By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
Several dozen people attended New Richland’s Fifth Annual Night to Unite celebration Tuesday evening, August 6, 2024 at New Richland City Park.
“Night to Unite” is meant to honor law enforcement officers and first responders, including medical personnel and firefighters.
“The weather was beautiful tonight,” New Richland City Tanyce Bruegger said. “You can’t beat a free meal, some good fun and a chance to meet some new people… Plus there were no mosquitoes!”
This year’s event had the addition of a pony, Ava, provided by the Waseca County Sheriff’s posse who attended this year.
The event was mainly run by the New Richland Fire Department, first responders, ambulance, and police volunteers. It was hard to tell exactly who the volunteers were with representatives from many local agencies attending simply because they wanted to.
Bruegger credited the three departments for the setup. Chad Neitzel helped grill hot
dogs again this year. Other volunteers helped serve.
Hot dogs donated by Neighbors Meats of New Richland were enjoyed on buns supplied by Wagner Foods. Chips were donated by the Willows, along with cookies from Casey’s.
Firefighters assisted kids in a target practice event with a fire hose typically used for “grass fires” which can shoot up to 50 gallons of water per minute, but was powered down to about 10 gallons per minute in order to make it safe for children to use. There were also coloring books for kids to color during the two-hour get-together.
This year’s attendance was significantly higher than last year’s, which was also higher than the year prior. Bruegger said she hopes this annual event continues to grow better and better each year. In total about 80 hot dogs were served.