Youth mental health night offers free fun for families in Chisholm

Free BMX stunt shows, a bike giveaway and a first-100-children giveaway will anchor the sixth annual Youth Mental Health Night at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm on Thursday, June 25, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The museum says the event is free, kid-focused and open to all ages, with Bruce the Bear set to meet families for photos for the first time.

The night is built as an outreach event as much as a family outing. The Minnesota Discovery Center is teaming with the St. Louis County Family Services Collaborative, Fairview Range, Ride MN, local practitioners, local vendors and other partners to connect Iron Range youth and parents with mental health resources in a setting that feels more like a community gathering than a clinic waiting room.

This year’s program also includes food, games, prizes and shopping opportunities, along with the BMX performances that have become a hallmark of the night. The event has now run for several years at the same Chisholm venue, with the fifth annual gathering held June 26, 2025, and the fourth annual event held June 20, 2024, both from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The repeated return to the Minnesota Discovery Center gives the effort a local base in a region where distance, transportation and scheduling can keep families from getting help early. St. Louis County’s own human services work includes children and family services, family support services and children’s mental health case management, the same kind of support many parents need when a child’s stress or behavior starts to become harder to manage.

Fairview Range, an affiliate of M Health Fairview serving Northeast Minnesota, has also tied the event to its broader community-health work. Its community health materials say that work includes Youth Mental Health Night, school outreach, Psychological First Aid classes, Zero Suicide and Micro-Interventions workshops and employee mental health trainings. In a 2022 event post, pediatric mental health specialist Kim Oberstar was listed to appear at the Fairview booth, and Fairview said families looking for help with child mental health concerns could ask a primary care physician for a referral or call the health system for more information.

That mix of games and resources is what gives the night its purpose. Families can come for the stunt show and stay for a reminder that mental health is part of overall health, and that help is closer than many rural families assume.