Home Show was a success despite the weather, which by the way was my fault

Thank you to all who braved the snow and icy roads to come to the Home Show. As expected, the numbers were a tad bit lower than normal, but pretty good nonetheless. The entertainment was great, and the people who did make it out, seemed to be having a good time. If you as a consumer or show goer have any ideas on how we can improve the show, please email me here at the Press. Email "Home Show Ideas" to [email protected]. With your input, we can tailor the show to make it more appealing to everyone.

I can not believe just how many of our local high school athletes will be competing at various state tournaments. From Chisago Lakes we have eight swimmers and divers that will head to the UofM Aquatic Center this week. Matt Braun, Derek Frank, Jake Ewert, Austin Turman, Riley Darling, James Falkowski, Jacob Carlson, and Jake Doble all have qualified for state.  Amazing! Congratulations to these boys. Good luck! Chisago Lakes wrestling team placed six wrestlers in state this week. Teddy Pierce, Dylan Connell, Kyle Schoenecker, Aaron Sistrunk, Mark Sontag and Joe Virga all qualified for state.  Something tells me we will see more than one state champion this year.  North Branch also qualified Aaron Senne, Reid Johnson, Tristan LaBelle and Seamus Hunter in wrestling. Awesome job guys! Between CL and NB, our area is bound to come home with some hardware. Congratulations to the North Branch girls gymnastic team for their first ever trip to state as a team in gymnastics. The team finished in fifth place.  Katy Trunk finished second in the vault. She finished sixth in the overall. Congratulations to Katy and the rest of the girls!

The Chisago Lakes Boys hockey team is one win away from making it to state. They have been playing great this year. Their next game is tonight in Isanti. If you can, take a short drive up to support them on their quest to state. This team has been amazing this year.

Please remember to mark your calendar for April 10. That is when Bill Buell from New Richmond will be presenting his "Future Walk". Future Walk was a vision that New Richmond had as a whole community, and over years they saw that vision become a reality. Please come, it is worth it. Business owners, I strongly (bordering on begging) urge you to attend. I will bug you many times before to remind you. I am guilty. Guilty of a lot of things really. But the glaring guilt this week is just outside your window (if you can see out of it). I made the mistake last week declaring that winter was on its way out. What a complete and utter moron. That was one of the hardest storms we have ever had to endure to my knowledge. The only other one I recall being really bad was the Halloween storm in 91 or 92. I was stuck at college during that one so parts of the storm severity are sketchy at best. This one however, this one was big, heavy, icy, and long. The roads were unbelievable. Because of the rain on Thursday, the roads were basically untravelable (I just made that word up). As I write this on Tuesday, the roads are just beginning to clear up. Sadly, we had a fatality just up the road from us and I am praying it was not ice related.

As I came to work on Friday morning, part of me expected to see the Press roof caved in from the weight of the storm. Sadly, the old building was still intact. The snow was so deep on the roof, you might have seen me up there on Monday. I dragged my snowblower up to - yes snow blow my roof. Only in Minnesota. So to each and everyone of you who are reading this with heat pads on your lower backs, I am sorry. Sorry for taking on Mother Nature. Next time I predict that winter is over will be in late June sometime.

I hope you grabbed your 2014 Chisago Lakes Activity Guide in your Search last weekend. We were handing them out at the Home Show as well. The guide is your one-stop shop for everything Chisago Lakes. It is filled with pertinent area information, along with town celebrations and events throughout the year. The book is filled with advertising from our wonderful businesses throughout the area. We think this is the best guide we have put out yet. If you did not get one or possibly threw yours out by mistake, you can pick one up here at the Press. Thank you so much to each and every advertiser who made the guide possible. Thanks also to the many contributors who put their time and efforts into the guide.