Detroit Mountain New Year's Eve Torch Parade

This was the first time Detroit Mountain ever did a Torch Parade for New Year's Eve.  Because all participants were kids, they used Glow Sticks instead of flairs or sparklers.  Everyone had a good time

 

Light up DL at City Park

City Park has been illuminated with bright white Christmas lights near Alexia the Troll.  Make it a point to take a walk to see the park.

 

CHRISTMAS EVE FROST

The frost on the trees were so thick that it looked like a scene from a Hallmark movie.  Hundreds of ice fishermen were already set up with their ice houses and shelters of all types, and ready for the season.

 

DETROIT LAKES POLAR FEST

The Polar Fest is an annual tradition filled with two weeks of activities held in mid February every year.  This is a brief overview of just a few of the outdoor activities, but there are many more indoor activities as well.

 

2024 Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

There was a large crowd that gathered to watch the whistle stop concert that the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train does every year as a benefit for the food pantry.  This year, the Holiday Train came to Detroit Lakes on a Sunday afternoon that helped the attendance a bit.

 

 

2024 Peteyville Christmas Lights

Bring the spirit of Christmas into your life and share it with the ones you love at Peteyville in Pelican Rapids Minnesota. The lights come on at 5:30 every night until January 5th.

 

 

2024 Detroit Lakes Parade of Lights

It is impossible to include every image, every exchange, every laugh, or every emotion in a short video - but this gives you a good idea of how good it is living in such a wonderful community. This parade is just one of the many examples where everyone comes together and rings in the spirit of Christmas. Even though it was just 13 degrees outside, it still makes your heart warm.

 

 

Dunton Locks - Fall Sunset

I was happy to see so many young people out enjoying the crisp fall evening with all of the vibrant colors in the trees and sky.

 

 

Jacob Everear - the Troll at Wannigan Park

This is a short ariel tour from the covered bridge to the Troll at Wannigan Park in Frazee Minnesota.

 

 

The Thomas Dambo Rabbit Trail - Mid-Fall Colors

Fall is a beautiful time of year to visit all of the Thomas Dambo Trolls in Detroit Lakes Minnesota. The Rabbit is probably the most unique of all trolls because it is covered in a recycled plastic material rather than pallets of wood like you would see in all of his other creations - not to mention that it is a rabbit rather than a humanoid figure.

 

 

Dunton Locks - Birdwatching in a Canoe

Detroit Lakes still has some beautiful weather in early October. We are about a week before full fall color and it is still quite warm to enjoy paddling around in the lake.

 

 

The Sweet Spot - Grand Opening

The Sweet Spot celebrated its Grand Opening today. Lillie's Lollipops now has a mobile, mostly official location at the corner of Highway's 10 and 11 in Audubon, across the street from Ortons. The next time you drive by, drop in and say HI!

 

 

2024 Detroit Lakes High School Homecoming Parade

The weather was absolutely perfect for thousands of students of all ages to line the streets to watch the Homecoming Parade.

 

 

Detroit Lakes - Sept 11th Tribute Auto Show

The final Auto Show of the year in Detroit Lakes happened to land on September 11th, so it was decided to do a tribute to the fallen heroes at this well attended event. Mayor Matt Brenk proclaimed the day to be Detroit Lakes "Patriot Day." What a wonderful way to enhance a traditional American auto show!

 

 

2024 Cormorant Daze

This is a video of the 2024 Cormorant Daze and the inauguration of the new Mayor of the city - a dog named Khaleesi Sherbrooke. Fun activities all day including an auto show, live music, bouncy houses, flea market, kiddie rides, wrestling match, amazing food, and much more!

 

 

Dustin Lynch at Music on the Mountain

Music on the Mountain is an annual event in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. The venue is Detroit Mountain. About 4000 people attended this year's event featuring Dustin Lynch. This video is just a glimpse of the show, the setting, and the attendee experience.

 

 

Detroit Mountain Pond Skim Event

Detroit Mountain hosts a "Pond Skim" event to close out the skiing season.  This year's event was much earlier than normal on March 16th due to the minimal snowfall but the snow machines did a very good job keeping the runs open all season.

 

 

Cool Kites on the Lake - a Detroit Lakes Polar Fest event

The Detroit Lakes Polar Fest has dozens of community activities all taking place during the 2 week frozen festival. One of the highlights is the Cool Kites. You have to be there to fully appreciate how huge these kites really are. Just look at the people on the lake in comparison to the size of these flying creations.

 

New Year's Day 2024 at Detroit Mountain

This year so far, the season has not been very friendly for snow pack, but that isn't a huge problem at Detroit Mountain.  They have 17 huge snowmaking machines that blow plenty of man-made snow that keeps the skiers happy.   It is very nice to have such a nice facility within 10 minutes of downtown Detroit Lakes.

 

THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AT CITY PARK

No one was complaining about the warmer than normal temperatures at the Tree Lighting Ceremony at City Park. Detroit Lakes Project 412 sponsored this City Park Tree Lighting.  Mayor Matt Brenk did the count down with his ceremonial light bulb that illuminated dozens of trees and overhead streamers of lights.

 

THE CANADIAN PACIFIC HOLIDAY TRAIN

It was a beautiful clear blue sunny afternoon when the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train made its 25th annual whistle stop in Detroit Lakes to entertain a very large crowd.  The suggested caned food donation was to benefit the local Food Pantry.

 

DETROIT LAKES PARADE OF LIGHTS

The super cold 8 degree temps didn't keep away the community from ringing in the holiday season in style! The Detroit Lakes Christmas Tree lighting celebration was immediately followed by the Light Parade up Washington Ave. This year, the Grinch was as popular as Santa.

 

THS DEER SWAM ACROSS THE LAKE

I was with friends one night enjoying the sunset over an incredibly calm Big Detroit Lake getting some amazing footage of the sunset when we saw a ripple way out in the water of a large object making its way across the lake.  I decided to investigate and also came across a couple of girls on a paddle board that were also out investigating the large object that was crossing the entire lake.  Enjoy!

 

FALL COLORS ARE AMAZING HERE!

One of the blessings of living here is the amazing colors in the fall.  The season this year was longer than normal since we had very favorable weather until late in October.  This video was taken at Tamarack Lake on a typical Sunday afternoon.

 

2022 Detroit Lakes Memorial Day Tribute

Jason Bristlin and Chris Nord requested this video and if you get a chance thank the Lakes Region Color Guard as well as Dave Coalwell and his family for the amazing work they do every year at Oak Grove Cemetery. They honor those that gave all in an amazing tribute that I think is wildly appropriate! There are many volunteers that set up and take down this display and I thank them all! I am proud to be a part of this community and tributes like this represent the true nature of our Veterans respecting those that have gone before us. ALL GAVE SOME, AND SOME GAVE ALL! God Bless our fallen!

 

2023 Detroit Mountain Pond Skim

The Pond Skim is the last activity of the ski season at Detroit Mountain Ski Resort. Participants are encouraged to wear costumes and have to have fun! This makes for an awesome community activity.

 

Hillfest 2023 at Detroit Mountain

Hillfest 2023 at Detroit Mountain was an awesome event! The weather was perfect and the riders had a good time showing off their skills to the spectators. You would think some of these snowmobiles had sprouted wings as far as they flew!

 

CRUISE DL AUTO SHOW

Detroit Lakes has a very active auto enthusiast group that line up their cars to show them off on the second Wednesday of each month all summer long. This particular night was the last one of the year on September 13th, 2023.

 

EVENING AT DUNTON LOCKS

Summer evenings are especially beautiful on the lakes - this is perhaps one of the top reasons why we live here.  Turn up the volume and enjoy the music as well.

 

The LOON is the Minnesota State Bird

One early morning I saw these two birds on the lake behind my home making their calls to each other.   I grabbed my drone and went to get a closer look and it felt like they were showing off to me and doing everything they could to be seen.  It is neat to see how they swim under water to catch fish.

 

Detroit Lakes Ice Palace LIGHTING

The Sn'Ice Palace lighting was the kick off of the 3-week Polar Fest in Detroit Lakes. There is nothing so spectacular as Fire and Ice! Events continue through February 27th.

 

Detroit Lakes Ice Palace Construction

This is the largest Ice Palace ever built in Detroit Lakes at 32′ tall x 95′ wide x 24’ deep! This was done in celebration of the city's 150th year anniversary. It took almost 2 weeks and hundreds of community volunteer hours to construct this amazing structure. The lighting of the Ice Palace is the kickoff of the 17-Day Polar Fest in Detroit Lakes with dozens of scheduled activities. "Minnesota Nice" is more than just a catch phrase here - it is a very real thing and with people coming together to create events such as this, it draws people to live here.