The 45th annual Bonanza Valley Days town celebration is underway in Brooten! The weekend kicked off with an outdoor church service on Thursday night in the city park that was led by Pastor Steve Bovendam of Brooten. A crowd of almost 40 attended worship and heard God's Word in a beautiful setting with fabulous weather - a light breeze, little humidity and a terrific sunset off to the west.

If you haven't grabbed a copy of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper, you will want to do that! It is packed full of stories and photos and includes a great deal of coverage for the upcoming BVD weekend. The back page features the full list of activities in Brooten. It is 16 pages of local news! You can get copies in Brooten at Rooster's Bottle Shop, Mike's Market grocery store and RJ's Mini-Mart gas station. In Belgrade you can find copies for sale at the Belgrade Hardware Store, Coop's Corner and Micki's C-Store. Local subscribers pay just $18 a year to get the newspaper delivered each week! Out of the area, just $20 a year!

And here's a quick update on Bonanza Valley Days activities: on Friday the Briggs Motley Promotions flea market gets underway at 4 p.m. at the city park and also runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. At the Red Hen House retreat center in the center of town, the first annual Bonanza Valley Days Art Show takes place and runs through 7 p.m. This art show also runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.

And don't forget! The Brooten Fire Department's chicken BBQ supper is 5 to 8 p.m at the city park on Friday night. You and your whole neighborhood are invited to attend that and get a terrific meal for your family. A quarter chicken is $8, while a half chicken is just $9.50. The meal includes potato salad, beans, pickles, a bun and beverage.

Here's a summary of food options for Saturday: the KaDe Shack has an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet from 7 to 11 a.m. on Saturday. The Sedan Fire Department will be grilling hot dogs, brats and hamburgers at the city park shelter during the day on Saturday. Mini-donuts will be available during the day starting around 10 a.m. at the city park. They will pack up and move to the north end of main street around 5 o'clock to be ready for the street dance. In the evening as the Ladies of the 80s street dance is getting set up, the B-B-E Wrestling Club and the Anderson family will both have delicious food offerings available. Of course, you are always welcome to eat at the KaDe Shack and at Marcia's Bar and Grill during their regular hours.

That's all for now! Click here to read more on the schedule for the weekend: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2017/07/06/news/bonanza-valley-days-2017/469.html.