Nearly 30 years ago, Dick Messerly stood at Fort Stevenson State Park’s de Trobriand Bay Marina and looked out at a vast expanse of heavy vegetation.
It should have been a vast expanse of water with boats moored along dock slips. However, it was 1992 in the midst of a multi-year drought hammering North Dakota and surrounding Northern Great Plains. Messerly had just arrived in Garrison, N.D. as the park’s newly named park manager.
Drawing on his youth in a small rural Iowa town and parents who instilled the need to be involved and promote your community, Messerly, an admitted “idea guy” knew the park’s success needed to involve more than simply its location on Lake Sakakawea.
He – along with the Garrison Chamber of Commerce, its Tourism Committee, and dedicated volunteers - came up with ideas to create events to attract people to the park and community three miles to its north. Over the years, events such as CANDISC (Cycle Around North Dakota in Sakakawea Country), SkyFest Over Fort Stevenson, Fort Stevenson Military Days, and even a Beach Party and Triathlon drew visitors to the region.
It was all possible with creative ideas from an array of people, including Messerly, and the willingness of volunteers to dedicate their time and heart to the community. Over the decades, some events have evolved and moved on but several remain regional staples.
When two area women, Jude Iverson and the late Pat Koenig, advanced the concept of an English Christmas Festival centered on the Charles Dickens’ book “A Christmas Carol” in 1994, Messerly enthusiastically joined in to help bring the festival to life.
Fast-forward to 2021 and Messerly, now retired, still lives in the Garrison area with his wife, Melissa. He’s been involved with the festival every year through the Chamber. But like so much of 2020, the festival was on a long list of cancellations.
"Garrison was so good to me."Dick Messerly, Garrison
It’s now 2021, and the Dickens Village Festival is back. Messerly returns as festival chairman, a position he’s held for about five years.
He laughs looking back at the inaugural festival. Dressed in traditional British regalia circa the Dickens era, he encouraged festival goers to buy home-cooked chicken wings. “I would yell out, ‘Get your chicken wings to go with that potato,’” he smiled, as people bought what became marquis street food fare - baked potatoes with toppings.
And, yes, festival goers often complemented those baked potatoes with chicken wings, the proceeds benefiting yet another non-profit organization. His affection for hawking food earned him the role of Food Street Vendor committee chair for more than 20 years.
Messerly is also back as an official tour guide on the Queen Elizabus, an authentic double-decker English bus acquired in 2004. Another task finds him decorating a 20-some-foot-long walleye statue, Wally the Walleye, for the festival. “We built a top hat for Wally so I help with that. That’s been my assignment, is to put the top hat on Wally…and other duties as assigned.”
Messerly credits strong community leadership and a willingness of residents to volunteer in the success of the festival and other events, such as the North Dakota Governor’s Cup. “It does take leadership…it does take a strong commitment, almost a passion,” he described. While the names and faces change as time marches on, the leadership and dedication remain.
"It's fun to stay involved."Messerly
What drives Messerly to remain involved today as much and as long as possible is a desire to give back to a community that supported ideas he and others advanced, allowing Fort Stevenson State Park and Garrison to not only remain viable as a rural North Dakota community but grow. Messerly knew he wanted to be involved with those who wanted to see a future for the town. “Garrison was so good to me,” he continued, “it’s fun to stay involved.”
Community leaders and volunteers may have questioned his mindset when he advanced the concept that people would pay money to ride a bicycle for a week in North Dakota and call it vacation. But they supported that idea and CANDISC became a staple for 25 years.
When former Garrison educator Deb Lenzen advanced the thought of a kite festival above the shores of Lake Sakakawea, Messerly and community embraced the idea. Skydance Sakakawea is now the long-running Skyfest Over Fort Stevenson Kite Festival.
“That marriage between parks and tourism is important,” Messerly
From that day looking out at a waterless marina, Messerly knew there needed to a partnership with the local community as both entities reeled from the drought’s economic wallop. “That marriage between parks and tourism is important,” he explained. So, too, is the marriage of a park and its local community. The events at both Fort Stevenson and Garrison all market the region. They’re unique and set the area apart, Messerly expressed.
As the 2021 Dickens Village Festival approaches, Messerly is looking forward to seeing the volunteers hard work come to fruition once again. Seeing Garrison’s Main Street lined with cars on Black Friday after Thanksgiving means people are coming to the community he treasures, a small town near the shores of Lake Sakakawea. Visitors aren’t shopping online or in Big Box Stores, they’re supporting local businesses and non-profit organizations.
They’re enjoying relaxed, hometown entertainment, including a theatrical production, a lighted parade, or riding a double-decker bus. Messerly marveled at the line of people waiting to board the first year Queen Elizabus made her appearance. He still marvels at the throng of people standing outside on a cold concrete street watching a lighted parade.
And he’s glad to still play a role in the success of what comprises the broad Garrison community, welcoming visitors to the 2021 Dickens Village Festival. This year's festival is Nov. 26 and 27, Dec. 3, 4, 10, and 11.
