Hayfield prepares for Sesquicentennial, city looks toward the future

(ABC 6 NEWS) – Small towns at their best are about people coming together for a town they love, and that is what one community is doing starting today.

Let’s take a step back in history.

The city of Hayfield has quite the story to tell, and one man we spoke to has a special connection to the town.

"The township was formed 150 years ago in 1872 by my great grandfather Hans Boysen," Randy Benson, a Hayfield resident said.

Randy is proud of his great-grandpa. He keeps this book close to him as a way to look back and read about how his family made the city into what it is today.

But it also gives us an inside look into the rest of Hayfield’s history.

Randy was in first grade when a fire destroyed the Hayfield grade school building in 1969. Years later, Hayfield would celebrate it’s centennial.

And there’s a video from the parade back then. It’s living history for people to learn from.

"This display depicts some of the items from the 1972 centennial," Benson said.

Some of those items are the centennial plate, the buttons, and a placemat. Pretty neat!

"How does it feel to know that people can get a look at living history?"

"It’s very important, the little town of Hayfield is never going to be on any major history program. This is a localized history event that we’d like to share with as many people as possible," Benson said.

And it only took a matter of time before Hayfield would celebrate its 150 years! Their celebration is now underway and it runs through this weekend.

So how do people here say Sesquicentennial?

"It’s the 150th, my wife, I’m not even going to try it! It’s embarrassing," Hayfield Mayor Rich Fjerstad said.

Don’t worry! Randy’s got it!

"Sesquicentennial! I think I got it," Benson said.

Close enough!

"What does the city of Hayfield mean to you?"

"Hayfield is an awesome community. It started with people, and those people have got us to where we are today," Mayor Fjerstad said.

"I love this event and I hope we see tons of people out here! We are just a very humble, heartwarming family of young and old," Liz Fjerstad, member of Celebrate Hayfield said.

For a full list of events at the Sesquicentennial, click on this link.