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Finally! I was beginning to forget what snow looked like around here. It fell just in time. We got just enough to make the Celebration of the Lakes feel like winter. I hope you have set aside some time to come to this year's event which will be held at Ki Chi Saga Park on Saturday and Sunday.

Friday night the public is invited to attend the pilot's reception potluck and chili contest. You are asked to bring a dish to share with everyone. The event is held at Lindstrom City Hall and begins at 6.

Also on Friday, the Historial Society of Center City will be showing old movies at the Chisago Lake Lutheran Church in Center City beginning at 6:30.

Saturday (fingers crossed) the first of hopefully three balloon launches will take place. The balloons are scheduled to take off at 7:45 a.m. so make sure you bring your cameras. I believe there are eight or nine balloons in this year's celebration.

At 10 a.m. on Saturday, there will be a 5K run/walk held at Ki Chi Saga Park. You are asked to come early to register in the concessions tent. Also at 10, the popular medallion hunt begins. Clues will be posted in the tent and the prize for finding the medallion is $100 if you have a Celebration of the Lakes button.

The grand prix racers will once again be out on South Lindstrom Lake racing cars at 10 a.m. just off the beach.

At 10:30, a frozen Freedom Rally snowmobile ride will take place. Please call Dean at 651-983-2329 for more info.

Once again there will be kids games to play at Ki Chi Saga Park. I am told there will be more games than ever this year.

Dress your kids up in their favorite wild west gear and enter them in this year's kiddie parade. The parade takes place at noon on Saturday and there will be prizes given out for top participants.

Also at noon you are invited to take part in smoosh races. Teams of four attatch themselves to two planks of wood and try to maneuver a course while competing against other teams.

If you have always wanted to ride in a balloon but are terrified of heights (much like our sports guy) then come out and try a balloon tether. You can take a trip on a balloon that is tethered to the ground which still gives you a great experience.

Saturday also has dog sled races, Belgian horse rides and a golf tournament. If you have a team that would like to play in the golf tournament, please call Jill at 257-1483 to register.

The public is invited to the concessions tent at 2:30 for the awards presentations. The coloring contest winners, along with the medallion hunt winners will be presented and the Chisago lakes 2012 Ambassador, Loretta Anderson will be crowned.

At 3:30, just outside of the tent, the second balloon launch will take place. Hopefully we will have clear skies so picture taking will be optimal.

At 4 p.m., if you need to re-fuel, head up to the Chisago Lake Church in Center City. They will be hosting their annual spaghetti dinner. Cost of the meal is $5 per person or $20 per family.

At 4:30 p.m., there will once again be a torchlight snowmobile parade that will begin in Ki Chi Saga park.

Finally, as if that were not enough, you are invited to bring your skates up to Lions Park in Lindstrom. There you will find an old fashioned skating party with warm drinks, bonfire, and more. Skating begins at 5 p.m.

Sunday begins with the last balloon launch. Balloons are again set to launch at 7:45 a.m. at Ki Chi Saga Park. Please bring your cameras.

Trinity Lutheran Church will be hosting a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. that runs until 12:30 p.m.

Cars will once again be racing on South Lindstrom Lake on Sunday.

Trinity Lutheran will host a community bingo that runs from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

I really hope to see you there, it will be a great time had by all!

If you for some reason you did not get your Celebration of Lakes tab in your Search Shopper last weekend, don't worry. There are tons of them spread all over the area at different locations. In addition, if you go to our website www.chisagocountypress.com and click on the neon green Search Shopper ad on the right side, you will find the electronic version of the Celebration tab. It is very cool to see it electronically.

Speaking of that, our number of visitors to our website and the Search shopper website are staggering. We are gaining popularity by the thousands each week. Click on the green Search Shopper and see what all the fuss is about.  We think you will love it.

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