Now is a great time to subscribe, missed the boat on construction

The Chisago County Press has many loyal readers, but if you don’t subscribe or haven’t in a while, now is a good time to sign up. A print subscription comes with online access and is only 90 cents per week if mailed to your home. Along with that, we are offering a free classified ad to new subscribers. There are always plenty of reasons to subscribe to your local paper, but the overriding and most important one, is to be informed. Informed about your community, informed about what is taking place in our schools, informed about our local government, informed about great specials and opportunities our local businesses are offering. Thank you to all of our readers and to all of our advertisers who use the paper to promote their good and services. This is the County Press’ 115 year in existence, and we do not plan on going anywhere. We are happy and proud to serve Chisago County.

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If you have looked in our public notices recently, you would have seen the ad titled “Foreclosed?” What we are trying to do is simple. If you or someone you know has been foreclosed on or is in the process, and really wishes to keep their home, we can help. If your notice was published in another newspaper and could not be seen in your town, we can help. We have attorneys who specialize in reversing foreclosures. These attorneys are not like what you would expect, they are in it for you. They make it easy and affordable and the best part, they are successful at what they do. So if you or someone you know is being faced with foreclosure, there is hope. Send us your name, address a copy of the published notice or the name of the publication it ran in and the date of that publication to: Foreclosures, County Press, PO Box 748, Lindstrom, MN 55045. We have already had a few people contact us, now we would like to help you.

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I had a few more calls last week regarding traffic. This time it had nothing to do with the construction. The area of interest was Chisago City, downtown to be exact. One of our readers called to say she almost was struck and killed when a driver refused to yield to her in the crosswalk. I see this all the time, at both post offices, you will see near fatalities all day long. Something has to be done, but how? The state made a law in 1996 that requires motorists to stop and yield to pedrestrians who are in crosswalks or at an intersection that is not marked. Failure to do so, can result in a misdemeanor. The reality of it is it comes down to the driver. With so much technology out there, driver inattentiveness is at an all time high. If we do not start paying attention, our pedestrian fatality rate will continue to skyrocket.

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If you are planning on attending the State Fair, my condolences. I am kidding of course, I was told that if I value my marriage, I too must attend the fair. If you do venture down to the fair, make sure to visit Vince Marrier. Vince owns Lindstrom Wheelhorse in..well Lindstrom. Vince would love it if you would stop in and say hi. His Toro booth is located on Underhill Road by Machinery Hill.

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A few people have told me that my articles about the construction have been a little depressing. I re-read my past columns and I guess I could see where that could come from. I have never written with the purpose of depressing people or even guilting people into supporting local businesses. I simply am asking people to support businesses that reside in our area before they support ones outside our area. Believe me folks, I understand that there are times where we have to make a trip to another town to purchase something, I have done it myself. But, for the most part, we can get most items we need right here in our back yard. Our businesses in this community are fantastic, and I would love nothing more than to see them survive - scratch that - flourish in this rough time. So whatever you can do to help is much appreciated.

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As I drive down First Avenue...err I mean Highway 8, I think we missed the boat on a few opportunities. Why in the world didn’t we form a travel committee to promote Mt. Crushmore? You know Mt. Crushmore, over by Wally Carlson’s BP? Think of it, there are so many things we could have exploited. There could have been guided tours up the side of the mountain. There could have been gondola rides to the top, or how about guided horse rides up the side of the mountain? At the very least we could be selling t-shirts that say “I have conquered Mt. Crushmore”. Why is it I always come up with the great ideas after the fact?

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Our community lost a good one this week. David Hopkins passed away. David was an extrodinary person. He was wheel chair bound for years and years, but he was very active despite his lack of mobility. David was a terrific artist. His apartment was adorned with tons of his paintings. David was also quite the activist and a first class archer. David was loved by all and will be greatly missed.