The Marshall High School class of 1980 was one of the MHS classes holding reunions during Sounds of Summer weekend in Marshall. Class members rode in the Sounds of Summer Parade.

MARSHALL — Sounds of Summer weekend wasn’t just a time for local residents to celebrate – plenty of people traveled to Marshall to join in the fun.

“It was a great day,” said Vickie Abel, a graduate of Marshall High School’s graduating class of 1980. Members of the Class of 1980 rode on a float during Saturday’s Sounds of Summer parade, tossing small bouncing balls to the crowd. “I’ve never had so much fun,” Dawn DeSchepper said.

Sounds of Summer’s events helped draw a lot of different people to Marshall over the weekend. In addition to the festival events, the MHS classes of 1980 and 1985 held reunions, and a trail run at Camden State Park brought people from both South Dakota and Minnesota into the area.

More than 120 people had signed up for the Camden Park trail run on Saturday morning, said local organizer Josh Anderson. Participants in the trail race included a mix of people from both the Sioux Falls area and southwest Minnesota.

“We really wanted to come here for a long time,” race director Nathan Schwab said of Camden Park.

“It was kind of a coincidence” that the trail run came together on Sounds of Summer weekend, Anderson said. “Hopefully it works out, and we can get a really good turnout.”

For quite a few trail runners, Saturday was their first time at Camden. Organizers encouraged people to stick around and enjoy Sounds of Summer events after the race.

“I’ve never been here before. It’s really pretty,” one runner said after finishing a three-mile course through the park.

“It’s super scenic,” said Sioux Falls area resident Holden Heer.

Back in Marshall, many people had traveled to attend Sounds of Summer events. MHS graduates came back to Marshall from across the country, and joined in the festival while they were there. “We had one person from Orlando. People came from Atlanta, Portland, Washington state,” MHS class of 1980 member Dan Fosvick said. “Some hadn’t been here for years.”

Organizers of the reunion, including Abel, Fosvick, DeSchepper and Kathy Deutz estimated around 60 members of the class of 1980 attended the reunion. It worked out to hold the party during Sounds of Summer, and Fosvick offered gathering space at Fuzzy’s.

Class of 1980 member Troy Rosenbrook said it was fun to come back to Marshall after many years away. “To have everyone come back, it’s amazing,” he said.

“Marshall has changed. I went and drove around and looked,” Rosenbrook said. He also joined classmates on the parade float. It was fun to see people’s reactions as they rode down Lyon and Main Streets, he said.

“The bouncy balls were a hit,” with both kids and adults in the crowd, Deutz said. As the parade went on, she tried to toss or bounce them right into the buckets and bags that kids were collecting candy in.

After meeting up at Fuzzy’s, people attending the reunion stuck around for the Fabulous Armadillos concert Saturday night.

“That’s a great band,” Fosvick said.

“It was just a great weekend to be in Marshall,” Abel said.