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I hope you and your family took some time last weekend to honor those who have fallen in the line of duty. As I wrote last week, Memorial Day should be one of the most honored holidays in America. I am not overstating, when I say we would be nothing without these men and women who put their lives in harms way, so you and I can have the wonderful life we all have grown so accustomed to.

My son and I had the honor of photographing a Memorial Day service I had never been to. We attended the Chisago Lakes VFW Post 7267 service at Franconia Cemetery. I was so happy to see a group of young Veterans taking part in the services. Not only did these brave men and women take part, they read the Gettysburg Address and In Flanders Fields. They both did a wondeful job and I am sure their parents were beaming.

If you are a service man or woman currently serving in the military, or have served, thank you. Thank you for all you have done, and thank you for what you are doing for our future.

I hope you saw last weekend's Search Shopper. We featured the area's Memorial Day Services and the Chisago Lakes Senior High graduates. The County Press has always featured these events, but this year you will definitely notice a difference.

As you know, we have recently changed printers, and as you can see, the change has been dramatic. Our Memorial Day page and our CL Graduation page were in full color, and they looked absolutely beautiful. We are very proud of the changes taking place at the Press, and we look forward to bringing you the reader a more attractive Chisago County Press and Search Shopper. Thanks so much to everyone for all of your compliments about the paper.

Speaking of the Press, if you have driven by in the last few days, you will notice a change around Karl and Kristina. Mark Wachter, who owns Creative Curbing and Landscaping did some major improvements to our yard. We have increased the rock around our bushes to incorporate the statues and the traffic that comes to see them. Mark did a fabulous job and we think the changes are wonderful.

We have received some entries in our St. Paul Saints ticket give away. If you are looking for a fun night with family or friends, just clip out the ad, fill it out, and either drop it off or send it to us at PO Box 748, Lindstrom, MN 55045. There is no cost to enter and you may enter as many times as you like. We will be giving multiple sets of Saints tickets out over the Summer.

We (I) recently made a huge purchase in my life. If you know me, you know that spending money is near the top of my list of least favorite things. But, this deal was just too good to pass up. I finally bought a boat.

I have lived in the area since 1979, and this is the first boat I have ever owned, that is of course if you are not counting the boat my dad purchased the first summer we moved to Lindstrom. You see that boat, with its Batman looking fins on the rear, was good for one thing and one thing only. Working your shoulder muscles. You see, the 1928 (I'm guessing) Evinrude motor worked great until you put it in water. Once in the water, it was "Okay boys, grab your paddles and paddle us back to shore".

Needless to say, with a nine and eight year old, grabbing your paddles is kind of out of the question.

We dropped in on Chisago Lake on Sunday, along with what seemed a thousand or so other boats. Right away, the boat wouldn't start, and I had visions of John Silver with his sailor hat telling me to grab my paddle. But luckily, it did start. It not only started, but it ran perfectly the entire day. Even my wife, who was unsure if this mystery boat would even float, enjoyed herself.

The real reason I purchased the boat is going to probably sound weird. I bought the boat to take my kids fishing. When I have them fishing on the boat, they will be forced to talk to their dad. It will be my time to grill them about what's really going on in their lives. After all, where are they going to go? They are stuck with me on a boat. Maybe that was my dad's plan all along.

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