Rosefest Visitors Put State Shutdown on The Backburner for the Fourth

On Independence Day, many visitors to Roseville's Rosefest summer celebration at Central Park were in no mood to talk to Roseville Patch about the state government shutdown.

The shutdown had taken something away from every Minnesotan last weekend, except the right to celebrate this summer holiday, that represents so much of our country, one man said.

“I think people just want to enjoy their holiday,” Mary Bear-Dukes reasoned. 

Dukes, relaxing in the shade while she waited for her son Max to climb the rock wall, expressed her frustration with the government. 

“The legislature needs to get back in there and figure it out,” she said. 

Dukes, who works in nursing, says she understands the shutdown, to a point. 

“It just gets to a point where the reality is that their (legislators')job is to figure it out, and they are not. It’s unfair that the whole state is being punished for it.

“It really is an embarrassment to our state,” she added. "I know a lot of other states are struggling too, but I know we can do better than this."

Dukes and her family usually stay in town for July 4th and were not directly affected by the closings that took place in the state parks for the holiday. Her family enjoyed local activities like visiting a water park, boating on the St. Croix River and attending Rosefest. 

Dukes added she and a friend do have plans to enjoy some hiking on a visit to a state park near Grand Marais this coming weekend.  She said she might need to rethink her plans.

“I don’t see them resolving anything this week, but I’m hopeful that something will happen soon.”

Dukes noted the state shutdown and the closing of state parks came before the biggest weekend of the year for camping and outdoor fun. 

“I find it ironic that the things they took away from us are really a fundamental to our state," she said. It’s part of what makes Minnesota so great.”