by Steve Glenn

Created on: July 22, 2009

The Earle Brown Days Festival in Brooklyn Center Minnesota offers a great opportunity for people of the community to come together for fun, excitement, and friendship and a chance for many photographic memories. Parades, games, art shows, fishing contest, music concerts, and fireworks are some of the fantastic activities celebrated during the annual event in the month of June.

The four day festival starts on Thursday evenings with a spectacular two hour parade strolling down the clean streets of Brooklyn Center Minnesota. A vibrant connection of colorful large floats, dynamic and acrobatic high school bands, and painted faced clowns jumping around and riding in small go cars, marched through the small suburban neighborhood. The atmosphere is full of joy and gladness. An elated multi-cultural crowd -white, African Americans, Asians, and Indians stand together on both sides of the street in an attitude of unity. Children jump in and out of the crowd and dash into the streets for big handfuls of candy thrown from funny engaging clowns and cheerful people atop floats.

The parade gives me and other photographers an opportunity to get a great number of wonderful photographs. By standing on the hill facing the parade, and sometimes squeezing through the crowd along the street, I get a selection of great shots. These photographs usually turned out crisp, sharp, and full of living color. They provide many wonderful memories to share with both family and community for years to come.

While Friday celebrates birthday parties and golf entertainment, Saturday offers a variety of fun for children and parents in Brooklyn Center's Central Park. Starting early in the morning and running throughout the day, kids participate in a variety of activities and games such as water balloon tossing, one legged bag races, and shoe kick etc. For those who are not playing games, there is face painting with various colors of red, white, blue, and green. The set of fun activities give children and parents a chance to meet new friends within the community. When Parents meet other parents and companionships develop, the summer becomes a time of visitation and bonding among neighbors. Good communities are born when mistrust dissolves.

For those festival goers who are enchanted by the visual, the park is filled with many small art and craft venders displaying some of the most beautiful local paintings and photography. Other artistic items such as sculptures, handcrafted artifacts, and colorful

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