Are the predictions of a long, dark COVID winter putting you on edge? Fighting visions of being trapped in a wind–swept Ice Station Zebra? Fret no more. Much has changed since the dog days of Stay at Home MN. Many uplifting and energizing recreation options will be open this time around.
Join me as we chart our top five diversions that will keep a smile on your face and the winter blues in the rear view mirror.
1. Skiing Aims to Be the Next Golf Craze. Many ski slopes across the country were sucker punched by COVID-19 and closed abruptly...
It wasn’t my first rodeo. I grew up in the City and earned my street smarts at now- shuttered Minneapolis Central High School. While Prince was also being burnished by the inner city, I was playing hoops with him every day at Bryant Junior High. So there was no way I was going to park and lock up my bike at tree-shrouded McRae Park and catch the bus to the State Fair. Instead, I locked my “Pee Wee Herman” Schwinn cruiser in the driveway of a bank, in the line of their security cameras on 47th and Chicago.
By early...
Amid the languor and afterglow of a large Thanksgiving meal and a Vikings win, the nieces and nephews were scattered about the living room like throw pillows. My nephew Chase was fiddling around with his Roku monitor and then an air of satisfaction when he was able to project a live aquarium screen saver. Not to be outdone, my 12-year-old niece Lexi exclaimed: “We have a yule log on our TV!”
Move over Big Bang Theory. Shuffle step back Dancing With The Stars. For the fifteenth consecutive year, Hubbard KSTC (45TV) will broadcast its popular...
While cancer is always an awful thing, always, oftentimes good things can come from these dire circumstances. This is an example of one of those times.
Jerry Webbe was in the process of renovating his St. Paul residence with his family when he was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer. Awful news for any family, especially nearing the holidays. Despite the home remodel already underway, Jerry and his family had pause the renovation to focus their energy and efforts on fighting the cancer. Sometimes tragedy brings out the best from a community.
The Home Depot Foundation and The Mission Continues
...
Unlike the downtrodden accused on Dateline, Kid Cann (given name Isadore Blumenfeld) had no qualms whatsoever about taking the stand in his own murder trial. That several other witnesses fingered him for gunning down prominent newsman Walter Liggett, didn’t seem to deter him either.
Edith Liggett was clad in widow black from head to toe and devastatingly resolute from the witness stand:
"He was the man who handled the gun," Edith Liggett said. "I saw him leaning out of the car and grinning as the gun spurted flame. It was Kid Cann.”
Only a few steps away, Cann was unfazed, chewing gum nonchalantly. He looked like a bad guy...
Everyone has a need to feel like we belong. One of the most intimate ways we express this is caring for one another. We express this in multiple ways by doing things such as helping an elderly person with various tasks around their home, helping a neighbor with a project or just being a friend.
In a recent
article, Wallet Hub ranked the most caring cities for 2016 among the 100 most populated cities in U.S. They used several metrics such as volunteer hours per capita, percentage of sheltered homeless people and percentage of...
Video games have radically changed over the last few decades -- online multiplayer, realistic graphics, vast worlds, and complex programming are all taken for granted today. But in the 1980s they weren’t even fathomed as an option. Today, instead of running to the arcade to play with friends, gamers can log into their home console and play with strangers from around the world.
Many don’t know that video games came from humble, albeit fun, beginnings. Those that do know, may be aware of Pacman, Galaga, or Mario, but haven’t heard of the thousands of other games available at the time.
Nathan...
For the 152nd time since 1859, a deluge of Minnesotans dressed in brotanks and fanny packs has flooded St. Paul for the latest installment of the Great Minnesota Get Together. Even as you read this sentence, from Albert Lea to Roseau, and all points in between, citizens of the 32nd state in the Union are making the pilgrimage to our capital city for the chance to see beauty queens carved from huge butter blocks while double-fisting a couple of pronto pups and washing them down with an entire bucket full of cookies.
The Pioneer Press
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Canby, Minnesota’s Central Park, is an idyllic spot for a family reunion. It is encircled by a bustling small town that could leap right out of
A Prairie Home Companion. A quick left turn from last week’s Randgaard family reunion and I had to screech on the brakes to capture a shot of one of America’s classic art deco theatres, Canby Classic Cinema.
Two years ago this art deco treasure was dilapidated and the roof was leaking when the City of Canby bought it and stepped in to save historic venue. Canby Mayor Gene Bis talked to a number of people that remembered...
