Marilyn Hagerty: Residents, carrying cookies, fill shelter

She calls her cookies Snow Balls.

On one of the hottest days so far this summer, Aubrey Benda’s cookies caught the fancy of judges and won first place in a contest just for fun on Monday in Lincoln Park.

Snow Balls baked by a 10-year-old were among those on several dozen plates of cookies that showed up for an Eatbeat gathering in Lincoln Park. Baklava by Aida Wakefield drew a fair share of wows. And Sophia LeMire, a 10 th-grade student at Sacred Heart, also came in as a winner. She brought white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies.

Friends who filled the big shelter to eat cookies heard G. Paul Larson sing. And they sang along with him. The 10-year-old cookie winner said her brother, Jeb, ate 12 cookies.

Baklava by Aida Wakefield drew special attention. So did the cookies from friends who live at Valley Memorial Home and came with cookies to the party.

There were enough cookies left over to share with Northlands Rescue Mission.

As I finished my sixth cookie, I was thinking you couldn’t do something like this without friends and the Mayor Michael Brown. He brought his greetings and ate a cookie or two.

Actually, the whole event started in letters back and forth with Dave McFarlane. He’s a former Grand Forks businessman now living in Florida. We thought of meeting at my lift station at 15th Street and Belmont Road when he and his wife were coming back for a visit.

One thing led to another. As things often do. There wouldn’t be enough shade. There wouldn’t be chairs.

So we thought of going to the park. Lincoln Park is beautiful this summer. I watched children playing all around before the cookie fest started. I saw other people just come and sit in the shade. There were occasional runners. A group of nine bikers went down the bike path.

Maybe we don’t live in the biggest city in the world. Maybe we don’t have major league baseball. But we have friends who will bring cookies. We have people like Dave and Nancy McFarlane, who come back and visit.

The days of summer are fast and fleeting. As I waited in the park early in the afternoon, I wondered if anyone would show up.

The answer was clear. They filled the big shelter. Nancy Yoshida stopped on the way to put flowers by my lift station on Belmont Road.

The weekend arrives. By now, the Saturday morning farmer markets are established down by City Hall. There’s another 4-H cooking contest shaping up.

The precious days of summer are unfolding almost too quickly.

Q. Where can you find macaroni on a stick?

A. At the fair this weekend in Thief River Falls, where there are 25 vendors in the food court.

Cheerful people of the week: Jonathan Holth and Julie Rygg.

Reach Marilyn Hagerty at mhagerty@gra.midco.com or by telephone at 701-772-1055.