Detroit Lakes Ready to Celebrate the Fourth

Sorry, this video is no longer available

Thousands of people are already in Detroit Lakes for the long holiday weekend.

Boaters are starting their engines and starting off the holiday weekend early.

“We’ll be out on the sandbar with all the rest of them, park the boat, sing songs, turn the radio as loud as we can,” says Gary Misenhimer who made the trek from Hanford, California.

And they’re not the only ones. Traffic started Friday morning and it’s bound to get worse.

But what many visitors don’t realize is that the city of Detroit Lakes has been preparing for the Fourth of July for months.

“I’ll get a good night sleep and be right back here at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning and I’ll be ready to go,” says Mike Denardo of J&K Marine.

J&K Marine is booked solid for the weekend. The majority of their boats were already reserved back in March.

“Thursday I went through all the boats to make sure the anchors and the tie out ropes and the buoys and everything were there,” says Denardo.

But if you don’t have a reservation, there will still be several ways to get out on the water.

“We have kayaks, we have paddle boards and we have paddle boats, we have a canoe,” Denardo says.

The beach is expected to be jam packed with people but there are other parts of town that will see an increase in tourism as well.

“You can go to the mountain now and just take a hike or even ride the lift to the top. We’ve got some great parks to get out and explore,” says Detroit Lakes Chamber of Commerce President Carrie Johnston.

While this might look like just a bunch of empty PVC pipes now, in a few short hours they will be filled with fireworks and sent to the middle of the lake.

“If you want to see the fireworks I would get to the beach by about 9 o’clock they start about 10 p.m. With the haze we should be able to start them a little bit earlier this year,” Johnston says.

A busy weekend that to the people of Detroit Lakes, is well worth the hard work.

Johnston says there are still some hotel rooms available. Head to www.visitdetroitlakes.com for details.

For J&K Marine’s rental pricing, go to their website jkmarine.com.