Something must be in the water at the High School; Visitor Guide comes to you

Wow, a huge congratulations are due for a couple of highschool teams. The Wildcat swimmers have qualified four individuals and three relay teams for the State Swimming Tournament. Congratulations to Jake Ewert, Riley Darling, Avery Turman, James Falkowski, Zach Halfen, Aaron Wiger, and Austin Turman. Last but not least, Jake Doble made it to the state tournament in diving. I am sure they will do just great down at state!

Another huge congratulations goes out to the Chisago Lakes wrestling team. On top of qualifying as a team (which is amazing in itself), they have qualified seven individuals for state. Kyle Schoenecker, Dylan Connell, Quade Zupko, Mark Sontag, Joe Virga, Eric Brown, and Jonah Westbury. The team wrestles Thursday and individuals on Friday.

Yet another huge congratulations to North Branch wrestlers Reid Johnson, Sam Peltier, Zack Sundly and Eric Bergstrom. They have qualified for the tournament as well. That is an amazing ammount of kids that are state bound. Wow, hopefully you can come down to the Xcel Energy Center and the U of M Aquatics Center and cheer these kids on.

Thank you so much for attending the Home and Garden Expo over the weekend. The numbers were really good I am told. I was there the entire day on Saturday, but unfortunately my daughter had a gymnastics meet on Sunday. Everyone at the show seemed to be in good spirits, the weather could have played a part in that I guess. The vendors that I had a chance to speak with all seemed happy with the turnout. Most of them said they had received many leads on potential new customers. Thanks to the Home Show Committee made up of Bob Meyer, Coreen Agre, Tangi Schaapveld, Cory Lindgren, and Becky Carlson. These folks worked their tails off so the show would be a great experience for you and me. I know they are already working on next year's show and the plans are to make it the biggest show ever.

This weekend in your Search Shopper, you will find the 2013 Visitors Guide for Chisago Lakes. The guide is packed with tons of information about the area including upcoming events and local celebrations. The guide is a handy resource to keep around your house. It is 78 pages of information and great businesses that do so much in supporting our area. We think you’re going to love this year's guide! If you do not get one and would like one, just stop by the Press and pick one up. It is a great book for planning your summer. We hope you enjoy it.

Thank you to the few people that have already brought clothes in for donation to the homeless shelter I wrote about last week. I understand some people already have certain charities they give their clothing to and that is wonderful. But if you don't give to a charity, this is a great opportunity to do something great for people who will appreciate it beyond belief. Like I mentioned last week, whatever you give will go directly to these desperate families. You can bring them here to the Press or if you can't make it in, please call me, I will come pick them up from you. Thank you. There are still tickets available for the Mini iPad raffle. If you didn’t get a chance to purchase a raffle ticket at the Home Show, you can purchse one or more at the Chamber or here at the Press. The winner will be announced March 18 and tickets are $5.

We have some big news in Lindstrom. In a time when towns are seeing businesses close, we are seeing a new one open up. Sonia Palmer is opening her store, the “Sweet Swede”  candy shoppe. Her new store is located in the Northwoods Roasterie spot on Highway 8. Sonia has been planning the move for months and has some major plans for her new store. Make sure to stop in and say “Welcome” and ask for a sample of her chocolate covered toffee, ohh boy, I shouldn’t have given up sugar for Lent.

Lent can only mean one thing, no, not Easter baskets with candy, I am talking about Fish Frys. St. Bridgets in Lindstrom is holding their annual all you can eat fish fry every Friday night. You will get some of the best fish around along with french fries and cole slaw and a beverage. They even have meatless spaghetti for those in your family who do not enjoy fish. The meal takes place every Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.