Mercer celebrates 41st annual Loon Day

MERCER, Wis. - The population of Mercer and surrounding communities gathered in town on Wednesday to celebrate the 41st annual Loon Day, a craft show featuring vendors from around the country.

Melissa Biszak, executive director of the Mercer Chamber of Commerce and organizer of the event, said that Loon Day celebrates what the town is most well-known for: being the "Loon capital of the world."

"We have some vendors that are from Nebraska, Iowa and Florida. They all have vacationed up here, love the Mercer area and continue to come back year after year. So, our vendors come from a wide variety of places. Same with the people who travel up here. It's a great destination that people take time off from that week to be able to come up and enjoy the Northwoods, and Mercer in particular. They look forward to that every year. So, we definitely have a wide variety of people," Biszak said.

According to Biszak, 250 vendors, local organizations and clubs set up tables along Lakeview Avenue and Railroad Street. The streets were closed to motor vehicles to make room for the foot traffic.

Biszak said that the organizers expected at least 10,000 people to attend the event, but since crowds were already pouring in an hour before the start of the art and craft show, she thought the attendance numbers were even higher than that this year.

The organizers implemented many of the same COVID-19 safety precautions from the Loon Day event in 2020, Biszak said.

"We have a lot of the same things - putting the sanitizer out, keeping the space between the booths - because that allows them to have more room to show their product, as well as give customers an easy way to see what that person is selling," she said.

The chamber of commerce also provided shuttle transportation between Carow Park and downtown to make the event more accessible, Biszak said.

The chamber also planned to host the annual Loon Calling Contest in the afternoon.

Among the groups which had tables at the event was the Mercer Area Sno-goers. The snowmobile club showcased equipment it uses to maintain trails during the winter. Paul Hasenberg, a volunteer with the Sno-goers, said funds from a raffle they were holding will help maintain the 256 miles of trails the group is responsible for.

According to the Sno-goers website, the drawing for the prizes will be held starting at 3 p.m. today at Wolf's Den bar and grill.

Also present was Great Lakes Sports Entertainment, which sold tickets to a children's inflatable bounce house and bungie jumper.