2023 Pine River Area Visitor Guide

Welcome to Pine River!

Every day I come to work at the Pine River Chamber of Commerce, I am reminded of the vast history of the Pine River area.

It helps that we have a lot of this history hanging on our walls and the 150th Planning Committee has so many wonderful events planned for this year’s sesquicentennial celebration.

History tends to come to the surface whenever there is great change in a community and we have experienced quite a bit we would love for you to see.

One of the most noticeable differences is the new bridge across the Pine River and the new rock riffle dam. While this may have interrupted our Duck Races, we are thankful to see the progress our city is making.

It still brings to mind the origins of the dam and the work it did for our area all those years ago.

In 1910, the dam and a hydroelectric plant were built to provide electrical power to Pine River and outlying communities, such as Backus, Jenkins, Pequot Lakes and Nisswa. It was the first major electrical generating plant in our area and continued its operation until it was discontinued in 1946.

No doubt the site of the Pine River dam has seen many historical trends, from the fur trappers to the thousands of miles of timber, in the years before the hydroelectric plant’s construction.

Pine River will continue our traditions in 2023. Our annual events span all seasons, with Happy Dancing Turtle’s Back to Basics event and the weekly farmers market kicking off early in the year. In the summer we highlight Dam Days, a Rhubarb Festival, the Lakes Bluegrass Festival and the Cass County Fair. We will be celebrating Pine River’s sesquicentennial over the weekend of July 6-8 with a Pine River-Backus All School Reunion, parade, car show, dance and beer garden, variety show including a skit written by Candace Simar, Picklefest, quilt show, camping at the fairgrounds, music, games, Lions Club breakfast, food trucks, sidewalk sales, beard contest, history tours of the cemetery, George Barclay ranch location, historic depot and MORE to come!

We can’t wait to celebrate how far Pine River has come!

The Arts Off 84 Art Crawl, Heritage Days and the Buckskinner Encampment draw people here in the fall, and craft fairs and the Parade of Lights occur in the winter months.

There is truly an event for everyone.

We are working on a new idea to bring back our Duck Races and once more celebrate the fact that we have such a lovely river to play in.

These events, and more, can be found on our website at www. pinerivermn.com and on our Facebook page.

“Like” and follow the Pine River Chamber of Commerce on Facebook and find us online at www. pinerivermn.com

Michaela Reed, Executive Director, Pine River Chamber of Commerce

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