A few weeks ago Minnesota’s Congressional delegation sparred in its annual “hotdish” contest. In a stunning victory, Colin Peterson’s Right to Bear Arms Hotdish took the top prize, while Republicans Tom Emmer and Jason Lewis tied for second. It’s the kind of humor we love – poking fun at our peculiar Minnesotan traits.
We make jokes about lime green Jell-O surprise at the church supper, we say “ya sure you betcha” on occasion (intentionally or not) and we cheer our football team with chants of “Skol.”broadstreet.zone(48036);
We trace those eccentric ethnic traits back to our first influx of immigrants in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. People from Scandinavia, Germany and Ireland flocked to the Midwest to find farmland and jobs in factories. Finnish and Slovakian miners settled in the Iron Range. These immigrants built homes, barns, churches and schools. They farmed the land, dug in the mines, filled the mills
Category: The Latest From Forest Lake Times
Cookie sales teach lifelong lessons
Submitted photoMadelynn Silvera sold 1,504 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in 2016 to become part of the top 1 percent of sellers in the Minnesota River Valley Council.
Ten-year-old Madelynn Silvera had spent several of her young years selling Girl Scout cookies. Her typical sales were about 200 boxes per season, although she was always intrigued by the booklet that told of the prizes Scouts could receive for sales of 1,000 or more. Last year, she came home to her mother and decidedly stated that she was going to be a big prize winner.
“I knew that 1,000 boxes was a lofty goal and this was going to be a very large commitment, but seeing the determination in my daughter’s eyes, I knew we had to give it a shot,” Madelynn’s mom, Jennifer Silvera, said.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Madelynn began with some after-school door-to-door sales, but she quickly realized that it just wasn’t enough to get
The Works Museum brings science to life at Forest Lake Elementary
During the week of Feb. 20, Forest Lake Elementary hosted a Science Residency program with The Works Museum. Each year on a rotating basis, FLE hosts a weeklong residency program related to music, art, or science. The Works Museum units will help extend activities in the classrooms that are connected to each specific grade level and their content standards. The fourth grade will be focusing on the unit of super circuits and will experiment with the components of simple circuits such as power, loads, and switches. Students constructed and wired a motor-powered fan to take home.
Fifth graders worked with motor power and dug into what is inside a motor and how it works. They used magnets and electricity to build and experiment with “The World’s Simplest Motor” and created a crazy wigglebot to take home.broadstreet.zone(48036);
The sixth grade class tackled the unit of mixing molecules where they identified mystery chemicals by
Pork perfection
Submitted photo
Mitchell Clemens of Forest Lake was named the Champion Swine Showman at the Livestock Showmanship Contest at North Dakota State University.
Used clothing fund drive to support boys swim and dive
Forest Lake boys swim and dive is having a used clothing drive fundraiser April 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and April 2 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Working with the Epilepsy Foundation, the team will receive a monetary donation based on the total weight of the items the boys collect.
The group is collecting all types of wearable clothing, jackets, and shoes. They will also collect blankets, sheets, bedspreads, quilts, comforters, towels, drapery, curtains, bath rugs purses, hats, gloves, scarves, and ties. All items should be placed in well tied trash bags.
Books, CDs, VHS tapes, kitchen appliances, outdoor toys, or furniture will not be accepted.broadstreet.zone(48036);
The Epilepsy Foundation truck, with swimmers and parents present to accept donations, will be located in the parking lot of Southwest Junior High at 943 9th Ave. SW.
Call 651-336-3010 or email FLswimfundraisers@gmail.com with any questions.
Massage parlor owner arrested for prostitution
The owner of Flawless Massage in Forest Lake has been charged with two counts of prostitution after being arrested last week following an undercover operation of the Forest Lake Police Department.
According to police and other city reports, Wei Lu, 53, of St. Paul, allegedly offered sexual acts to an undercover police officer during a session at the massage parlor, located at 808 Broadway Ave. W. She was arrested March 20.broadstreet.zone(48036);
The Forest Lake City Council will be discussing the revocation of the parlor’s massage license at tonight’s meeting. The other massage therapist at the location has not been charged with a crime but would need to find employment elsewhere before she could continue practicing. More information will be posted as it becomes available.
Vietnam wounded warrior is speaker for April 2 event
A Vietnam War veteran who lost an arm and a leg during combat in 1968 will be the guest speaker at the 10th annual Forest Lake Vietnam Veterans Day program on Sunday, April 2, at American Legion Post 225, 355. W. Broadway Ave.
Jon Hovde was just 20 when the armored personnel carrier he was a passenger in hit an antitank mine. He was nearly left for dead when an Army medic failed to find a pulse in his left arm that had been severed by the explosion, along with his left leg.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Hovde, a resident of Fertile in northwestern Minnesota, the town where he grew up, is today an accomplished motivation speaker and author. He is the co-author of “Left for Dead, a Second Life After Vietnam,” the story of his life in Vietnam, co-written with Maureen Anderson. He will be the keynote speaker during the 2 p.m. program in Forest
In defense of the independent
For three hours on Monday nights and two hours on Tuesday nights and an unimaginably large amount of hours on the pay-per-month WWE Network (boasting over 7,000 hours of original and archived content), fans of professional wrestling grab a seat on the couch and tune in to be entertained. Others spend anywhere from $40 to $500 for a seat to see a live show featuring professional World Wrestling Entertainment stars. For those who may not have the means to travel and spend to see a large scale production made-for-TV wrestling show, the independent circuit exists.
The Forest Lake American Legion hosted Minnesota Independent Wrestling March 18 at a cost of $12 per ticket. Fans were treated to five matches of intense wrestling action, and although the legion ceiling may have been a bit low for any high-flying action, fans got their money’s worth and then some.broadstreet.zone(48036);
Independent wrestling circuits, or “the indies”
Lino Lakes comes up big during annual read-a-thon
Students at Lino Lakes Elementary were busy reading for a cause during their second annual read-a-thon Jan. 13 to 27. The goal of the fundraiser was to help pay for costs of classroom technology, STEM activities, and a future playground. Students read a combined total of 124,290 minutes. Out of that total, 558 students met the reading challenge of 2,071.5 hours and raised $12,266. The top reading classrooms, students, top fundraising classrooms, and their teachers received a combined total of $1,100 in Scholastic Bucks to be used at the upcoming book fair. The top three readers were fourth grader Lucas Chall, 1,380 minutes; kindergartner Eva Larkins, 1,290 minutes; and fourth grader Andrew Brandt, 1,110 minutes.
The top three reading classrooms were Amy Greenfield’s fifth grade class, 16,300 minutes; Wendy Amon’s fourth grade class, 14,620 minutes; and Mary Eggebraaten’s sixth grade class, 10,580 minutes.broadstreet.zone(48036);
The top fundraising classrooms were Renee Loberg’s kindergarten class,
LILA Welcomes Minnesota Twins ‘Reading Is Powerful’ program
Lakes International Language Academy recently welcomed representatives from the Minnesota Twins front office as part of the team’s “Reading Is Powerful” program for fourth- and fifth-grade students at the Spanish and Chinese immersion school on Feb. 16, which was World Read Aloud Day. The Twins program focused on the legacy of Jackie Robinson, the first African American Major League Baseball player to break the color barrier and a champion of civil rights, and the story of Roberto Clemente, the first Latino MLB player inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame and a generous humanitarian.
The Twins’ Miguel Ramos, Diversity Department Director, shared how he and his daughter spoke very little English when they first came to Minnesota from Puerto Rico, but they overcame bullies and language barriers with determination and commitment. Mary Giesler, General Counsel for the Twins, also spoke about how she knew few female attorneys in her early legal