Once again our Agawak dancers were the stars of Minocqua’s Fourth of July parade. Their explosive energy and passion had the crowds cheering wildly during their hourain avenue moving in synchrony to “Kill The Lights”.
It was a flawless summer afternoon bathed in sunlight though nothing shined brighter than your daughters.
This annual celebration is packed with hundreds of Fourth of July revelers of all ages who set down their chairs along the parade route starting at 2 and 3 a.m. so they can secure ringside seats.
Many of the locals tell us each year that it is the Agawak girls 180 of them skillfully dancing and smiling their biggest smiles that are the highlight of the historic parade.
I stood with some townspeople who noticed my Agawak Staff shirt and said to me: “Your girls can REALLY dance! They look so happy. What do you do over at that camp to make them smile like that?”
Of course dancing well comes with lessons and practice. Yet there is no precise formula to create a happy child as every parent knows. But there is one quality we do know that definitely contributes to those huge smiles and sense of wellake sure that each camper knows that Agawak is a safe place a place where she is heard a place where she is loved.
Knowing you are loved and supported is that spark that makes for a wellper one who can dance tirelessly through the streets revving up the crowds. The younger girls were sitting together on the curb and their cheers of support were the loudest of all.
We did not dance down the main street of Minocqua when I was a camper in the 1960s. Though we were proudly Agawak girls like this generation of girls: cheering each other on and giving each other confidence. And most of the summer we also couldn’t stop smiling like those beaming campers that wow the Minocqua parade still here – more than a halfper smiles that will be brighter than ever. You will see for yourselves why your daughters are filled with infectious energy and love and why they just can’t stop dancing!
