The 11th annual Freedom Day celebration went off with a bang and without a hitch. Actually, it went off with a number of BIG bangs, but with one hitch... the weather... which was very uncooperative. Temperature got no higher than 45 (which felt like 39) and both snow showers and sleet forced the bands to depart, and the celebration itself to close early. (click on thumbnails for larger images)

The civil war cannon and the New Ulm battery |

Crowd shot |

Crowd shot |

Crowd shot |

John Wilkinson, Charles Test, and Colin Wilkinson |

The State Capitol dome |

Closeup of the gold statues, titled "Progress of the State", and also called "Quadriga"/ |

A few libertarian notables after the celebration |