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Thanks so much to the good folks that worked so hard to make North Branch Midsummer Days so great this year.  

I will say, I think it is pretty neat how the giant tent outside the American Legion has become the focal point of the celebration.  No matter what event is taking place at Midsummer, you can always count on something every hour at the big tent.  There was a bit of rain, but that didn’t seem to bother anyone having fun.  Summer celebrations have just began and North Branch has set the bar high.

Next up is one of the biggest with Karl Oskar Days.  KOD has been growing and growing in the last few years and this year’s is looking bigger than ever.  We will have a bunch of ads for events beginning in this Search Shopper and then in next week’s Press.  

Someone is once again hiding the snuff box this year with another large cash prize for the winners.  I need you and your friends to please come out and look for the snuff box.  We have had the same family win it something like the last 3 out of 4 years.  We need some new faces on the front of the Press.  I know of one certain resident on North Center Lake who has sworn that they will find the snuff box this year.  We will see I guess.

I am sure you have been paying attention to the footage of the flooding down south.  Mankato, a town where I spent a lot of my young adult life, is battling flood waters from both the Blue Earth and the Minnesota Rivers.  In fact, the Rapidan Dam that is on the brink of giving way, was one of the first places my wife and I went for a date. There has always been flooding on the Minnesota River, but this year is like nothing I have ever seen.

Speaking of high water, I am told passage on the waterway from North Center of North Lindstrom is navigable right now.  It has been a few years since boats have been able to cross over to different lakes.  There is something so neat about being able to putt around five lakes. If you have a boat or have friends who have one, take advantage soon, before Mother Nature turns the spigot off and the lakes are separated once again.

Remember to send us your fishing photos!  We love to run local residents who have caught a whopper on our local lakes.  The weeds are finally subsiding a bit so fishing should improve here shortly.

Please be careful this 4th of July.  It seems like every year we are running an incident report about someone getting injured misusing fireworks.  I love them as much as anyone, but they scare the heck out of me.

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