Schooner Days rolled back into Eden Prairie this past weekend, providing fun for all ages. Activities at the three-day event, held from June 3-5, included carnival rides, games, bingo, food, and a pickleball tournament.
The annual event is the Eden Prairie Lions Club’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
Organizers said attendance was good, thanks partly to three fabulous weather days. In fact, the carnival portion of Schooner Days had its best year ever.
Crowds were back to levels not seen since the pandemic began.
“Lots and lots of smiling faces from people that have been pretty much stay-at-home families for the past two years,” said Gary Stevens, a longtime Lions Club member.
Stevens talked to one mother who was there with her two young children, ages 3 and 5. She referred to them as her “COVID babies.” They, Stevens added, were “finally able to enjoy being kids again while they were riding on the kiddie rides on the midway.”
The bingo tent also was a popular destination. Three notable people who helped call bingo this weekend were Minnesota Twins radio broadcaster Dan Gladden, former Minnesota Viking Stu Voigt, and former University of Minnesota football player William Humphreys.