Night Blast on Sept. 6 to help celebrate Labor Day weekend

A full weekend of activities are planned at Crazy Horse Memorial September 5-7 to celebrate Labor Day weekend.

On Sunday September 6, the second and final night blast of the year will take place at Crazy Horse Memorial.  This event observes the dual anniversaries of the 1877 death of Oglala Lakota leader Crazy Horse and commemorates the birthday of the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski.

Boston-born Ziolkowski came to the Black Hills in 1947 to start work on the largest mountain carving in the world.   After 61 years, the project is showing accelerated progress, with one of the largest blasts in the project’s history taking place on August 19, 2009 removing 4,362 tons of rock.

The night blast will be part of the Labor Day weekend open-house at the Memorial.  As a thank you to our neighbors, the residents from South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and Nebraska are admitted free on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to the Memorial with a suggested donation of three cans of food per person for the KOTA Care and Share Food Drive.

Preceding the night blast will be “Legends in Light” a multimedia laser light production.  It shows nightly at dark through Native American Day, October 12, 2009.  The laser show will begin at approximately 8:00 pm, followed immediately by the night blast.

Also as part of the weekend festivities, the winning ticket will be drawn for the 2008 custom detailed Harley-Davidson Street Glide.  The drawing will be take place at 3:00 pm on Sunday, September 6.  The pearl white bike has been on display at the Memorial since it was unveiled on September 6, 2008.  This is the fourth year the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation has sponsored a bike raffle fundraiser.  Tickets are one for $20 or three for $50 and may be purchased until 2:00 pm on September 6 at the Memorial or by calling 605.673.4681. All proceeds go to the project.