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Partly cloudy during the evening followed by cloudy skies overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 60F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.

This year’s Stony Lake Sparkler was a success after a two-year hiatus, hitting highs in attendees and record donations. Families and friends gathered on July 3 at the Stony Lake Inn to celebrate the Fourth of July with a 5K run.

“It was fantastic,” said Sally Malnor, the director of the Stony Lake Sparkler. “We had perfect weather…fantastic volunteers that helped people get to the right places. Pretty much I think it went off without a hitch.”

The 5K saw record numbers this year with 896 registered runners — just seven short of the 903 people record. Police estimated there were 1,500 people in attendance. The organization also received its highest donation ever — $25,291.07.

The money received at this event goes to the Crystal Valley Care Fund. This non-profit organization raises money to aid families in Oceana County who are struggling with life threatening illnesses or fire destruction.

This was the first year for the Stony Lake Sparkler after a two year break due to COVID. Malnor said many people were excited to have it back.

“We had a lot of people say it was great,” Malnor said. “They loved the T-shirts and how soft they were. And then we have hot dogs and chocolate milk, which is a pretty big highlight of the race.”

Prizes were donated from various businesses, including Claybanks Pottery, Stony Lake Custom Birdhouses and a Country Dairy tour including ice cream.

The race is divided by age group with a first place winner from each group, but there are also overall, master and grandmaster winners for any age from each gender. The overall winners were Connor Mora, 27, from Chicago and Jessica Jazwinski, 15, from Shelby. The master winners were Evan Chopp, 40, from Ypsilanti and Elizabeth Newton, 40, from Evanston, Ill. And the grand master winners were Dan Vander Schuur, 50, from Hudsonville and Traci Kalish, 50, from Columbus, Georgia.

The oldest participant in the race was Elane Matthews, who is 90 years old.

The event wasn’t all about the run though, as it had a new deejay and prizes for the largest family in attendance and the best dressed for Fourth of July.

“(The new deejay) did some fun dances while we waited for results,” Malnor said. “The results can sometimes take a while because they want to make sure they’re really accurate with the places that people got in their age group. So she was able to do some fun dances and things for the kids while we were waiting.”

Awards were also handed out to those with the best spirit costume. Those winners were Madi Parmalee, 7, Bailey Bertapelle, 25, Sara Schneidewind, 47, Emily Hills, 8, Ethan Huizinga, 15, and Jamie Vroman, 42.

Overall people were happy to see the event return after the pandemic and enjoyed the day out at Stony Lake.

“Everybody was so happy to have it back, that was the number one thing,” Malnor said.

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