CL and NB pump out the athletes, wait before opening your mail

Congratulations to the swimmers, divers, and wrestlers who all took part in their state tournaments this weekend. The boys all did absolutely great. Congratulations to Joe Virga who took fourth place in wrestling at 170 pounds ad Dylan Connell who took fifth place in the 120 pound class. What a great set of athletes we have coming through the system right now. The swimmers and divers had a nice showing as well. The 200 relay team places 12th at state and divers Jake Doble and Jacob Carlson finished 8th and 9th respectively.

On Thursday, I had the chance to attend the boys hockey section final in Isanti against Princeton. Growing up in Chisago and with most of my friends having been hockey players, I have seen too many Chisago Lakes hockey games to list. This game in Isanti ranked as one of the top two games I can remember. It was so electric in the arena. Princeton was a huge team, where if you have seen our team, you know size is not our greatest asset. But these kids just kept plugging away. The first period the Tigers really pounded the Wildcats physically. But the second period the Wildcats came out on fire. In the end it was the Wildcats heading to state, not the Tigers. The Princeton crowd was stunned. It was awesome. By the time you read this, the Cats' will have played and hopefully won their opening game against New Prague.

Georgie Johnson, one of our loyal readers, called me this week. She wanted me to relay to you about a home scam that is taking place as we speak. She got a call the other night from a representative from AT&T. That person said he was with collections from the provider and her credit card was no longer valid. Appalled, Georgie and Rick both addressed the person who was abrupt and standing his ground. The caller said their card was not valid and to continue their service, they needed to provide a new card right then and there. They said no and quickly called AT&T corporate. They were told that is not the protocol of their company and the caller was phishing for credit card numbers to steal. So please be aware. It seems like the scams are happening more and more lately. Please don't be a victim.

We have drawn a winner for the one year free subscription to the Press. We had a box at the Home Show that was stuffed with your entries. Thanks to all the folks who entered. A special thanks to all who stopped by and said hi. The winner of the sub is Charley Klopp of North Branch. Charlie, you should be reading this in your first free delivery for the year. Congratulations. When you receive your cardboard looking envelope with red writing on it soon, set it down. Place it on the table and walk away for while. In it, there is something that will make your heart skip a beat, possibly enrage a fury from within you that you didn't know existed. Make certain your children are no where within the house. Pour yourself a small glass of brandy and breathe deep. When your brandy is empty, gently pick up the envelope and open it. Make sure you are near a couch or even a bed. Inside this small envelope is your gas bill for the last month. When I opened the Press' Xcel energy bill, I felt faint. I felt like I had bet the house on black and the ball ended up on red. Wow.

This would have been a great year to buy into natural gas or propane on the stock exchange. This winter is not only hard on our psyches, it is hard on our pocketbooks. If you see an abundant amount of smoke coming from the Press, don't call the fire department, it is just us burning old editions of the County Press to stay warm. Thank you to Sally Lundholm and Joleen Meyers for their production of “Don’t Send In The Clowns” middle school play. I have only been to two other middle school plays prior to this, and wasn’t sure what to expect. Boy was I and the rest of the audience pleasantly surprised. These kids (all 42 of them) do a wonderful job. The play was about a traveling circus that is in financial trouble.  A local woman banker is determined to foreclose the circus, but the owners and the performers have other ideas. The kids did an amazing job, and the laughs were plenty. Nice job kids!