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What a beautiful weekend we had for Ki Chi Saga Days. I really hope you had a chance to get there and enjoy some of the festivities.

I was blown away when I heard how many vendors were in Moberg Park. There were well over 100 vendors, which is up drastically from years past.

While it was a little disappointing that there were no Friday fireworks this year, Chisago City still found ways to make Friday night a fun family environment. They had a sand castle building contest which had quite a few participants. The contest was followed by a family movie under the stars. The movie had a great turnout and the weather was perfect.

While some people might feel like Lindstrom's Karl Oskar Days is the Grand Daddy of local celebrations, I really feel like Ki Chi Saga Days is giving them a run for the money. Every year Ki Chi Saga Days seems to grow and improve. There are some really great people that worked their rears off to make this event a great time for all. To those committee members and volunteers I would like to say THANK YOU. Your hard work was very appreciated.

I think that scheduling this year's Ki Chi Saga before the State Fair really helped with attendance. There were just more people around the area and that translated to a fuller more enjoyable celebration.

I am told that the volunteer sign-up for the traveling memorial "The Wall That Heals" is being finalized. There are still plenty of opportunities available.

If you would like to assist by reading names of those on the wall or help visitors at the site, please call 651-257-5310 and leave your name, telephone number, and preferred volunteer time.

Last week I almost witnessed a head on collision on Highway 8. The car in front of me drifted across the yellow line and was heading straight into a small truck in the eastbound lane. I, of course, slammed on my brakes to avoid a collision I was about to witness. At the very last second, the driver of the car in front of me jerked their wheel and swerved back into our lane avoiding another certain Highway 8 fatality.

When we finally made it to the next stop light, I could see into the car in front of me. There sat a guy who had to be around 20 or so texting. He had to be texting when he nearly took his life and possibly the other driver's. He didn't miss a beat texting. He probably texted that he just about died. I couldn't tell you how infuriated I was at this kid. My only choice was to pass him and get away from him as fast as I could before he ran me off the road.

Did you know that over 60 percent of teens admit to risky driving and half of those admit to texting behind the wheel? Each year 21 percent of fatal crashes involve teenagers between the ages 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This is expected to grow by 4 percent each year. Talking on a cell phone causes nearly 25 percent of all car crashes nationally.

There are studies that confirm that using a cell phone (texting) is just as or more dangerous than drunk driving. There are some wonderful commercials on the internet that I would suggest showing to your young drivers. Heck, watch them yourself. They have changed my cell phone usage in a vehicle.

I do not have the answer to this problem. I just hope that I am not the victim of a texter crossing into my lane of traffic. If I am, and I were to live, that person will wish I had not. LOL.

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