Minnesotans Soak Up The Sun On #Top10WxDay

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The temperature reached a high of 79 degrees in the Twin Cities on Saturday.

From festivals to fundraisers, the #Top10WxDay helped make outdoor events a success.

Some Richfield firefighters got a welcome break from battling fires, in favor of raising money for books.

Firefighter Brian Wienholz said he enjoyed raising hundreds of dollars through a car wash held at The Richfield STEM School.

"It gets plenty hot and we get plenty sweaty and in the heat it's hard to work, but  the wintertime's just as brutal, so to get a relaxing day like this and volunteer our time to help kids get books is great," Wienholz said.

Richfield book fair organizer Shannon Schmidt helped put on the car wash fundraiser.

"We are hoping to get $1,000," Schmidt said.

By mid-afternoon, the group was close to that goal.

The idea is to get a couple of books into the hands of every student to help avoid what is called the "summer slide."

"It's when they come back to school in the fall, they're starting all over, they're not at the level they were when left in the spring," Schmidt said.

Schmidt said just being able to read a few books over the summer can keep children's skills sharp.

In northeast Minneapolis, it was art, not books, drawing people out on Saturday.

A free festival, Art-A-Whirl, featuring 600 local artists' works, brought out crowds eager to start the summer fun.

Art-A-Whirl continues Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

We have a list of more fun outdoor events happening tomorrow here.