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So this weekend, what to say? I spent hours upon hours watching the absolute horrific death of George Floyd and the utter destruction of South Minneapolis.  I have a brother who lives just blocks from the 3rd Precinct Police Station which burned to the ground so my weekend was consumed with their safety as well as their home.  I am happy to say they are all fine and as I write this, their home is safe.  For now.

Take a drive just a block from their home you would swear you are in a war zone.  All of these little mom and pop stores and neat restaurants are now rubble.  

I’m not getting into what is right or wrong when it comes to protesting. I do take issue with the people who use this time of crisis to destroy and pillage local businesses who have worked their lives to just make it, only to see it destroyed in a matter of minutes.  I support protest, I support freedom of speech. I do not support anarchy, antagonists, and white supremacists who have no skin in the game other than trying to invoke shear terror.

Don’t ask me to take a political stance - because odds are my views won’t agree with yours (see last week’s column).

I pray that I will not be writing about this next week and all of the destruction will stop.  

Thank you to all of the people who took time out of their day to line the streets to send off the graduating Chisago Lakes senior class.  It was seriously heartwarming to see support from complete strangers! Thank you!  

And to you the seniors - I am sorry. Sorry you had such a bizarre end to your school year. Sorry your sports seasons were cut short or eliminated. Sorry your prom was non-existent, just plain sorry.  

Yes, you will always remember 2020 but for the wrong reasons.  The sun will come up tomorrow - you will do great in life - this much I know.

The seniors from North Branch will graduate this Sunday at 2 pm.  At the time of writing this, we have not been given any details about a parade or any type of public celebration involving the class of 2020. when we do, look on our Facebook page for details.  

As we move forward in this lost summer, it should be noted that yes all of our favorite celebrations have been cancelled, but that doesn’t mean our fun has to be.  As the summer progresses hopefully the pandemic recedes and we can enjoy each other and our community more and more.  The restaurants were allowed to offer outside dining this week which is a start.  We actually went to Wisconsin last week and enjoyed a meal out with friends. It was so refreshing for my wife to see someone else’s face instead of this homely mug. Too bad about our friends...

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