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Great northern news

Formerly our neck of the woods
​starring the unique people, businesses and entertainment in the lakes area and beyond

Food, Thought, and Food For Thought

8/29/2016

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By Kate Perkins
Editor

Farmer Dave Massey says that other farmers have told him not to bother with blueberries- that they’re too much trouble and too difficult to get growing. Dave’s farm, though, is full of big, healthy blueberry bushes that are nearly all overloaded with berries. Even better, they’re all entirely organic, grown without the use of any chemicals, pesticides or unnatural fertilizers.

While Farmer Dave grows around a dozen varieties of blueberries, he also grows more than 70 types of heirloom tomatoes, 12 types of basil, four types of squash (all of which can be eaten raw), potatoes, carrots, more herbs, raspberries, peppers, and even Italian dandelions, which are grown for their greens.

The variety at Northwoods Organic Produce is huge, and everything is grown organically.

“There’s more or less a movement for people to really start analyzing what they’re putting in their mouth,” Dave said. Organically grown food is generally more nutrient-dense, which Dave says is in contrast to a lot of the food people eat today.

“You need to know that the soil you’re growing stuff in, and the product you’re producing from the soil, has nutrient density. In other words, it has minerals and vitamins and other types of things that promote health,” Dave said. “So you have, basically, food that is doing something for your body, unlike food that is a lot of calories but no nutrition- and that’s a lot of the food we eat.”

Dave believes that many of today’s health problems can be traced back to the food we eat and a lack of responsibility by both the consumer and the producer. The producer needs to create food that is well-labeled and healthy for his or her consumers, and the consumer needs to be aware of what he or she is eating and how it will affect their body.

“You want to be able to control what you’re eating and what’s been done with it,” Dave said. Specifically, he’s referring to the chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers used in farming and growing food at conventional farms. With organic certification- which Northwoods Organic Produce has- many of those chemicals are prohibited.

While visitors come to Farmer Dave for organic produce, Dave feels they also come to him for information.

“We provide information. People have questions about why their kids are sick, or why there’s so much cancer,” he said. Dave tries to at least point them in the direction of where to look for answers.
Farmer Dave says that while it’s best to know what your food has been through before it gets to you, there are some things that are more important to eat organic than others. Bananas, for example, are probably fine when grown conventionally. Potatoes and berries, on the other hand, are more affected by the pesticides that’s used on them. Dave says that with these foods, the chemicals are in the produce, not on the surface, so they can’t be washed off.

“It’s the amount of chemicals they put on stuff, it gets inside the food,” Dave said.

He believes that food should be more properly labeled. If it were labeled, it would be easier to complete side-by-side studies of people who eat food grown in different ways, and would allow for traceability. Food companies are fighting this, Dave says, because it would create liability and open them up to litigation.

Others who visit Northwoods Organic Produce are looking for advice or guidance on their gardening, such as help with a pest on their crops. Farmer Dave’s been experimenting with different ways to grow organically for years.

One of his recent trials is using cover crops. Dave covers an area with a crop, such as triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), which grows up tall and thick. The crop is then mowed down and chopped up, creating a thick mulch over the land. Dave plants in the mulch, which keeps weeds from overtaking the plants.

He’s also had great luck with weed block. Weed blocking fabric around his blueberries and other crops has meant that Dave doesn’t need to use chemical weed killers on his plants. The result is, after years of trial and error, quality organic produce- like the enormous blueberries on Farmer Dave’s bushes.

When it comes to organic farming, Farmer Dave sees it as a responsibility. “We have two things in life: our name and our choices,” he said. “With knowledge comes responsibility, with responsibility comes action.”

Visit Northwoods Organic Produce and Farmer Dave at his rural farm for pick-your-own berries, or find him at the Ideal Green Market Cooperative Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Ideal Corners, next to the Old Milwaukee Club. To learn more about the farm or inquire about pick-your-own, visit the Northwoods Organic Facebook page or call the farm at 218-568-5823.
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All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth... In August!

8/26/2016

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​By William Weinrich

It was fair time, and my younger sisters had taken two of my prized heifers to the fair and both of them were heavy with calves. The stork was due anytime, so I was at home getting the cows milked, or trying to. I was about five minutes late getting to the barn and I had the cows come to the barn when I played a bluegrass song- “Mule Skinner Blue,” sung by the late Bill Monroe. The cows would come to the barn in a hurry.

That certain day the needle on the record player was broken, so I couldn’t play the song. The cows were in the back pasture, so I walked back in the pasture to round up the cows to get them to the barn. Dad had a favorite cow he called “Old Babe.” She was as ornery as hen’s teeth. (I forgot hens don’t have teeth.) Anyway, Old Babe just had her calf and it was a jim dandy heifer calf. Old Babe wanted to fight and fight she did. Finally I got Old Babe and her new calf to the barn where I thought Old Babe would settle down. She was the last cow to be milked. She had two more calves beside this new one and she was ornery every time she had a calf. But I thought maybe things would be better this time. How wrong I was.

Old Babe was broke to an electric milker and she had enough sense to come in the milking parlor to get milked. Old Babe practically few in the parlor to the feedbox. Things went along quite well until I started to put the milkers on Old Babe. She went nuttier than a fruitcake.

Old Babe kicked over the milker pail, busted the hoses loose, and to top that off, Old Babe kicked me right square in the mouth when I started to clean up the mess she’d made.

When I got through spitting blood and manure and dirt, I discovered that Old Babe had kicked out my teeth. To be exact, my two front teeth. And there they lay, in the manure and dirt. My senses finally came back to me, and man did my teeth hurt- what was left of them. About that time my wife drove down to the barn and said, “One of the heifers at the fair is calving.”

I told my wife, “What’s next?”

Her comment was, “What did you do to your two front teeth?”

“Old Babe kicked them out,” I said. Old Babe looked at me, and if a cow could laugh, she was doing it right then. Out of the barn she went, heck bent for election. Down the cow path she ran. I told my wife I had better get her because I will need her milk to feed her calf.

So I followed Old Babe back to the woods pasture. The old fool had twin heifer calves and she had hid this one in the brush! I was hurtin’ so bad that I didn’t have the heart to say anything to Old Babe. Finally I got Old Babe to the house and she didn’t say a word about me putting her calf in the pen with her twin sister. What am I saying, Old Babe didn’t say a word? Cow’s can’t talk, and I couldn’t either at that point and time!

My wife took one look at me and said “Your face is all swelled up.”

I got the barn cleaned up and I sure was glad to sit down for a minute. My wife said “Don’t forget about the heifer at the fair.” So, my wife drove me to the fair. I forgot to mention that my wife was seven months pregnant. Can’t you folks see my wife driving a pickup truck? She had about two inches to spare between her and the steering wheel.

When we finally got to the fairgrounds there must have been over a hundred people in the dairy barn. Over a hundred people had seen this new calf hit the ground. What a day, or rather a night.

When I got home, or rather when my wife and I got home, I was hurting so bad I couldn’t sit still. Throb, throb all night long. My wife tried ice packs, pain pills and that didn’t help. So I walked the floor all night long. I couldn’t get any sleep, not even a wink. I forgot to mention this was Saturday night and the dentist office was closed. So, my wife took me to the emergency room and the emergency room doctor took a look at me and said, “I wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole. You will have to see a dentist.”

So I had to wait until Monday. What a weekend.

Finally Monday morning got here and as soon as my wife thought the dentist was in the office, she called him. His reply was “I can’t see your husband because I am booked up solid. Take your husband to the emergency room.” My wife told the dentist I had already been to the emergency room.

So, back to the emergency room we went. Thank goodness there was a different emergency room doctor. He took x-rays and all kinds of stuff, and told me my jaw was badly sprained, but I would be eating through a straw for a few days.

But the emergency room doctor suggested that I go to see a dental surgeon as soon as possible to get the rest of my two front teeth cut out. That same day I got the rest of my two front teeth out.

Dad felt sorry for me for what Old Babe had done to me. He gave me Old Babe’s twin heifer calves. They weren’t as crazy as their mother was. And Old Babe had a set of bull calves that I broke to work. But that’s another story.

William Weinrich is a frequent contributor who lives in Piketon, Ohio. He writes stories of farming from the hills of Sunfish Creek.
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Checking in with Big Foot Theatre

8/25/2016

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Our Neck of the Woods is once again sitting down with Big Foot Theatre to hear about how their season has been going, their fabulous shows and how you can get in on seeing the great music and entertainment being offered in the woods!

Our Neck of the Woods (ONW): It’s been a couple of months since we talked last. How are things going at Big Foot?
Jerry Erickson (JE): Really good! We’ve been having good crowds coming to our shows, and guests  coming from all directions.

ONW: Being that it’s your first season, how do you feel about your show now that you’ve performed
a few?
JE: At first I was a little nervous, but as time has progressed, we’re feeling more at ease with the show and the whole team is more relaxed within each other and the audience. It’s a whole lot of fun to do.

ONW: How has the audience reacted to the theatre?
JE: We have had people back as many as four times that I know. I enjoy talking to them after the show. We’re getting really positive feedback. They have a great appreciation for what we’re doing out here.

ONW: Do you perform the same show every time?
JE: Yes and no. I’m trying to interject a new song or two every few weeks just to keep it fresh, and of course Rachel always gets the crowd’s attention with her incredible voice. We’ve also had a couple of visits from Rick Kimmel, a fantastic bluegrass singer/songwriter. He will be playing at the bluegrass festival in Pine River. It’s fun to share the stage with him. Another new face, Mallory Maine, will be sharing her fiddle talent with us too.

ONW: Okay, fill us in on ticket prices, location and contact info!
JE: For this season tickets are $12 for general admission, $10 for ages 62 and over, and kids 6 and younger are free.
We’re located at 1153 State Highway 84, which is northeast of Pine River or 8 miles east of Backus on State HIghway 87, just south of the junction 87 and 84. Shows are at 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays through Sept. 2. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. You can reach us at 218-947-3435, or learn more by visiting  bigfoottheatre.com or checking out our Facebook page.

ONW: Anything on the horizon?
JE: We’re thinking seriously about a Christmas show in November, maybe over two weekends with four shows. Other than that we’ve met some wonderful people, and would also like to thank Doug Taylor from Our Neck of the Woods. A lot of our guests are a result of this fine publication.

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Q&A With an Antique Aficionado

8/22/2016

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Our Neck of the Woods had the pleasure of sitting down this issue with Lynn Smith, owner of Treasures-N-Tiques in Jenkins. Lynn recently expanded her store to the 371 Stage Stop building, just next door to her original building on Highway 371.

Our Neck of the Woods: So, what made you want to expand to the Stage Stop building?  It seems to be a good fit, an antique store and production company sharing the same space.
Lynn Smith:  Yeah, it is a great fit and a great place to stage antiques.  Also there is a lot of talent around and they look at my antiques when they go downstairs to get their props and costumes.    

ONW: That’s awesome!  How’d you get into the antique business?
LS: I started collecting salt and pepper shakers at garage sales about 40 years ago. I was always looking for the next cool piece, so I started looking in antique stores- it was a whole new world! I went totally crazy. At one point I had around 1,000 sets of salt and pepper shakers. I sell a lot of my sets in my store now, and have gotten to be known for my collection!

I opened Treasures-N-Tiques when the previous owner needed to get out of business. I was in the store one day and she said to me, “Lynn, you probably have enough antiques to open a store,” and I said “Sure I do!” She wrote down a number and I said “SOLD!” That was it. I came out to my car and said to my family, “I’ve just bought this building!”

ONW: So now you have two fabulous buildings?
LS: Yes! In our original building we have vintage clothing, glassware, collectibles, and all sorts of wonderful stuff. In our new building, the 371 Stage Stop, we have a more rugged collection of tool chests, sleds, furniture and more rustic pieces.

ONW: What makes your stores special?
LS: The customer service. I always say that I don’t make a lot of money, but I make a lot of friends. And it’s true! I like to work with the customer that comes in the door and see if we can’t find just what they’re looking for. I also like to tell the history of a piece if I know it. I’m not afraid to get dirty, so I get some really good stuff in some really dirty places. I like to say that I like anything big, heavy and rusty.

ONW: Aside from your collection of salt and pepper shakers, what else are you known for?
LS: I’m the only one in the area selling vintage clothing. I have a lot of vintage clothing, from the 1940s to the ‘70s. I get a lot of people who come all the way up from the Twin Cities to buy clothing. If you have your mom’s or grandma’s old clothing, please do not throw it away. Bring it in! I’ll buy it.

I also love to find and sell art pottery, such as Red Wing Pottery, noisemakers, furniture, anything. I mostly deal in American antiques, rather than European, and mostly from 1900 on.

ONW: Do you ever find anything interesting when you buy estates?
LS: Always. You’ll get old pictures in frames. Tucked inside the frame, behind the picture, is all sorts of things. Money, marriage certificates, and once I found a signed oil painting that had been covered by a photo from a magazine. I hate to get rid of the old photos- especially the wedding photos. I have a wall in the store filled with old wedding photos I’ve found, and even a couple of the marriage certificates that have been behind photos in frames.

ONW: What an interesting piece of history!
LS: That’s really what we’re selling here- history. On the individually made pieces, you get to know the person who made it. It puts you in touch with what they went through, and it touches your heart.

Check out both of Lynn’s stores, Treasures-N-Tiques and the 371 Stage Stop, on Highway 371 in Jenkins. See the unique furniture, collectibles, glassware, salt and pepper shakers, and vintage clothing- and don’t forget to say hello to the chicken on the roof!
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Migration Mysteries

8/18/2016

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By Judd Brink
Owner, MN Backyard Birds

Bird migration has been studied and observed for thousands of years, but still remains a mystery to many current scientists and researchers who study this annual mass movement of birds.  So how does a bird that weighs less than a 16 ounce glass of water fly non-stop, covering thousands of miles, and survive the ultimate challenge of endurance and expenditure of energy?  

First we need to look at the different types of bird migration.  Minnesota is home to over 300 bird species that are known to be regular or that occur within its borders, with many of them being migratory.  For some the migration is just seasonal, from north to south to escape the deep snow and to find reachable food sources. A majority of our colorful songbirds such as orioles, tanagers, vireos and the 20 warbler species found here are known as neo-tropical migrants.  This group goes much farther than from region to region or even state to state- some migrate as far away as Central and South America!


Migration is a means of survival. An oriole can’t survive a Minnesota winter due to the conditions and the inability to obtain its food sources. The ability of flight is one of the greatest adaptations in the avian world. Now the same bird can simply take flight to avoid or escape the winter season.  One theory suggests that the global climate, or least the climate for many of the species that exist today, was more tolerable long ago. This meant long flight migrations were not necessary for survival.  But, as the climate and environment changed in and out of ice ages, birds established these migration routes to escape the climate.  Over time birds continued these migration patterns where they would nest and raise young in the north and return to winter in the south.  Birds have continued to change their migration patterns and habits as the current environment continues to change across all landscapes due to agriculture, population growth, deforestation and energy consumption. In our lifetimes we might see later or earlier arrival and departure dates for some of our favorite birds.

How do birds prepare for these long flight migrations?  As the amount of daylight becomes shorter in the fall, the photoperiod triggers birds to prepare and migrate.  The brain releases a chemical that puts birds into a hyperphagic phase to consume food and store it as fat for energy.  Many birds can double their body mass just prior to migration.  The red knot, a shorebird, is the champion of migration, traveling over 6,000 miles nonstop. To accomplish such a feat it must increase its body weight by 60 percent!  To put this into perspective, a 175 pound man would have to consume 46 Big Macs per day for 14 days!


How birds find their way has been a mystery for a long time. The moon and stars were once thought to be a factor. To some degree this is true, but now birds use more than one “guide,” including the earth’s magnetic forces.  We still don’t have all the answers, but as new technology becomes available we will get more answers in solving or at least trying to understand this natural wonder.   


Besides finding enough food resources prior to migration, birds also have to tend with hazards along the way including windmills, skyscrapers, and guy wires from cell towers.  Each year millions of birds die from these hazards, most being from window collisions.    


Habitat conservation is critical for many birds like the red knot to have places to rest, recover and refuel.  Our National Wildlife Refuge system was created on these principles, primarily for waterfowl and other water birds. By creating a bird friendly yard that provides food, water, shelter and place to nest, you can create a place of refuge for our feathered friends.     


Judd Brink is the owner of MN Backyard Birds in the Brainerd Lakes Area.  MN Backyard Birds provides birdscaping for homeowners and businesses to attract and enjoy more colorful songbirds. The business was recently featured on Kare 11 news with Belinda Jensen and MN Bound with Ron Schara.  For more information about birdscaping or a free backyard consultation visit our new website birdminnesota.com or email us at info@birdminnesota.com.
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I am a Northern Minnesota Deerfly

8/15/2016

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By John Wetrosky

I am a northern Minnesota deer fly. I live in the northland almost all summer long. I have been here a long time. A time even before humans stumbled across the landscape.  

I belong to the insect genus called Tabanidae. I am described as having green stripes across my eyes, a shiny green body and I'm recognized for my knife-like mandibles. The females among us tend to want to feed on blood. The males like to eat plant pollen. Our natural enemies include dragonflies, hornets and sometimes a bird called a killdeer. I've somehow avoided most of them during my peak time of year.

Those who have lived in the Northland for sometime know me. They know that when the hot winds of late June and July waft across the boreal forest, I will come alive. Dormant during the cold weather months, the increasing warmth of the summer sun sets me free. I start slowly, but finish with a flourish in mid-August.  

When mature, the females of my family start looking for a blood meal. We are called deer flies for a reason.  The whitetails that inhabit our bit of the north woods are our first target. The heat of their bodies and the flicking of their ears and white tails attract us. We love the color white. We can fly at the speed of forty-five miles-an-hour and no deer can outrun us. Their only hope it to dive into a pond of water or a lake to keep us at bay. The deer that we have targeted have been known to swim from one shore to another just to avoid our bites.  

We used to have the woods of the north to ourselves. We only fed on the creatures that were natural to the area. That was before humans arrived on the scene. Unknown to those first travelers to the area, we were waiting in the forest for the next fine dining meal. The native Indian people simply moved to the points and open areas of the lakes and lit fires that smouldered daylong to keep us at bay. They slathered themselves in bear grease and other natural salves to keep us from draining them dry, and for the most part that worked.  

We deer flies have evolved since then. Although we still retain our green-striped eyes and knife-like mandibles, we have found an easier target. They are called tourists and newcomers to the forested areas of our land.  

Without a thought, these fine folks toss a canoe or a kayak into a river or lake and are excited to take that float down the river or the paddle across the lake to a hidden island. They have usually packed a lunch and if the weather is summer warm, they are usually wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts. Just the kind of attire we like.  

Our flight plan is not to threaten these water journeyers as they revel in the crystal blue water of a northern Minnesota lake or a river that winds its way to the Mississippi.  No, we wait on the shoreline, in the bushes and overhanging trees, for we know sooner or later one of those parties will choose a place to enjoy a picnic among the pines.  

We usually let them set up camp and light the fire before we start to buzz around their heads. At first there is just a mild swinging of the arms to deflect our early sorties. As time passes, the waving becomes more frantic and soon we can see our visitors breaking off branches and flailing through the air to dismiss our engagement.  

Since our very survival is based on securing a blood meal for our progeny, we don't give up. As the traveling party rushes back to their canoes or kayaks, we follow in numbers too high to count. We don't quit there.  We will follow these easy meals all the way back to their cars in the parking lot and the last of us will be dispatched inside the vehicle on the way back home.  It's been know that those attacked have actually left their picnic lunch on the shore to be devoured by a night raiding raccoon.

We deer flies have no honor in who we bite.We bite politicians, mothers of the young, macho men who would bow to no one and to anything that moves through the timber in July. We've been know to send some folks to the hospital suffering from our bite.  

We are deer flies. If you venture into our domain in the Northwoods anytime in July, you'll come to know us well.  We will crawl back into our off-season phase in early August and you'll barely know that we are there, waiting for the next summer.

But, those of you who have experienced us will be sure to remember us. I am a part of the north country landscape. I am a deerfly.  
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Gleaning Inspiration From Mother Nature

8/13/2016

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By Kate Perkins
Editor
Some people snap a photo of their trophy fish. Others call a taxidermist and have the fish mounted. Local artist Sonja Larsen, though, is using trophy fish to make art prints that are not only accurate representations of the angler’s catch, but worthy of gallery wall space.

Sonja, of Lake Shore, likes to say that Mother Nature does the drawing. It’s Sonja, though, who is responsible for capturing what Mother Nature has created. Using historic Japanese methods, she makes prints of fish and plants that last far longer than the organic matter they represent.

Her prints range from ferns to flowers, bluegills to northerns. Sonja’s studio is packed with pressed plants, and home to a freezer filled with vacuum-packed fish awaiting printing.

In addition to selling her prints or taking commissions for prints from anglers, Sonja is also the co-author of Creating Art from Nature, How to Handprint Botanicals, a book on the many methods of making nature prints.

The process of printing fish is delicate and complex. It takes an entire day for Sonja to prepare the fish she’ll print. She then spends three days creating first indirect prints, then direct prints. A direct print involves coating the fish with ink and pressing it onto paper, while an indirect print involves molding a special type of moistened paper to the fish, and applying numerous thin layers of artist ink to the paper over the fish.

The paper Sonja uses is called ramon-sen, and is extremely thin but remains very strong even when it’s wet.

Often Sonja takes commissions for fish prints for anglers and offers the angler first pick of the many prints she’s able to make from a single fish. She then sells the remaining prints she makes in art shows or galleries.

Sonja hadn’t created much art before she started making nature prints.

“I can’t draw, but I’m creative,” she said. When she and her husband, Stan, bought their Minnesota cabin, they enjoyed fishing on the lake.

“Years ago, someone I was working with would make black and white prints of fish. I found it quite fascinating,” Larsen said. She tried her hand at printing but says she made bad print after bad print as she fought to learn the correct techniques of fish printing.

Sonja started to get the hang of printing and created a print of a nice size bass that Stan caught, which still hangs in her home today. When she heard of a nature printing workshop in the Twin Cities, she signed up and spent two days creating nature prints.

What she found was that creating nature prints was an escape from the everyday stresses of her life.

“I was leading a stressful life as an executive in a corporation. This demanded that you eliminate everything and concentrate on what you’re doing. It puts you in the here and now, and it’s good for you,” Sonja said.

A couple years after her first workshop, she was able to spend a week in Hawaii studying fish printing from a Japanese master of indirect fish printing. After attending numerous workshops and making countless prints, Sonja’s built not only a studio where she creates her prints but a name for herself as an artist.

Sonja’s day of preparation for fish printing includes removing every bit of slime from the fish she’s going to print. A gallon of vinegar helps the process, and also helps kill germs that might be on the fish. The fish has to be perfectly clean and dry. She then arranges the fish in the position she wants, such as lifting the tail or arranging the fins to give life to the print. Often she super glues the fins so they hold a life-like position. She admits that after three days of printing the same northern, the smell can get a little funky in her studio.

While the artist’s ink Sonja uses in prints can be expensive, many of her tools are not. She often uses simple makeup sponges for blotting the ink. While she uses ramon-sen paper for many of her indirect fish prints, she also uses rice paper, a much less expensive and more readily-available paper. For her botanical subjects, she often doesn’t look farther than her own garden or roadside ditches.

She said that nature printing has given her a new appreciation of the subjects she prints.

“When you print a leaf, you see things you didn’t see with the naked eye. There’s a lot of detail that just isn’t there otherwise,” she said. After attending many workshops, she’s noticed a theme among those who attend. “People say, after a class, ‘I look at things so differently now.’”

Sonja’s art is often minimalist, with a single fish or single plant. Her work allows the viewer to see the emphasis on the slight details of the plants, the subtle colors on the fish and the patterns of the scales, offering a simple appreciation of nature, captured.

Find Sonja’s book, Creating Art from Nature, as well as wall hangings and blank cards, at Serendipity Art Gallery in the Jack Pine Center in Pequot Lakes.
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To the Depot, James, and Don't Spare the Horses!

8/12/2016

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Tea at the Station Fundraiser is Sept. 1 

Plans for the Fourth Annual Tea at the Station, a Petticoat Junction Function held at the Historic Pine River Depot, are well underway.  This ever popular and always sold-out event hosted by Heritage Group North is the primary annual fundraiser for the operation and maintenance of Pine River’s Depot, listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.  Heritage Group North is the all-volunteer organization responsible for saving and restoring the Pine River Depot, and continues to be the ongoing source for the collection and preservation of area history.  

Your HGN member hostesses for the event (pictured here) are Alison Amy Stephens, HGN  Vice President; Margo Semmler; Colleen Moser; Lynda Weiss; and Pat Johnson.

This year’s three-course high tea and always enjoyable program will be held on Thursday, Sept. 1, from 2-4 p.m. This year’s theme is “The Shoe Fits to a Tea,” with vintage shoe displays, centerpieces and a program entitled “Steppin’ Out on the Right Track,” providing an entertaining afternoon of local “HER”story!

Additional highlights include the annual raffle and surprise goody bags.  This year’s raffle drawings, held at the tea, will include eight chances to win a beautiful blue and white tea set, tea cup lamps, as well as other vintage items.  Hats and gloves are welcome and gifts are given for “Best Vintage Attire” and “Best Use of Theme” (shoes), etc.  Raffle Tickets are $1 and can be obtained from committee members, or at the Information Center in Pine River.

Tickets are $25 per person (a tax-deductible donation to Heritage Group North) and the event is expected to sell out.  For tickets, call 480-747-2299.  Checks can be made out to Heritage Group North and mailed to P.O. Box 520, Pine River, MN 56474.

​Your Heritage Group North Hostesses encourage you to “make tracks” to the Depot!  We look forward to seeing you there.
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Scavenging for Mini Donuts Leads to New Business Venture

8/11/2016

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Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen of the Lakes Area! Today I must tell you of the most harrowing experience I had while on the job for Our Neck of the Woods (ahem, or should I say, Great Northern News).

I was down at the mini donuts stand in Nisswa, working on my latest review. You wouldn’t believe how generous people are with their mini donuts, especially when they don’t know they’re giving them away. I like to say that I give people the gift of their own generosity- and they don’t even know just how generous they are! In order to give you an honest review, of course, I had to try many donuts.

And, if I had the time, I would tell you about how delicious the mini donuts are, and how you must go get some before the summer ends. But no, instead, tragedy struck.

It was like it happened in slow motion. There I was, calmly preparing to nibble on a passerby’s donut, when I heard the dark, foreshadowing whinny of the nearby horses. Action Entertainment, of course, was providing their usual Wednesday stagecoach rides, and the coach was about to leave. The horses whinnied, the carriage creaked to life and the huge wooden wheels began to turn… and turn they did. Right onto my tail.

The pain! The anguish! Ladies and gentlemen it was such as you have never seen or experienced! All raccoons know that their tails are their pride and joy. I personally wash mine in the river and fluff it dry several times a day. A raccoon is only as refined as his tail stripes, that’s what I say. You can imagine my horror- and my rage- when I saw that my tail had been so brutally marred.

No, it wasn’t broken (though I insisted on a life-flight and CAT scan to ensure there was no damage). Still, the pain and suffering I had endured required some serious compensation, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Sure, Action Entertainment paid my medical expenses, but really we all know that I deserved more. And since, you know, business has been so good at Our Neck-- I mean, Great Northern News (of which I am a faithful contributor and subscriber), Action Entertainment and I came to the mutually beneficial agreement that I take part ownership in the newspaper. My first order of business as a new owner was to change the name. And hence, we shall be known from here on out as Great Northern News. Watch out for our name change, and don’t worry- next issue I’ll get back to my fabulous food reviews.
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BREAKING NEWS FROM ACTION ENTERTAINMENT: Stage Coach Accident Leads to Name Change for Our Neck of the Woods

8/11/2016

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​Since the beginnings of its operation in the bustling town, the Nisswa stage coach has brought laughter and joy to thousands of people, young and old. The stage coach, built from blueprints from the Smithsonian Museum, is a near exact replica of a 1876 Concord stage coach. Typically pulled by Lacy and Tori, Action Entertainment’s A-team of grey percheron mares, the coach has been on some amazing adventures, from appearing in a movie to being chased through the woods after dark under gun fire by a skeleton man on a black horse for Halloween. In all this time, not once has the iconic vehicle been involved in any sort of crash or accident, until now.

It started out the same as any other July Wednesday in Nisswa. The turtle races were in full swing, the donut stand was somehow still managing to sell fresh hot mini doughnuts in 85 degree heat, and the bright red and yellow stage coach could be seen charging through town pulled by two of the biggest grey horses the average person had ever seen. Mr. Mayhem Raccoon, the food columnist for Our Neck of the Woods, was scurrying about town looking for food to liberate from its rightful owners.  It was one of those days with no wind, the sort that's so hot even the mosquitoes refuse to fly.

Lacy and Tori pulled into the stage stop, bringing the stagecoach and its slew of passengers to a halt so they could be unloaded. The girls happily slurped up water as the ground crew did their best to cool them down before the start of the next ride. In typical masked mammal fashion, the raccoon was slinking about under foot hoping to separate some poor soul from their mini doughnuts.

“Stage is heading out!” The driver shouted, as the last passenger climbed aboard. Like the red sea the crowd parted to clear a path for the horses, heeding the driver’s warning. The horses had just begun to creep forward when an unearthly screech pierced the din. Everything slammed to a halt and the source of the terrible wail was soon located.

Mr. Raccoon lay on the ground near the back wheel, holding his tail in the air and alternating between shouting, “My beautiful tail! It's ruined!” and chattering at the sky in what one can only assume to be the raccoon equivalent of spewing obscenities.

Turns out that only the very tip of the raccoon’s tail had been run over and he had sustained no real injuries. Still the shaken up raccoon was out for retribution and demanded to be compensated for his emotional trauma. Wanting to make things right the Stagecoach driver offered to pay for the raccoon’s medical expenses including the unnecessary air lift and full body CAT scan that the little animal had demanded, but that was not enough to placate the raccoon. Legal threats were exchanged and some rather unkind sentiments thrown about, but eventually a settlement out of court was reached. It was agreed that Mr. Racoon would become the half owner of Our Neck of the Woods and the publication's name would be changed to Great Northern News.
Both Tinker the Dog and Brooster the Rooster have commented that the whole thing seemed rather convenient for the raccoon.
​

Watch for the name change in the next issue of Our Neck of the Woods- that is, Great Northern News! Find your favorite stories and articles online at www.greatnorthernnews.com.
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