Amid the cheers and between sips of Kool-Aid, there rose a chant: “Ba-na-na, ba-na-na, BA-na-na, BA-NA-na, BA-NA-NA!” On the edge of the Lake Hastings shoreline was an incredibly… how to put this …yellow wave of students as a yellow cardboard banana boat made its way across the water. 

The Minions, this year’s Scott Scholar group, were very appropriately dressed in bright yellow shirts and themed face paint as they encouraged their trusty Hastings-native captain, Caden Block ‘28, while he navigated the banana boat around the buoys. 

Unfortunately, the fates were not on the Minions’ side this time, as the cardboard banana boat started to fold in on itself on the last leg of the race. With sympathetic groans coming from the audience, the banana boat was engulfed by the water, and its captain abandoned ship. The boat was eventually fished out of the lake and was tossed into the cardboard boat graveyard (i.e. the dumpster). 

However, even after the loss of the banana boat, the Minions patiently waited with the rest of the audience for the awards ceremony to begin. Awards were handed out to the different boats until one of the most important awards was announced: Best Sink. 

A collective gasp could be heard as the awards presenter announced the news. For the third year in a row, winners of Best Sink were the (Minion) Scott Scholars and their banana boat, continuing the legacy.

Block, who grew up attending Kool-Aid Days and watching the cardboard boat races, said, “It just always looked fun to me. The Scott Scholar group encouraged their freshmen to do it and they wanted to continue winning Best Sink.” 

The Scott Scholars’ strategy was one of imitation, as Block’s family has connections with another local family with a long history of building boats strong enough to brave the gentle waves of the lake. “My dad knows someone who had won the race seven years in a row, and we were able to try to replicate the boat he used. I joked that ours looked like the Walmart brand of that boat because it looked a little wonky” Block said.

Another important event of the Kool-Aid Days weekend was the parade with the Kool-Aid Man himself making an appearance along with many other mascots including Runza Rex, Smokey the Bear and even stormtroopers. One of the most show stopping entries in the parade, however, was the Hastings College marching band. 

Edgar senior Breanna Brennforder and the rest of the marching band had spent weeks preparing for Kool-Aid Days with long days at band camp and multiple afternoon rehearsals. “A lot of what we do to get ready is marching fundamentals. Learning how to march in straight lines, follow the person in front of you, march around corners and learning how to focus because parades can be really distracting,” she said.

The band has since shifted its focus to its halftime show in preparation for field marching and football season. Brennforder said, “Our halftime show music set is music from ‘Moana,’ and we’re currently learning the music for that… I really like field marching because you get to see the audience recognize some of the themes and get excited to hear you play things that they know while making cool shapes, and it’s cool to watch people get so engaged.”

The marching band will be playing at home football games for the remainder of the season, including half-time shows.