Miller’s Landing Day - A Little Bit Of Magic

Miller’s Landing Day started off with the Children’s Parade at noon led by Jet, the drug dog from the K-9 unit of the New Haven Police Department. About 100 kids, parents and friends marched from Cottonwood Street to the levee and back down Main Street to be a part of the parade. A direct descendent from Phillip Miller, Gray Miller, was one of 2 grand marshals, and he traveled from Texas with his wife to explore his roots in New Haven.

Local historian, David Menke, took Gray Miller on the hike to Phillip Miller’s grave to round out the history tour. A direct descendent from John Colter, also named John Colter, was the other grand marshal in the parade. Colter and his family live in St. Louis County.

Once the parade was done, there were plenty of activities for kids to participate in. Louis Klingert started off the kids’ activities with a turtle race. There were 15 entries and the kids placed their turtles inside a box which was then lifted and the turtles were free to roam. The winner was the first to cross a big circle drawn around where the turtles were released. It took a few minutes, but one of the turtles finally crawled across the finish line and earned a $10 gift certificate for one of the kids.

Following the turtle race was the jumping frog race, which had a similar premise to the turtle race. The winner hopped across the finish line and kept on heading out beyond the Colter Pavilion hoping for freedom, but he was captured and made to pose for a picture with his owner proudly displaying his $10 winning coupon from the New Haven ice cream shoppe.

The kids’ competition wound down with a hula hoop contest and a jump rope contest with plenty of contestants crowded inside the Colter Pavilion. They also had a bouncy slide and a face painting tent. Many a child could be seen roaming downtown with colorful, smiling faces.

Out onto Main Street, vendors from El Ranchito, Kona Ice, and Penn State Chicken fed hungry festival-goers with their tasty dishes. SEEK coffee had a pop-up tent and was serving mixed drinks, various craft beers, and beef sticks from a farm in Ownensville.

Over on Front Street, Lang-A-Tang Deli had a BBQ pop-up tent in front of their deli, serving their usual fare alongside the BBQ. Northstar Coffee was also brewing plenty of coffee drinks from their shop and displaying artwork from local artisans. Alan Bell, for example, presented a display of his raku ceramic pottery. At the newly opened Zia’s, there was a grand display of quilts with many having been made by Lois Mueller. Sue Mueller even had her own wedding quilt on display, some of the cherished family heirlooms dating back to the 1880s. The skill and love in the handcraft was easily noticeable in each stitch.

Live music by Betty and the Bad Boys, the Rowdy Wranglers, and Just Us, played throughout the day on Front Street and by the river until the fireworks. Those started at 9:15 p.m. and lasted for about a half an hour and could be seen all around downtown. Most people brought their lawn chairs and sat on the green space close to the Lions’ Pavilion or walked along the levee to get a good view.

Many people commented about what a nice event the whole day had been and others were speculating that with all the new investments in Augusta and Washington and Hermann, this little local event might someday become an even bigger festival.