew an estimated 17,000 to 17,500 people to Round Lake Park from May 30 to June 1 – its 61st year. That’s about 2,500 more than last year, according to Terry Eggan, who helps organize the festival and manages the vendor marketplace.

 Schooner Days is the club’s largest fundraiser, with proceeds supporting a range of charitable causes, including the Minnesota Lions Gift of Sight Eye Bank, Minnesota Lions Hearing Foundation, Can Do Canines and True Friends Camp Eden Wood.

“We track attendance at the front gate by counting people as they come in,” Eggan said. “And we also estimate for the folks who park in other lots and walk in. We don’t have a ticket booth, so we factor that in.”

Eggan called the turnout “a real success.”

“Beer and bingo were both double what we did last year,” he said. “They actually ran out of bingo cards on Saturday. And Friday night, they sold twice the beer they usually sell.”

The only hitch? A smoky haze and high heat that slowed things down briefly Saturday afternoon.

“If we hadn’t had the air quality alert, we might’ve pushed 20,000,” Eggan said.

The vendor marketplace – now in its third year – featured more than 50 booths, offering everything from freeze-dried candy and Minnesota-themed shirts to pierogis, smoothies and bucket-sized cookies. Several vendors sold out, including Smokestack BBQ.

Familiar faces at Schooner Days included WCCO-TV’s Mike Max and former Major League Baseball catcher Greg Olson, both Eden Prairie residents. They joined longtime Eden Prairie football coach Mike Grant in calling bingo. Grant also used his school golf cart to shuttle attendees from the parking lots.

Back this year were pony rides, henna artists, face painters, and a booth by the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Chiropractors offered free adjustments, beer flowed in the garden, and kids lined up for Lions KidSight USA vision screenings. The carnival midway buzzed with energy, and high-stakes bingo kept the big tent packed each night.

Eggan said the Lions are already looking ahead.

“The more we raise, the more creative we can get in adding attractions and making it better,” he said. “We always need more volunteers, too. It takes a lot to manage 17,000 people.”

Volunteers included Eden Prairie High School football players, recruited by Coach Grant to set up and tear down tables and chairs, along with community members who pitch in year after year.

And how did bingo go for Pilar Sisinni, the Eden Prairie young woman who’s been coming to Schooner Days since she was 2 months old?

She did win a game – and even got a special moment, helping call a number after Max invited her up.