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by Sue Orsen The Victoria Gazette Mary Hershberger Thun has been attending Victoria Concerts in the Park since they first began exactly ten years ago, when Bob and the Beachcombers played on the ball diamond at Lions Park in June 2006. Mary, a city councilmember at the time, and Kristy Mock, Victoria Park and Rec Supervisor at the time, were the cheerleaders behind Concerts in the Park. In these past ten years, most of the concerts have been held under stately oaks and maple trees in Lions Park, with the various bands using a hayrack for their stage. Sometimes the Hartmans provided a platform for the band. Five years after the concerts became a staple of Victoria's summertime fare, Classic Car Nights began in downtown Victoria, also on Wednesday evenings, spearheaded by Randy Miller, Jerry Hartman, Dave Beneke, and Steve Schmieg. The first Classic Car Night was held on June 8th, 2011. People soon began to see that the Wednesday evening audiences were separated, and that Classic Car Nights and Concert Nights should be held together -- in downtown Victoria when possible because such a venue benefits the businesses and offers sidewalk patios and movement. The two went together in a really big way when Elvis first came to town in 2014 via Chris Olson, the impersonator. The hayrack followed the concert from Lions Park to the downtown business district for Elvis and then for other musicians. Somewhere along the way, a seed was planted in the mind of Mary Hershberger Thun to build a community bandstand in downtown Victoria where all the action is. She subsequently embarked on a remarkable four-year quest that culminated on May 18th, 2016, when the Charlson Thun Community Bandstand came to life with the Rockin' Hollywoods, a band that was inducted into both the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame and the Minnesota Rock and Country Hall of Fame in 2007. The large leap forward, from lowly hayrack to grand bandstand, involved overcoming several hurdles. But Mary was up to the challenge, as she has been up to many challenges in Victoria and beyond Victoria. For one thing, after serving four years as a Victoria Councilmember (2003 through 2006), she ran for higher office and became the Mayor of Victoria for another six years (2007 through 2012). As such, Mary became acquainted with the capable Ann Mahnke, Victoria's Parks and Public Works Director. Ann worked on the bandstand project with the former mayor these past four years, through the entire process, from its planning through its construction. Mary's many years in city government, plus her many years in private business and volunteer work in state and county positions, equipped her well. "The Bandstand project has needed many approvals from a variety of agencies and government organizations," said Mary. Earlier she had identified for the Gazette the most significant approvals that were needed prior to construction. The bandstand site is on the shores of Stieger Lake, which meant dealing with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. Their first approval came on September 19th, 2014. A second came on January 22nd, 2015. The City of Victoria approved the project on December 8th, 2014. Foremost among the hurdles was that Mary chose a site that is located on property owned by the Three Rivers Park District. That hurdle was overcome on December 18th, 2014, with a land lease agreement between the City of Victoria and the Park District. She said it was not difficult working or meeting with the various agencies, but there was quite an involved paper trail between them and the project manager.
Click here for a page of related photos in Sue’s Album. The entire story can be found in the June 2016 paper edition. |
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June 2016 |
