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If you heard a strange sound late Sunday night, I belive I know what it was. It was the community finally taking a breath after the long Karl Oskar Days celebration. Maybe it is just me, but this year's celebration seemed to have a lot more visitors from start to finish.

If you ventured to the craft fair at all this weekend, you had to notice that the size of the crowds attending were bigger than normal. Maybe it is the economy, maybe it was the weather, either way, Karl Oskar Days was huge this year.

I want to take a moment and thank all of the great people who toiled so hard to make this year's celebration one of the best of all time. Folks do not understand how much planning goes into making these celebrations. The committees meet only a few weeks after Karl Oskar Days is complete, to assess and start planning next year's celebration. Thank you. Thank you for all you do for our great community and for using your free time to ensure we have fun on our free time.

Speaking of Karl Oskar Days, by now I'm sure you heard about the snuff box hunt, but if you haven't, here are the details. Every year the person or persons that hide the snuff box set out the week prior and search for the perfect spot. The clue writer then begins formulating the clues which are then posted at noon on Wednesday. Clues then are posted each day until the box is found. Simple right? Apparently too simple. This year, Graham Walker and his family walked through the front door holding the snuff box at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Wednesday.

I know the clues, and I know the clue writer. The writer does one thing every year, and that is to not really give a clue on the first clue written. Which makes the Walkers finding the box so quickly, such a surprise.

I guess I am just feeling sorry for myself, being the sponsor of the snuff box hunt, I had visions of people rummaging around town all weekend with the prize of $500 looming. Either way, I am so happy for Graham and his family for finding the box. I asked Graham what he planned on doing with the money, expecting to hear Playstation 3 or XBox, but I was surprised when this Lakeside student said that he really wanted to take his family to Valleyfair. What a great kid.

Please check out this edition of the Press for all the Karl Oskar Days wrap up. We will have button winners, cribbage tournament winners, pie winners, hot dog eating winners, 3 on 3 basketball winners and of course the Loppet winners.

I hope you all noticed something new on the front of the County Press and last weekend's Search Shopper. In our efforts to help our advertisers with local customer traffic we are now offering Post-It Notes on the front of our papers. Thanks to Wild Mountain for being our first advertiser. Pull off the Post-It Note and use it for dollars off the next time you visit Wild Mountain. If your business would like to advertise via the Post-It Notes, please give us a call at 651-257-5115.

In last week's County Press and Search Shopper there was a full page ad from the Rotary Club of Chisago Lakes thanking sponsors and volunteers for their help with their annual golf tournament. Most of us don't understand the scope of service the Rotarians provide to our community. If you still have the paper please read the ad. I think it's time to thank the Rotary Club and all Rotarians for their help both locally and nationally. If you think you would be interested in this organization please call Craig Lindstrom, President of the Chisago Lakes Chapter, at 651-257-7522.

This weekend promises to just as fun as last weekend. How could it? Try taking a trip or two down to Taylors Falls and St. Croix Falls for their annual Wannigan Days. Beginning on Thursday, Wannigan Days is a joint celebration between the two towns that border the St. Croix river.

There are so many things to do, we have a detailed list of Wannigan happenings in this edition of the County Press. One event you might want to circle is the annual tug-o-war. This is where teams from both sides of the river pull a giant rope across the river and try to pull the other team into the water. It is extremely fun to watch for people of all ages. The pull takes place at both Lions Parks one either side of the river.

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