From it's very beginning, Verndale was known far and wide as a place to come for fun. The community was famous for its annual Fourth of July celebrations which attracted as many as 10,000 people to the festivities. The celerations always featured a grand parade, hourse races at the race track, several baseball games, foot races, bicycle races, speeches by local and state dignataries and a host of other activities to make the Fourth at Verndale a memorable occasion.

The old fairgrounds on the west side of town was the site of exciting hourse races, producing some of the fastest race times in the state. The grand stands could hold hundreds of people and it was not an uncommon site to see the stands filled to capacity with a huge overflow crowd.

Baseball was another popular activity. There was a baseball field at the center of the race track and history records some very memorable games being played at that field.

Even the Wadena County Fair was held at Verndale. In 1897, Wadena's old fair grounds was in very poor condition and there wasn't a suitable place to hold the county fair in that village. Since Verndale's fair grounds were in excellent condition, the community was asked to hold the fair.