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Boy, you can sure tell we are quickly approaching the Christmas shopping season.  There are lots of Holiday craft fairs and bazaars taking place in the next few weeks.  Today and tomorrow, you are invited to the Fairview Lakes Auxillary Bazaar and Bake Sale in Wyoming.  Then this Saturday is the very popular Chisago Lakes PTO craft show.  Held at the middle school, the show features many local crafters and food vendors.  Next Saturday, you are invited to Lindstrom City Hall for the Holiday Craft Fair. The hall will be filled with many vendors with great ideas for holiday gifts.  Proceeds will help fund Harmony in the Park concerts next year.

Can you believe that Wild Mountain is open already?  It wasn't more than a week ago that I was mowing the lawn in just a pair of shorts and a tee shirt.  I guess it was unavoidable, but still a shocker to see the photos.  I hope (please don't hate me for this) we have a replica winter of last year. I didn't think the temperatures got all that cold, and we had a ton of snow. Yes it gets old shoveling it, but there are many local businesses that benefit from snowy winters. If you got out on the local lakes this summer, you saw first hand the benefits of a snow winter with high water (at least closer to normal than we have had in a long time), and some wonderful fishing.  I did promise to teach my daughter how to snowboard this winter, so the deeper the snow, the softer the impact - me hitting the ground.

On November 15, at Maranatha Church in Forest Lake, there will be a second fundraiser for Estefani Hanson.  She is the beautiful young girl from Chisago City that is battling a horrific form of cancer.  She has a rare form that I can't begin to pronounce or spell, but it is incurable and very painful. To see her disposition is almost surreal.  She is always positive, always smiling, and never wants the spotlight to be on her.  Her family has very strong faith and it is evident in how they all handle this potentially crippling situation.
If you remember a while back, Estefani’s friends held a benefit to help with the mounting costs of her healthcare.  It had an amazing turnout of more than just friends and family.  The community came out in droves to support Estefani.  Now we get another chance.  On November 15, I would like to cordially invite you and everyone you know to come out and show our love once again.  Besides helping Estefani, there are many great opportunities to come home with some wonderful items via silent auctions, raffles, and drawings.  There is a bead game that the winning prize is a 55 inch smart television, a raffle for a 2015 Polaris 4-wheeler, and a $1,000 travel voucher from Sun Country Airlines.  There are too many items for me to list, you will just have to come see for yourself.  Come on, let’s help these folks.

Tuesday is Veterans Day.  It is a chance to honor those men and women who have risked their lives to make our country as wonderful as it is today.  If you are a Veteran, there are many dinners that will be honoring you and your brothers and sisters from the services.  Please look in this paper to find one that is close to you.  From the bottom of my heart, I hope you will accept my most sincerest “Thank you” for what you have done and continue to do.  Our community is what it is because of what you have done.  We all thank you.

Congratulations to all of the politicians who prevailed at the election.  For the most part, politicians in Chisago County ran clean elections.  Some of the state-wide and even our congress elections got a little too muddy for my liking.  I seriously considered not casting a vote for that race.  
Thanks to everyone who ran this year.  Without competition, many politicians would not be held accountable.

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