For the 4th of July this year, I decided to head to Brookston.

Brookston is located on the northern edge of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation and is about 17 miles from Cloquet.

The town is roughly a half a mile, with only a handful of businesses; a post office, Houle’igans Saloon, Larry’s Country Corner and a church.

I would never have guessed that a town that has a population that floats around 100 to 150 people would have such an incredible level of festivities!

The day included a 5k race, a packed ball field with food vendors, races, corn hole tournaments, raffles, a parade that, to quote my friend Brenda, “is so nice, it goes around twice!”, and fireworks.

The parade, Small Town American, was certainly my favorite.

From the Mardi Gras beads, collector cars and cancer rides, dogs painted like American flags, cooler kegs, $1 waters, fist-fulls of candy and freezies being thrown into the crowd, to the hundreds of spectators and attendees lining both sides of the street – a slice of American pride, if there ever was one.

What did you do to celebrate today?