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If you have ever wanted to take a ride on an old fashioned steam engine, your wait is over. The Iron Horse Central Railroad Museum is planning on firing up their old number four steam locomotive on October 18. For a small fee, you can take a trip into the past and see other trains that forged their way across America. Eric Thompson, who runs the Iron Horse, also wanted me to tell you that there will be an antique flea market the same day on the Iron Horse grounds. To get to the museum, take Olinda Trail south to Co. Rd. 85. Stay on 85 until you reach the museum. You can call them at 651-336-4531 for more information.

There is a really great coat drive taking place right now at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lindstrom. The 13th annual Kids Outerwear Fair is now taking your donations of coats, hats, mittens, scarves, snow pants and blankets that are in good condition. If you do not have any of these items money will always be graciously accepted. I personally know these wonderful women that put on this clothes drive, and I can honestly say they do it out of love. They work their tails off to assist families that are in a time of financial need, and this year the need will probably be greater than ever.

All clothes donated will be separated by size and displayed for the public for a free distribution to be held on October 24 and 25. Last year's fair was a huge success and the good people that put the fair on are hoping for a repeat this year. If you have a donation, you can drop it off at the Trinity Lutheran Church office. Thank you. Whatever you give will be appreciated.

This Fall I once again had the opportunity to coach a LARA flag football team with a friend of mine. Brad Doble is the head of LARA flag football and I for one, think he does a wonderful job. Flag football is open to both boys and girls from kindergarten to sixth grade. Every kid no matter what their age has a blast playing football. If you have thought about signing your child up for flag football but have yet to do it, I would highly recommend it. It doesn't require a lot of time out of your schedule, and your kids will thank you for it. Thank you to Brad Doble for allowing us to coach and for giving our kids a pre-tackle means to play football.

I don't know about you, but when my quarterly reports from my 401K show up in the mail, it is like driving by a bad car accident. You don't want to look, but somehow you just can't help yourself. More times than not, when you open yours, it is followed by a soft expletive followed by a trip to the shredder.

Today (Tuesday) the news reported the single biggest gain in 75 years. The Dow increased by 936 points to finish at 9,387. I guess that is reason to get excited, but with the economy in the state it is in, we are gun shy to hear of good news. Yes, the Dow is way up today, but what will happen in three or four days? It is a little like gas prices. We were all shocked that gas rose to an astonishing $4 per gallon. Now, you can see the glee in people's eyes when they are filling their tanks for $2.59 a gallon. When we get acustomed to paying high prices, we feel lucky to pay less, even though it is considerably more than we were paying in the first place. Which brings me back to the financial market. If my portfolio has dropped so low you can't even see it, am I supposed to be happy when it returns to a level that is way lower than it was say a year ago? It is a strange mentality that we have ingrained that's for sure.

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