Photo by Jim Tate Karen Lichtsinn, who coordinates the Lake Benton Saddle Horse Holiday community celebration, is shown in the Lake Benton Historical Society Museum, located in the Heritage Center. She wears many hats as the Administrative Marketing Coordinator for the Chamber of Commerce, including being the curator of the museum. She’s shown in front of a display of past Lake Benton High School uniforms.

LAKE BENTON — Returning to Lake Benton has proven to be be a wise decision for Karen Lichtsinn of Lake Benton.

Lichtsinn is volunteering as the Administrative Marketing Coordinator for the Lake Benton Chamber of Commerce. She’s also the coordinator of the 79th annual Lake Benton Saddle Horse Holiday, which will be held June 13-15 at several sites in Lake Benton.

Back in those early days of the event, between 600 and 700 horses would participate annually, she said. “But that’s down to about 100 now. Horses are an expensive hobby and there’s fewer families in the area that have horses.”

A number of equine-related contests will be held at the Hole in the Mountain. Park during the Saddle Horse events on Sunday the 15th, sponsored by the Dakota-Minnesota Saddle Club.

Two years ago the parade was moved from Sunday to Saturday, which has really helped participation at that event, said Lichtsinn.

“It used to be held on Sunday but that’s Father’s Day and we noticed a decline in the crowds. The horses that arrive for the Sunday Saddle Horse events ride in the Saturday parade, as well. The Dakota-Minnesota Saddle Club has been very supportive of the change to a Saturday parade,” she said.

Saddle Horse Holiday is a Chamber of Commerce event, and in the weeks leading up to it Lichtsinn is pretty much full-time finalizing plans and taking care of details. It takes about 50 volunteers to pull it off, and she said it’s a labor of love for her.

She grew up and attended school in Lake Benton, and would go on to earn an accounting degree from St. Cloud State University. She was hired by the computer consulting firm Accenture in the Twin Cities, where she worked for 34 years in finance before retiring 10 years ago. She moved back to Lake Benton 18 years ago.

She was able to work remotely for her home in Lake Benton for many years, before Covid made the term “working remotely” a common phrase. “They were way ahead of their time,” she said with a chuckle of Accenture. “The team I worked with was located in Argentina.”

She moved back to be closer to her parents, Anne, 87, and John Lichtsinn, 93, who live in town. A brother, Randy, moved back to Lake Benton five years ago and owns the Lake Benton Resort. She has another brother, Jerry, who lives in the Twin Cities and works for Cargill.

“Mom and dad still live independently and I am happy to help them whenever I can,” she said.

She lived in a Twin Cities for 27 years and finds the move back to Lake Benton good for her soul. “People look after each other here,” she said. “In the Cities you rarely knew your neighbors. That’s not the case here.”

Several events are held as a run-up to the Saddle Horse Holiday. The week kicks off Monday with the Miss Lake Benton competition, open to Lake Benton girls entering their senior year in high school. There will be a “hidden horseshoe” hunt during the week, too, where school children will search somewhere in town for the two hidden horseshoes.

Things really get going on June 13 with the hot dog feed and Citizen of the Year and Organization of the Year presentations. There will be Iron Man Jr. events that day, as well as pickleball, and a fireworks display, “which can be seen beautifully from the lake,” she said. A street dance was also held on Friday a year ago, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet.

A second street dance, sponsored by the Lake Benton Fire Department, will be held Saturday, June 14.

“Saturday is a day that we try to have a lot of events for kids,” said Lichtsinn. That includes 3-on-3 basketball, and Family Fun Day at the school park, which includes inflatables, pony rides, barrel train rides, and more. Food and drink will also be available.

The Dakota-Minnesota Trail Ride will be held on at the Hole in the Mountain County Park during the morning prior to the parade, which starts at noon. There will also be an informal car show by the lake on that day, as well as community softball.

Lichtsinn is on 15 boards and committees in the area. To say she’s an active retiree is an understatement.

“Lake Benton is an active community,” she said, listing off some of the other community events like the new Lights in the Park display started this past holiday season, the Sportsman’s Club annual wild game feed (“Get there early!”), various Lake Benton Opera House productions, the community residential holiday lighting contest and the Santa Claus Day for K-6 elementary students.

“Lake Benton is a wonderful community and we feel there’s a variety of events scheduled throughout the year that will appeal to all different age groups,” she said.