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Monday night as I was driving home at about 6:30 or so, the radio blurted that awful emergency alert tone. Not even thinking I assumed it was the first Wednesday of the month or maybe even an Amber Alert. I have only heard one Amber Alert ever, so my ears perked up a bit.  Here comes the recorded robot voice telling me there is a high alert for the United States and threat levels will remain high until September 12, 2001.  Wait, what? 2001?  Did I travel back in time? Oh if I did, think of the possibilities...so many things to do differently...so many decisions to make the right way this time...

The majority of 911 call stations for a nearly an hour were incorreclty forwarding traffic.  Luckily most municipalities were able to fix the glitch, but there were a few tense moments to say the least.

I had a chance to go to the Franconia Sculpture Park’s grand opening of their Franconia Commons building on Saturday.  Luckily the heavy rains held off until after the ribbon cutting.  Many of you have driven by or even visited the sculpture park and seen the big white house that has been on-site for some time now.  They have taken that home, added onto it to make a super-cool gathering place for the park that includes bathrooms, a gift shop, a coffee shop, an art gallery, a two-level patio that looks over the park and some great classrooms for learning and displaying various avenues of art. I would encourage you to stop by and see this awesome addition to an already great park.

So this is a little late notice, but the very popular Outerwear Fair will still be taking place.  The event has been taking place as long as I remember, and while Covid is trying hard to shut everything down, the great folks that put the event on are bound and determined to still help those of us who are down on their luck,  by supplying families with winter clothing.

Due to the pandemic, the event will happen over five days beginning October 13 and running 11 am until 5 pm every day at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lindstrom.

You are asked to please make a reservation and wait in your vehicle until an attendant comes for you. Masks are mandatory and only two people per family will be allowed in.  

Folks, there is nothing to be ashamed of asking for help.

These incredibly awesome people only care about your family being dressed warmly this winter. They don’t care about your income, job status or anything like that.  If you know of someone who could benefit from attending the event, by all means have them call and make an appointment.

I have been to the fair many, many years, and I have never seen them run out of clothing.  They have gently use, coats, hats, mittens, scarves,boots snowpants and blankets in good condition.  

You can make a reservation by calling 651-257-5129 extension 7. If no one answers please leave a message and they will get back to you promptly to schedule a time for you.

Saturday is a great recycling event at Chisago Lake Lutheran Church in Center City.  The event runs 8am to 2 pm and you can get rid of just about anything you need to.  My trailer is already full.

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