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We have a celebrity in our midst. No, Hannah Montana has not been spotted at the bakery. Renee Dabil of Renee Lynn Photography has been honored in this month's issue of The Knot "Best of Weddings 2009". Renee was honored because several past brides nominated her business as a wonderful wedding photography experience.

Having known Renee for quite some time now, I can personally vouch for her professionalism and terrific attitude. She is an outstanding photographer and an even better champion for local businesses. Congratulations Renee!

Speaking about local businesses, there is one that I would like to invite your family out to see all the changes that have been made. The Gallery Bar and Grill which is located at the Chisago Lakes Golf Course, has just completed their remodeling and it looks beautiful.

Not that the old Gallery looked bad, but the new and improved Gallery has a much more lodge feel to it. With a huge stone fireplace that exudes ambience, to the subtle changes noticeable to those of you that have dined there before. Basically, Lora and Bob have taken a nice place to eat and changed it into a really nice place to eat, with great food and a great atmosphere.

Last week Denise Martin wrote a great article about Biofuels. If you read the article and it seemed to not make sense in parts of the story, that was because in our recent change to digital layout of the paper, we inadvertently misplaced two paragraphs of the story. The gist of the two paragraphs was the possible wood pellet plant could be incorporated into a complex (business park) and supply the heat and power systems for the whole site, or the biofuel plant might be a stand alone manufacturing site.

We apologize for any confusion the article might have caused and we hope that this is a rarity with our new system.

Peterson's Country Mill in North Branch is holding a special day of activities this Saturday. They have teamed up with the Audubon Society, the North Branch Garden Club, several Master Gardeners and other specialists. All day they will be offering seminars, projects, demonstrations that range from kid's craft projects to growing your own vegetables. There are even dog training seminars. Look in this edition of the Press for more details. Peterson's is located in downtown North Branch on the edge of Central Park.

I was recently notified of a really neat local economy plan. The plan is a model to help citizens save their local economies. It is called the 3/50 Project. It is quite simple and very easy to follow. Please read before making judgement.

3 stands for:

Think about which three independently owned businesses you would miss the most if they were gone. Stop in and say hello. Pick up a little something that will make someone smile. Your contribution is what keeps those businesses around.

50 stands for:

If just half of the employed U.S. population spent $50 each month at independently owned businesses, their purchases would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. Imagine the positive impact if three quarters of the employed population did that.

For every $100 spent at an independently owned store, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays local. Spend it online and nothing stays local.

The number of people it takes to start a trend? One....you.

Pretty good stuff huh? We have always been pretty trendy around here.

We here at the County Press are proud to bring you our 2009 Spring Sports Preview. Our sports editor Jeff Norton along with assistant sports editor Chuck Fitzer have interviewed coaches from Chisago Lakes and North Branch. They have compiled stories about your favorite high school sports teams. They have really composed some great stories about these teams which are highlighted with pictures of seniors and teams. Thanks to all our advertisers who make these sports tabs possible and thanks to the local businesses for their ongoing support of local sports.

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