Loud "Patriotic" Winger Music Disrupted 4th Celebration

[MineralMan]

My wife and I spend yesterday afternoon at the home of some good friends. They have a house on a Minnesota lake, overlooking a cove that is always a popular gathering place for boaters on Independence day.

It was a good gathering, with a bunch of friends and acquaintances, and the antics of the boaters are always entertaining. I also manage to catch a few fish off our friends' dock.

This year, though, some other property owner on the lake shore decided that music was needed, and set up a professional sound system on their dock. A large sound system. Throughout the afternoon, it boomed out "patriotic" music. All of it was Country & Western style, and the sound system was loud enough to disrupt conversations throughout the area.

Fed by someone's iPod, the music was of the "God Bless the USA" variety. In fact, in the four hours we were outside there, I must have heard "I'm proud to be a merkin..." at least 25 times.

I did get out the binoculars to see the sound system. None of the residents of that lakeshore home were on their dock, or visible anywhere. I'm guessing that they fired up the noise and then left for the day, leaving their "patriotic" message to plague the gathering.

Unfortunate choice, I believe.

[Arugula Latte]

1. Was there a man there with horns and a pitchfork

and did this lake happen to be burning? 'Cuz that is my idea of Hell right there.

[MineralMan]

2. The boating crowd actually thinned out really

early, compared to the past 9 years when we've been there. Usually, the rafted boats hang around well into the evening. This year, by 6 PM, most of the boats had left the cove. Very unusual. It was more than annoying. I'm a little surprised that someone didn't go over there and unplug the monster sound system.

[Arugula Latte]

3. And the sound reeeeally carries over the water.

[MineralMan]

5. It really does.

[Spirochete]

17. I'd have been sorely tempted

to try to find out how it carries underwater

[Jenoch]

7. When I read your OP

I thought you might be on Lake Minnetonka, but after reading this post, I don't think there's any possibility the raft of boats cleared out. I grew up on a small lake in rural Minnesota and every Sunday it seemed some knuckheads did something similar on the north side of the lake. I remember one time we did take the boat up there to get them to turn it down. They actually complied. Of course this was a town where everybody on the lake knew what family was in which house.

[MineralMan]

8. Prior Lake.

Candy Cove is the traditional gathering place for rafting up a bunch of boats on the 4th. Our friends have owned a home there since the 1970s, when lakeshore homes were actually possible for normal people to buy. Today, their property taxes are a big issue for them, so they're thinking about selling the place.

Anyhow, they host an Independence Day party for their friends, family, and their grown children's friends every year. It's a good time. I've never seen the boats leave before. Usually, the party's just getting started at 6PM. This year, I'm sure the music drove them away to some other cove. Maybe that was the idea. I just don't know.

[Jenoch]

9. i heard something interesting about Prior Lake the other day.

Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune grew up in Fulda, MN (current population about 1,300). Reusse moved to Prior Lake with his family when he was 16. At that time (1963) Prior Lake and Fulda both had about 1,200 people and there were just a few cabins on the lake.

I read somewhere that the DNR was making a concerted effort to catch drunken boaters. Of course they seem to say that every Independence Day.

[MineralMan]

10. I saw a couple of Sheriff's boats and a DNR boat

patrolling the cove yesterday. I think they were actually trying to do their jobs, but I didn't seen anyone get a citation. Most boats were anchored and not moving, so I'm not sure citations would be issued, since there was no "operation" of a boat going on.

[Jenoch]

11. In my hometown we stayed off the lake

on the holidays because there were usually way too many boats for the size of the lake (800 acres).

[TransitJohn]

4. I was expecting a story about this

Now I'm disappointed.

[MineralMan]

6. Different Winger.

[NaturalHigh]

12. People who blast their music annoy me to no end.

It doesn't matter what kind of music it is. If I want to listen to it, I'll play it myself.

Yes, I know, I'm getting old.

[SMC22307]

13. Your inner authoritarian didn't call the cops...

to report a loud music disturbance? Right.

What's the point of this OP? To get those nasty ol' libruls on DU to bash "patriotic" music?

[MineralMan]

14. Call the cops because I didn't like the music?

Not me. I call the cops when someone is burglarizing a house or stealing a car. I call the cops when someone is being beaten. I don't call the cops over loud music. There were probably 1000 people at that location. Did any of them call the cops? I doubt it. Being annoyed is not a reason to call the police.

But, hey, thanks for the insult.

ETA: I also don't alert on personal attacks made on me. So, if your post gets hidden, someone else made the alert. I prefer to deal with insults directly, and in the thread.

[MineralMan]

16. Do I? OK.

I'm sure you'll have a chance to read whatever I choose to write here. DU's great like that.

Knock yourself out.

[SMC22307]

18. Indeed, DU is. And I love the design...

very easy on the eyes.

[HappyMe]

19. Welcome to DU!

Or should I say welcome back.

[SMC22307]

20. Thank you, HappyMe. (n/t)

[Bake]

21. I think the "welcome back" part went over his/her head ...

Whizzed right on past!



Bake

[HappyMe]

22. Or purposely ignored.

[redwitch]

23. Hmmm. You do know you can put someone on ignore right?

If you are that annoyed and all.

[SMC22307]

24. Not annoyed in the least. And I don't have anyone on ignore.

Although I will admit to using the awesome Trash Thread feature, mainly on Zimmerman threads.