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Ready or not, here comes summer. Along with summer comes town celebrations. North Branch would like to invite you to its 84th annual MidSummer Days. Beginning today, MidSummer Days will run until Sunday, giving you ample time to take in many or all of the great events they have planned.

Thursday as well as Wednesday, there is a Family Fun Show with rides and games in the park. There is a meat raffle and Bingo under the tent.

Friday also offers Bingo, as well as the Family Fun Show both conveniently located by Central Park in downtown North Branch. They will be crowning the 2009 MidSummer Ambassador at the Legion at 7 p.m.

Saturday you will find a golf tournament and one of my favorites, a Kiddie Olympics which will be held at the North Branch High School. After the Olympics, head uptown to take in the Kiddie Parade which begins at 11 a.m. At 3 p.m. on Elm street, you will find everyone's favorite event the water fight. It is a duel between local firefighters who showcase their spraying techniques. Saturday is capped off with a street dance which features the "Beer Daddys".

Sunday has much of the same with the exception of the ever popular MidSummer Days Parade which begins at 2 p.m. and winds its way down Main Street.

I hope you had a chance to see last week's Search Shopper. We had a nice three page color spread on MidSummer Days. In those three pages you will find a schedule of events as well as advertising from some great companies who love to show their support of North Branch and surrounding communities.

If you have yet to renew you subscription I would urge you to do so now. This is the last week before we stop sending out papers to those of you who have not yet renewed. If you are one of them, please send your payment into the Chisago County Press at PO Box 748, Lindstrom, MN 55045. We will get you in our computer and you will not miss a single issue of what we believe is one of the best small town newspapers in the state.

Congratulations to Pat Collins and his 2009 Wildcats baseball team. The Wildcats came within one game of a trip to this year's state tournament. It always seems when Pat has a team that is not really picked to do much damage in the conference, well that's when he gets the most out of his players. Congratulations to Pat and the 2009 Wildcats baseball team.

Speaking of the Wildcats baseball team, my son's baseball team had a surprise visit from two of the Wildcat players. Derrick Budde and Tyler Henderson were kind enough to come to our practice and show these 9 and 10 year olds how they do things in high school ball. It was really great spending an evening with these two kids and watching how they interacted with our young team. They ran them through drills that the varsity team does at every practice. What really impressed me was that in the few hours they were there, they knew every kid's name on our team and were encouraging them the entire time. With kids like Tyler and Derrick, it's no wonder Pat Collins has such great baseball teams.

I have been getting quite a few calls about Saints tickets lately. The callers usually ask if there are going to be any more drawings. The answer is yes. Next week we will be drawing names for another set of four tickets to an upcoming Saint Paul Saints game. If you have never been to a Saints game, you are in for a wonderful night of outdoor baseball and some fun entertainment. It is a wonderful, family friendly atmosphere.

Still looking for that Father's Day gift? One that I always get and lasts a lifetime is a tree. I know, a tree sounds boring and I can't take it on the golf course with me or on the boat, but what other gift can you give that dad can look out the window everyday and see that gift?

We have some really great nurseries around our area that have terrific trees that would look great in your yard. I have purchased trees from every nursery, and they all are doing great.

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