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Good grief - I wrote about needing rain and boy did Mother Nature answer.  Maybe I am getting absent minded but I don’t remember every storm in years past containing hail.  It seems lately if we don’t get a semblance of hail it’s an oddity.  What happened to the good old gully-washer rains? You know the ones that don’t pock mark the hoods of our vehicles?

What a great day they had for the second annual Lindstrom Midsommar Day.  Last year’s event was really built around the coffee pot water tower finally emitting steam, so this year it would be expected for crowds to maybe tail off  a little.  Not even close.  The streets of Lindstrom were jammed with people everywhere.  There were tons of food vendors as well as craft vendors and many businesses had a Midsommar special of some sort.  

I didn’t make it to the concert at the beach in the late afternoon, but I am told the crowds were great there as well.  Thanks so much to the Downtown Lindstrom Group for making this event such a pleasure and now a staple on our calendars.

During the event they named this year’s GOAT Rusty Johnson.  Rusty is an absolute fixture in Lindstrom and has been for decades. I have known Rusty since we were kids in middle school.  He is one of the nicest humans I have ever met.  He is also a huge champion for anything local which I absolutely love. Congrats to Rusty - enjoy your key to the city!

North Branch also celebrated Mid-summer and marked the 100th year of the Legion Post-supported events and parade.

This Saturday everyone is invited to Ojiketa Regional Park on Green Lake, in Chisago City.  They are celebrating Ojiketa’s 100 year anniversary (as a public space. It started out as a camp for Campfire girls.)   

They’ll feature an opening ceremony including Campfire Girls and Campfire alumni.  You can enjoy food trucks, s’mores, cupcakes, giveaways, drawings, yard games, entertainment, nature walks and more. 

The party runs from 11am to 3pm.  Ojiketa is located at  27500 Kirby Ave. in Chisago City.

Tuesday afternoon I had the pleasure of taking in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new St. Croix Health in St. Croix Falls.  They have outgrown their current spot in downtown SCF and have purchased a gigantic piece of property across from Menards along Highway 8.  The new hospital is going to be beautiful and the parking for those of us who use St. Croix Health will be plentiful, something we are not used to.  It will be exciting watching the new medical center take shape.

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