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I hope you had a chance to enjoy last weekend because it appears it might be gone for good. My family and I went to the Center City Fire Department Open House on Saturday. What a great job they did making it so comfortable for strangers to come and meet and learn about their local firefighters. Every fireman was so good with all the children there, my kids did not want to leave. If you have never been to one of the local firehouses open house, I urge you. And if you have children, you will be well thanked for taking them.

Was it just me or did the leaves turn beautiful bright colors literally overnight? We took a ride down to Stillwater Saturday and the colors were breathtaking. What a great drive that is through Scandia and down 95 to Stillwater. The only downside to it is about 50,000 other people had the same idea of going for a drive.

It was just two weeks ago that the news casts were leading off with for the first time ever there is a flu shot surplus and everyone should be able to get their’s. Funny, now they are telling the public that there is a major shortage and once again only certain citizens will be able to get the shot. Is there only one manufacturer of these vaccines? If so, why wouldn’t the government step in and facilitate multiple manufacturers to avoid such headaches? Because they are too busy producing these wonderful ads we see every 30 seconds on television ripping into the opponent.

Can you imagine losing three of your family members in the blink of an eye? That’s exactly what happened to the Backstrom family of Hampton. Their three sons were killed in an auto accident Sunday evening. I could not believe how strong the family appeared after this life-changing event. It just goes to show, we had better appreciate the here and now and the time spent with our families.

Just when we were planning our Twins parties and scheduling all events around the game times, the Twins go out and get mauled by the Yankees. For the second straight year the Yankees have ended what was going to be a run at another pennant. I do, however, have one member of my family that is glad the Twins season is over. You see, my son now gets to watch all the episodes of Cops he can possibly stomach uninterrupted by any Twins games.

Matt Silver

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