Flesh exposure at Paddlefish Days (don't worry: it's for a cause)

Hoping to break this record

Bikini parade entry raises eyebrows in Minn. town

Published 02:55 p.m., Sunday, July 15, 2012

MADISON LAKE, Minn. (AP) — Cynthia Frederick thought it would be fun to gather several hundred women to march in what she's billing as the World's Largest Bikini Parade. The tanning salon owner envisions it as a sun-kissed fundraiser for breast cancer prevention that will raise awareness of the health benefits of higher vitamin D levels.

But to most members of the Madison Lake City Council, the idea runs counter to the family-friendly tone they want for the southern Minnesota community's Paddlefish Days parade next Saturday.

"This parade shouldn't have this image," Councilman Chuck Ries said.

Still, it looks like the parade will go on, bikinis and all, The Free Press of Mankato reported Sunday (http://bit.ly/OHjqRN).

Madison Lake City Administrator Kelly Steele checked with the League of Minnesota Cities, which told her that the community of 1,017 people can't bar specific parade entries.

Frederick, owner of Electric Beach in Mankato, said she's hoping to break a world record for bikini-clad marchers in a parade, which was set earlier this year in Florida at 450.

Council members also have expressed qualms about the charity that will benefit from the walk, the Breast Cancer Natural Prevention Foundation, which advocates cancer prevention through sun exposure and higher vitamin D levels.

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