Debs honors Fourth of July

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

July 6, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

DEBS -- The folks of this hidden watering hole, located about 30 miles north of Solway on Beltrami County Road 5, were at it again for the 18th consecutive year Friday, partying hard and thumbing their nose at the much larger Fourth of July celebrations held in the region.

So, you don't know where Debs is and you took out a map to find it?

The five official residents and the many others who live in the surrounding region could care less, because there's about 500 relatives and friends who do find it every year for Debs' "Annual Good Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Parade and Celebration."

In fact, the residents of Debs, an unincorporated village in Roosevelt Township, almost revel in their smallness every Fourth of July. They even had hats and T-shirts with the saying "It's okay to be itty bitty" -- a modification of country singer Alan Jackson's song "It's okay to be Little Bitty" -- printed for this year's event.

"We try to keep it down on a small scale. That's what draws the people up," co-chairman of the event, Ray Dahlby, said Friday afternoon, as he directed the parade lineup. "We just go with what comes."

Debs' Fourth of July parade, and hence its celebration, began 18 years ago when Debs Store owner Mitch Hoff started it. Unfortunately, a year later his store, and the only business in Debs, burned down, almost taking the town with it. It wouldn't have been the first -- Pinewood and Aure, towns to the south on County Road 5, had already closed up shop.

But the resiliency of those who live in Debs, and the necessity of groceries, pushed the town to start a cooperative store and saved the annual parade and celebration. Years later, in 1995, the parade would go through another drought as well, but once again a new owner of the Debs Store, Carol Sweno, fought to keep the tradition alive.

Now, only two years later, an estimated 500 people attend the celebration annually, and there were 40 to 50 entries in its parade that has to start a mile out of town because it is too long for the city's one street.

Among the entries were the Pinewood Legion Club, the Bemidji Fire Department's Clown Club, local floats representing businesses and of course Grand Marshal Bill Stai, 91, and a life-long resident of Debs. Following second in the parade were the nominated King and Queen of this year's celebration, Elof and Thora Josephson, also life-long residents.

The 500 people who come to watch the parade, participate in the afternoon potluck and games and to visit, had to park off the side of the highway on the lawn of the Debs Community Center, the second of the town's three buildings, and walk the dirt road into the center of town. If they all parked in Debs, there would be no room for the parade.

It is the only day of the year when there is traffic congestion in Debs, according to Beltrami County Sheriff DeeWayne Rognstad, a native of the area and one of those who attends the celebration religiously.

"It's surprising to see how many people you can fit in a small, little town," he said, as he walked the road into town and waved at those who have known him since he was a "little tyke."

And as bees are drawn to honey, the parade is always a popular event with some campaigning politicians. This year no different, U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, DFL-7th District, rode atop one of the several antique pickups in the parade.

Had he not been campaigning, Peterson might not have been there, and those in Debs realize this, but they cheered for him nonetheless.

That is how they are.