Publisher’s Perspective

By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune

Whew.

I’m sure  the Waterama Brass, royalty, committee members, board members and everyone involved with the annual celebration is breathing a sigh of relief this morning.

They should also be congratulated.  The 66th annual Waterama 2022 was a success in every way.

All the events went as planned and the weather cooperated.  It all came together to make Waterama 2022 a huge success, and we thank all those volunteers who worked in some way to make it happen.

I’ve been photographing Waterama weekend for many years now, but this one seemed to have larger crowds at everything.  The parade route was packed, City Park was packed and downtown was crowded most of the weekend.  Even Bottle Bay seemed be be overly popular this year.

The population of Glenwood and the Minnewaska area swelled by many thousands, the motels were full, the restaurants and other stores were packed.  It was great to see.

This year’s Waterama Admiral Sara Stadtherr, in her fairwell speech on Sunday evening, showed those gathered at City Park just how much of a family and community event Waterama is.  She had people who are on committees  and the board stand.  Then she had people who are related to those standing stand.  Then she asked those who knew someone standing to stand.  Almost the entire crowd was standing when she finished.

That was a telling sign of the success of Waterama.  It takes an entire community,  and this community shows up to make it happen year in and year out.

Thank you and congratulations Sara, new Admiral Terry Jones and new Commodore Angie VanZee. I’m sure their jobs throughout the year and especially Waterama week can be stressful.  But all three showed a calm, organized and confident manner and everything went as planned.

           

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Congratulations to the Lighted Pontoon Parade winners.  Glenwood State Bank won first place in the business challenge.  In the “Organization” category, Starbuck Heritage Days took first and Minnewaska Drumline took second.

In the “Friends and Family” category, the Waterama Blue Crew took first and the Larson Family took second.

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Although there are a number of pages of photos from the weekend included in this issue of the Tribune-Times, there were many more that were taken and just couldn’t be included.  

So next week we will run more photos of the events, especially all the sporting events, the sand sculpting on the beach and more.

Also, many photos will be added to our website gallery, so please check them out there.  If anyone wants to purchase a photo or two, you can do it online, or just give us a call at the office. 

And one last thing, thank you to all those who visited Glenwood for Waterama last week and each year.  As I said, the population of the city visibly grows on the weekend and many people return each year because of the quality of the celebration and its location on the shores of Lake Minnewaska.