Thank you Veterans for everything, we sadly say goodbye to a great friend

This past Monday was Veteran’s Day. I had the opportunity to cover a couple of local events put together to honor our local Veterans. If you have ever read my column before, you know what love I have for these men and women who have served our great country, some of them for decades. These men and women are our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, our mentors, and most importantly - our heroes. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you have done and what you continue to do. It has not gone unnoticed. Veteran’s Day had a dark cloud hanging over it on Monday. I am very sad to inform you that we have lost a great one.

John Broecker has passed on to a better life. John was a World War II Veteran who was active in the VFW up until his death. John and good friend Ken Harmon were the two key members that brought the Veterans Memorial to fruition in Lindstrom. John was also instrumental in bringing the Vietnam Healing Wall to Chisago Lakes a few years ago. Most people around here know John as that cute little farmer who drove the giant red truck to the bakery every day. True, he was a farmer. He and his wife Erma farmed south of Lindstrom over 70 years. John was the third person I met when I began as publisher here 10 years ago. He came in and introduced himself. He told me of his relationship with my father and said he hoped for much of the same from me. He would stop in quite often, and no matter how busy I was, I always found time for John.

The way his eyes squinted together when he laughed was priceless. John was such good soul. My children even knew who John was. We could be driving down the road and a big red truck with a person who you could barely see the top of their head was driving, and my kids would say "There's your Vet buddy". I am going to miss John. Really miss him. He was one of the good ones. My heart goes out to Erma, and his kids, but after speaking with them, they know John is plowing fields in Heaven.

A few weeks back I wrote about the guest speaker from New Richmond who gave a presentation about "Future Walk". New Richmond has transformed their identity, their community, their business model, their mission statement, into a thriving, business welcoming and community involved power cell. It didn't happen overnight. It took countless hours of researching, planning, meeting, polling, and testing to get them where they are now. But where they are now is just one word - great. They are the community that I would love to see our community become. There is a sense of pride in that town that is second to none.

When I drive through Chisago Lakes, I see a couple of things. I see conflict and potential. How could each exist with the other? They do. The conflict is immeasurable and sometimes unseen, but it exists nonetheless. So what kind of conflict am I referring to? I am specifically referring to the eternal conflict between our cities and towns. No not barrier conflicts, but rather pride conflicts. Each town or city has too much pride to let our guard down and work for the greater good. Sure we have people from each towns that sit on various boards, but what I am talking about is a vision. What this area is so desperately lacking is a vision into the future of what "WE" want to be. By we, I mean the entire area. Not just these two towns or those two, but everyone together. What will hinder us until the end of time or until we decide to do something about it is individuality. Each town or city has its traditions and that is great, but they also like to keep the "ownership" of them, and that is where I think we are missing the boat.

Maybe I am wrong (I am most the time), but if this area is going to thrive (not survive), we will need to move. Not later, now. Earlier I mentioned that I saw potential. Of course everyone sees or at least has a hope of potential. When I drive through the area, I see a huge area that, if it were to band together for the common good, could become an absolute gem. We could have one of the top destination areas in Minnesota if we chose to. I don't just mean for tourists (They are great!), but for new businesses and existing businesses. How many other areas do you have town after town surrounded by lakes? Look how close we are to the Twin Cities. This place is a gold mine. I know, businesses are looking at their checkbooks saying "Gold mine huh?", Yes a gold mine. Don't believe me? Just ask any tourists that come through the area.

They will tell you how spectacular this place is. What we need to have happen is something enormous. But not insurmountable. We have to have desire. We have to be able to let our guards down. We have to be able to take criticism and mold that into something positive. This is our time. We need to make a stand. Do we want to be ho hum or do we want to be Wow! The choice is ours. I would like to start by rolling a snowball down the steep hill. I am asking for your thoughts. I want to know what you think about the community (the entire community), how we are perceived, what we do wrong, what we do right, and how we could improve our area. If you would like to be part of this new movement, please indicate so. Remember we are just beginning here, but YOU HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE! Let's start now. Please send your input to PO Box 748, Lindstrom, MN 55045 or email to chisago@citlink. net. Thank you and I am excited to hear from you.