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“MEMORIES AWAIT IN TAYLORS FALLS” is the theme for the annual Lighting Festival next weekend. This theme is perfectly fitting for the 2025 Royal Lady; Cindy McLane. Cindy was chosen as this year’s Royal Lady because of all she does for the community, and she was happy to share her  memories as a Taylors Falls resident and business owner.

Cindy’s memories of Taylors Falls began when she was in college as a forestry student in the upper peninsula of Michigan. One summer she spent several weeks of her internship working at Interstate State Park. Her responsibilities included taking and testing water samples of the glacier pot holes and cleaning the pot holes of debris.

Although she was born and raised in Detroit MI, Cindy had made friends from the University of Minnesota and even after the internship ended, would make trips to Minnesota where she would visit Interstate Park and ski Wild Mountain. Those are some of Cindy’s most cherished memories of Taylors Falls.  After college she moved to Florida and worked in the corporate world for 10 years, but never forgot about Taylors Falls. 

In 1988 she called Ralph Olmschenk from the Taylors Falls Chamber of Commerce and told him of her dream to open a Bed and Breakfast in Taylors Falls.

Ralph said to her, “Have I got the house for you!” Cindy came to Taylors Falls to see the property on what happened to be Lighting Festival weekend. (The Lighting Festival was first held in 1985.)

After that visit, she knew in her heart that she belonged in Taylors Falls. Cindy purchased the home, and the McLane House Bed and Breakfast, located on Bench Street, opened in 1989.

Cindy entertained many guests while she owned the B & B. She enjoyed sharing about the community, area history and recommending restaurants and activities to her guests. The guests loved the B & B just as much as Cindy loved owning it, and many guests would return year after year to stay.

Cindy closed the B & B on 9/11/2001 (a coincidence) as she had decided to make the home the base for her accounting business.

Cindy has been involved in many city events over the decades. She was a part of the now-defunct Taylors Falls Lumberjack Days and helped with the Miss Taylors Falls scholarship program. As she and a reporter sat and reminisced about Taylors Falls history in the Juneberry Cafe, Cindy recalled buying her first pair of cross country skis when the Juneberry location housed Rivard’s Sporting Goods Store. She has enjoyed seeing how Taylors Falls has changed over the years and feels positive about the direction Taylors Falls is going.

Cindy has always been an ambassador for Taylors Falls. She has worked hard to promote her beloved town to visitors, but more importantly she cares about the people of Taylors Falls and works with them through her accounting business. She enjoys helping the local businesses and wants to see them prosper and grow

Although Cindy grew up far from Taylors Falls, it has been home now for many decades and holds a special place in her heart with many special memories. Congratulations to Cindy McLane, the 2025 Royal Lady.

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