July 29, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.

A popular new fishing spot, a big indoor sand play business and an instant ice cream hit are among three new reasons to visit Harrisburg this summer.

Central Park

Within Harrisburg’s appropriately named Central Park in the middle of town, you’ll find Lake Ole, an increasingly popular spot for all ages.

“We’ve tried to make it an amenity for the community, specifically fishing, to help get kids outdoors,” park supervisor Jason Thurston said.

This spring, a citizen stocked the lake with 1,000 rainbow trout.

“So that really kicked off the heady fishing,” Thurston said.

Amenities around the lake include a walking path, a shelter and a newly installed fishing dock that definitely has made it more accessible.

“You’ll find crappie, bass, bluegill, rainbow trout, and we’ve heard a few urban legends of some other types of fish that we didn’t put in here,” Thurston said. ” So we don’t know if that was avid imaginations or somebody else might’ve put them in here, but these were the four types that we’ve had stocked in.”

Elsewhere around the park you’ll find baseball and T-ball fields, lots of green space and a nine-hole disc golf course.

“It’s a prairie course. We built it right in the middle of an alfalfa field. So we’re kind of dealing with what we have at the moment. So we have fairly wide fairways and then a fringe, or a first cut, area before the rough,” Thurston said.

Plans for Central Park include new fields, shelters, green space and a band shell.

“There’s a lot more to come, and the stuff that is staying is going to get a bit of a face-lift so that it can match all the new stuff that we have coming,” he said.

The Sandlot

If you’d rather escape the heat, one of Harrisburg’s newest businesses is ready to bring you the oceanside inside.

The Sandlot is a sensory park that shares space with a coffee shop.

“If you can’t get outside, you can’t play in the dirt, you can’t play in the sand. You can come inside and do it,” owner Jaclyn Small said.

“You can get dirty; you can get wet. You can experience in indulging all your senses for kids, which is what it’s all about.”

Along with the sand pit, you’ll find an expertly designed sensory gym.

“That was all designed by an occupational therapist to really benefit children’s skills and help them grow their gross motor skills and all of their developments. And then we also have an indoor splash room,” she said.

The Sandlot is located in the same space as Lava’s Coffee and Cafe.

“Who doesn’t want to get a cup of coffee or a smoothie now that it’s summertime, grab something to drink, munch on, and then kids can play,” Small said.

You can buy a membership, come for just a day or schedule a private event here. Since opening last fall, it has become a popular place.

“Harrisburg needs more stuff for kids to do. It’s a growing community. There’s a lot of young families. We live in Harrisburg. We know that first-hand, and it’s just a spot for the kids to go,” Small said.

“It’s been so well-received, which is awesome. The kids will hear they’re coming to do sand play, and they don’t realize what it is. So once they see that, and those doors open, they go crazy.”

For information, click here.

B&G Milkyway

And finally, if you want to sample Harrisburg’s newest sweet stop – just know it’s going to be worth the wait.

“Every time I opened the window to be the cashier, they’re just thanking us for opening,” regional manager Angela Severson said.

“They said they were waiting four years for us. And we’re finally here.”

B&G Milkyway opened in July – and the lines started almost instantly.

“We are very busy. Like we did not expect this amount of customers all at once,” Severson said.

While ice cream is the specialty, the B&G food menu is offered here too.

“We carry hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, cheeseballs, french fries, the basics,” she said.

Early customer favorites have emerged.

“Cookie dough ice cream, of course, or the Avalanche,” Severson said. “And then a lot of sundaes here. Everyone loves the parfaits.”

For now, it’s drive-thru only – though new additions are coming.

“We’re going to be getting picnic tables soon. We’re talking about lobby. We don’t know if, because the staff is so new, that if they can handle the lobby and the drive-thru the way it is. We’re just so busy right now. We don’t want to overwhelm them,” Severson said.

And if you know anyone who could use a job, B&G could use the help.

“I’m going to probably be hiring a few more kids. I usually only have five on, and I need eight or nine. That’s how busy we are. But I really need adults because the kids are going to be going back to school, so I need adults to work 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. when the kids get out of school,” Severson said.

You can visit the newest addition in Harrisburg until mid-October when the cold hits.

“It just depends,” she said. “If we’re getting frigid temperatures, we’ll close sooner. But a lot of times we get those Indian summers, and we can be open a little later. And then we reopen again in the middle of March.”