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It's finally here, after all of the build up, after all of the hype, it is finally time to carp fish. This Saturday is your chance to help clean our lakes and have some real fun doing it. I am refering to the first ever Chisago Lakes Lions Carp Festival.

I have been told that registration, while consistent, is a bit lower than expected. If you have been thinking about entering the Carp Festival, and have not yet registered, I would encourage you to do so now. Because the numbers are a bit lower than expected, your chances of winning a fabulous prize are that much better. I personally know of five groups that are planning on entering, but they wanted to see what the weather looks like. We now know that the weather is supposed to be spectacular.

Get your buddies and get registered, what do you have to lose? What do you have to gain? How about a big screen television, a great time on the lakes, and some serious fun at Lions Park afterwards. To register, call Steve at 651-257-2966 or email him at [email protected].

In this weekend's edition of the Search Shopper you will find our annual Spring Home, Lawn and Garden Special. In this section you will find advertising from some great businesses who would love to help you with your lawn and garden issues. You will find ideas for your home and companies that can help you achieve your goals. Thank you to all the great advertisers. We feel this special section is one of our best ever and we hope you do too.

If you have been itching to get out on the golf course, why not try the Chisago Lakes Rotary Club Golf Tournament? For 13 years the Rotary Club has hosted one of the largest and most popular golf outings around. This year, the tournament will be on June 10 at the Chisago Lakes Golf Course. It is a four person scramble that will feature dinner and a program afterwards. What about prizes you say? How does a Skeeter SL1800 boat with a 115hp motor and trailer sound? Or how about a $400 gift certificate to the sponsor of your choice?

The golf tournament will benefit the Baby Blanket program, which has been supplying maternity and infant clothing, furnishings, training, and referrals to mothers and their babies. All items are free to mothers with the hopes of making a real difference for struggling young families.

If you would like to take part in this great golf outing, you are encouraged to call Craig at 257-6561 or Loretta at 213-4264. You can also pick up blue entry forms at most Chisago Lakes area businesses.

Remember to mail in your subscription renewal. We only have about a week left before we stop sending papers to those of you who have yet to pay. If you misplaced your blue card, simply call us at 651-257-5115, we will be glad to help you renew over the phone.

We passed a milestone in the Silver household. After all the years of playing T-ball and coach pitch baseball, our eldest finally tried out for and made a tournament baseball team.

For years I would talk with friends and dream about spending a sunny Saturday afternoon doing nothing but watching youth baseball. Like clockwork, one friend would always lean in and say "You have no idea what you are wishing for". Thinking they must not love baseball as much as I do, I would quickly dismiss them.

Last Saturday, the big day finally came. Our team was in a baseball tournament in Woodbury. Normally not a bad drive, it's summer, so that means construction. After spending hours on Mapquest, we finally found a back road path. When we arrived I could not believe my eyes, there were fields everywhere. Just to give you some perspective on how many fields there were, we played on field number 38. It must have been a square mile or more of ball fields.

Without completely boring you with pitch by pitch accounts of the tournament, our team from the country fared pretty well. We lost one, won one, and tied. That translated into an 8:30 Sunday morning game. So here we go again, get up at 5:30, in the car by 6:40 and in our lawn chairs by 7:40.

When it was all said and done, I placed a call to that friend who used to warn me about traveling baseball. I sheepishly offered my apology and promised not to ever doubt that person again.

I got to thinking about what I would tell someone who is wishing their kid was in traveling ball. I decided that I will explain it in a different type of measurements.  For instance, "How long does it take to get to the Woodbury fields?" Answer: "16 ounces of coffee with three Sweet N Low packets". "How long does a tournament game last?" Answer: "One full bag of dill pickle flavored sunflower seeds". "How long do you have to wait between games?" Answer: Long enough to get a level 4 sunburn". "What was the best part of the tournament?" Answer: "My bed at the end of the day".

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