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Thank you to all who donated their winter wear for the 13th annual Kid's Outerwear Fair. The response has been nothing short of spectacular.

Now, after all the donating, comes the most important part. Tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, the wonderful women organizing the outerwear fair would like to invite you to the Fair itself. If you or your family has fallen on hard times this year (don't feel ashamed, it has happened to hundreds of families) and are finding it hard to make ends meet, much less purchase some winter clothes for your children, come to Trinity Lutheran Church in Lindstrom. In the basement, you will find all kinds of children's winter wear from mittens to snowpants to snow boots. Once signed in, a guide will help you pick out items that your children will need this winter.

Last year 45 families were helped and over 250 winter coats given away. The state of the economy promises to present a greater need this year.

If you would like to take part in the Kids Outerwear Fair, it runs Friday 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to noon.

With the leaves rapidly changing colors you know that Halloween has to be right around the corner. This weekend you can get your young ones primed for Halloween by taking them to Chisago City's Children's Falloween Festival. The festival starts at noon and runs until 2:30. Held at the Chisago City Community Center, the festival will feature a magic show, face painting, crafts, snacks, hay rides, a golden pumpkin search and much more. Last year's Falloween was a huge success, so be sure not to miss this year's. Your kids will thank you for it.

Before you head to the Falloween celebration, I have a good idea for you. The Chisago Lakes cheerleaders are trying to raise enough money to pay their way to the Capital One Bowl football game in Orlando, Florida. They have been invited to take part in the halftime show, but they need to fund the trip themselves. Saturday morning, the cheerleaders will be serving breakfast at the PorterHouse in Center City. The cost is $6 per plate and the proceeds go directly to funding the trip to Florida. You can get a breakfast served by the cheerleaders from 8 a.m. until noon.

I know I have mentioned this in the past, but if you haven't had a chance to take in one or all of the local corn mazes in the area, you really should. Both Shafer Corn Maze and Gilbertson Farms have done a wonderful job creating a family friendly, fun, and challenging experience. This weekend is supposed to be nice so why not take the family out and try one? Heck, try both of them and compare mazes.

This past MEA weekend, my family packed up our stuff and headed to every families' vacation destination. No, not Disneyland. No, not sunny Florida. We went to Iowa. I know what you are thinking. Iowa? What kind of moron drags his family to Iowa? To tell the truth, part of me agrees with you. But my grandmother lives in Iowa, so although the scenery is like a broken record, the family time makes it all worth while. We decided to treat our kids to a night in a motel that had a pool. You can't go wrong with a pool right? Wrong. It just so happens that the hotel chosen by yours truly was also chosen by the NDSU football fan bus. I believe we finally quit hearing screaming around 4:30 in the morning. So, the next night we gave up the pool for the comfy confines of Grandma's seldom used upstairs. Although the beds at Grandma's house are a lot lumpier than hotel beds, there is something to be said for coming downstairs to the smell of coffee and pancakes. Thanks Gram.

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