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I had a chance to take photos at the Saturday showing of “White Christmas” at the high school.  Wow, what a great job the kids did.  Dave Seaburg directed the musical which was filled with some wonderful hits made popular by Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney.  Christian Lebo and Elijah Land played Bob Wallace and Phil Davis.  Laura Jennissen and Emmaleah Trandahl played Betty and Judy Haynes.  Regan Meyer  and Matt Braun played Martha Watson and General Henry Waverly.  These kids did such a great job.  Being in front of so many people is unnerving to say the least, but these kids thrived and fed off the energy.  

Every student including the stage hands did a great job.  We have some photos in this paper as welll as some posted on our Facebook page. 

Congratulations to the students, you did a great job!


I wanted to take just a second to personally wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving.  I honestly hope you have time to spend it with family.  There is nothing more valuable.  

Saturday is a very important day in Chisago County.  Actually it’s important in every rural community.  I am referring to Small Business Saturday.  This is our (yes all of us) chance to support our local businesses.  Yes it’s ony one day, but the thought is to get us in the doors so that we can see just what jewels we have here in our backyards.  I know that I am a broken record, but honestly folks, without our businesses, we would be living in ghost towns.  These men and women who chose to operate small businesses don’t have to.  Their decision to stay and set up shop is the fabric that makes up our great communities.  

Does that mean that you have to buy all of your Christmas presents locally?  Of course not, but if we make a concerted effort, we can keep them around.  Big box stores have their place in the world, but so do small businesses.  Let’s keep them here.  Let’s support them.  Let’s show them how much we apprciate them.

If you have children who like to color - and let’s be honest, who doesn’t like to color?  I would urge you to look in your Search shopper for our Gift Guide. Inside the Gift Guide  filled with tons of great local businesses offering Christmas ideas, you will find our annual Christmas Coloring Contest.  We are seeking entries for age groups 3-5, 6-8 and 9-11.  

Entries need to be submitted by December 19.  You can drop them off here at the Press, or our address is on the coloring page at the bottom.  Good luck!

Maybe it is the time of the year. Maybe I am just getting older.  Maybe I am finally seeing the big picture. Not really sure, but what has been controlling my thoughts lately is how to make a difference.  How can I make a difference in this world?  
Pretty deep I know.

Those of you who know me know if there is or has been one thing I am not - it is deep. But my life has changed over the last six years.  I have grown. Grown as a man, grown as a business man, grown as a father and grown in my faith.  

But there still seems to be a void.  I think I have figured it out.  Volunteering.   Did you know that the average person watches 20 hours of television per week? That is a ton of television.  If we could just set aside an hour a week, three times a month, to volunteer, can you imagine how that would change the world?   Each and everyone of us has watched a program on TV and thought “Well, there is an hour I will never get back”.  Why not make that hour count.  There are endless opportunites to volunteer in our community.  From the food shelf to reading to elderly, you can definitely find an area that you feel comfortable in.  

If you are still having trouble finding a place to volunteer, call a local church.  They all have many programs that are wonderful and are in need of volunteers.

“Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something”.  I love that quote.

Thanks to each and every one of you who have donated their clothing to the homeless.  I was able to take yet another jam-packed car full of clothing that will end up on the backs of people who are down on their luck right now.  I know it’s hard when you can’t see the results of your giving, but I have spoken with the shelter’s management and they guarantee me that not only are the donations used, but they are appreciated. 

So, keep them coming.  as long as you keep donating, I will keep delivering them.

If you have a hankering to get out on the ice for some early-season ice fishing, I would urge you to please wait.  The ice is not safe right now.  We had some really high temps over the weekend that made the ice more unstable.  Just wait a while.  It is better to catch the fish rather than sleep with them.

The winter season for local high school sports is now underway.  Check out our sports section to see times and dates of local sports.  It should be an exciting winter, especially after last year.

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