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Center City Days has come and gone.  I will say that for all of the hype of Center City Days being bigger and better than ever, it lived up to the billing.  The entertainment was top notch, the events were thoughtfully put together and went smoothly.  

Maiden Dixie was great and the tent was packed.  The weather was great and the number of people attending reflected that.  

Thanks so much to the Center City Days committee for resurrecting an aging celebration reshaping it and creating something new and enticing for people of all ages.  You did a wonderful job and we thank you.

This Saturday is the Franconia Sculpture Park’s Hot Iron Pour.  If you have never been to this, it is really neat. They fire-up a furnace to a temp that melts metal and pour the molten metal into sand molds.  You get to see the whole process from beginning to end and it is a blast.  The pour begins at noon. To cool off head over to Taylors Falls to the Drive-In and have a mug of ice cold root beer.  Sounds pretty good right about now.

Sunday is the beginning of the Threshing Show. Okay, the show doesn’t start until next week, but this is the annual trek of tractors that eventually ends up on the Threshing Show grounds.  The caravan meets at Drewberry Farms on Keystone Avenue and will  head to 192nd St. It will follow 192nd St to Manning Trail North to Mayberry Trail...then north on Lofton Avenue.  It will head east on 238th Street to Morgan Avenue.  After a pit stop on Morgan, the caravan will go to County Road 23 and head east to 280th Street.  280th Street, east to Quinlan, and north on Quinlan to Pleasant Valley Road.  It will head north on Pleasant Valley (the road should be paved by then), and cross Highway 8.  The caravan will head north on Pleasant Valley to County road 37 (the back way to Taylors Falls).  It will head left (west) on 37 to County Road 9.  North on County Road 9 to 375th Street.  Right on 375th Street to Highway 95 across to Maple Lane and then a pit stop at the Almelund Heritage Center.  From there it is just a short jaunt down 95 to the Threshing Show.  Grab your cameras, come out and see some really neat tractors.  If you have little kids, they will love watching the tractors drive by, so close.

Remember to mark your calendars for the Chisago Lakes Blue Zone Rally on September 14. The rally will be held in the High School PAC auditorium and will begin at 6 p.m.  

Blue Zone is a concept used to identify a demographic or geographic area where people live measurably longer lives. The goal is to make Chisago Lakes a Blue Zone.  

The entire community is invited to come and learn how we as a community can make it better.  If you have children bring them with, childcare will be provided on-site.  

Here’s a couple of tips that align with Blue Zone way of life:
~ Eat more vegetables and less meat. Pick up some produce at one of our local farmers markets. Chisago City’s is on Friday afternoons and Lindstrom holds theirs on Saturday mornings.

~  Find your purpose in life.  Ask yourself why do you get up in the morning?  What are you passionate about? Is it your family, your job, a hobby? Volunteer! There are hundreds if not thousands of volunteer opportunities in our area.  It can make a difference!

Happy anniversary to my beautiful wife Cheryl.  She has somehow stayed with me for the last 21 years. She is my rock and my everything.

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