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Forest Lake Area High School’s FFA named one of Minnesota’s best; Chapter also receives awards for community service and agriculture literacy

For the 12th straight year, the Forest Lake FFA chapter was named one of Minnesota’s top 10 chapters at the annual State FFA Convention, held at the University of Minnesota April 23 to 25.
Forest Lake was seventh in the chapter award program. The recognition was based on an application submitted by the students, which identified successful activities in the areas of student, chapter, and community development. The application will now be reviewed at the national level.broadstreet.zone(48036);
The Forest Lake FFA also took third place honors as part of the agriculture literacy challenge, where members documented several events students had planned and organized revolving around agriculture literacy. Activities were evaluated based on their innovation and number of people reached.
This program was designed to inform others throughout the community about the importance of agriculture.
“These achievements are a result of a dedicated and motivated group of students who seek to improve themselves, their school

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Crafting a home for the arts

Photo by Jason DeMoeNatalie Harrer, Matthew Anderson, and their kids Aayden and Jaxon are eager to open their new Glazing Memories Art Studio in Forest Lake next to St. Croix Cleaners.
When Natalie Harrer and Matthew Anderson find a problem, they work to create a solution. Such was the case with their ideas about a shortage of family-friendly, artistically driven activities and entertainment around the Forest Lake area.
“We just noticed that we were having to travel to find cost-effective family stuff to do,” Harrer said. “We wanted to bring something fun and creative to this area.”broadstreet.zone(48036);
The two rented a space at 341 12th St. next to St. Croix Cleaners, and Glazing Memories was born. Glazing Memories, slated to open sometime in mid-July, will offer pottery glazing, canvas painting, string art and board art.
“With the pottery, people can come in and pick a piece from a large variety that we will have

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Using geology to read the past

Angie Hong
Guest Columnist
At first glance, Shields Lake in the city of Forest Lake appears natural and relatively untouched. There is a tiny city park with a fishing pier at the northeast corner of the lake and a golf course to the north. The rest of the shoreline is undeveloped, fringed by cattails and trees.
Surprisingly, however, the lake has some of the worst water quality in Washington County.broadstreet.zone(48036);
During 2015, water monitoring data showed the lake to have an average phosphorus concentration of 349 micrograms per liter (ug/L), which is eight times higher than the state’s threshold for impairment: 40 ug/L. The water is green, murky and choked with invasive curlyleaf pondweed. In its annual report card, the Met Council gave Shields Lake an F+.
In an effort to help understand what went wrong with little Shields Lake, researchers from the University of St. Thomas and the St. Croix Watershed Research Station recently

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