Brainerd Lakes Real Estate News

With the opening of the Crow Wing County Fair  officially tomorrow,  I must say that I am already tired.  My booth for Re$ale Design and Home Staging is right by the Mill's Free Stage, so I will be hearing a lot of good music and the like.  Here is the schedule for the week.  Crow Wing County is in Central Minnesota and the fair is located in the city of Brainerd.  Stop by my booth in Building One and visit.

The Park at MOA^TM,  is the largest indoor family amusement park in the nation.  The park is home to seven acres of fun with more than 30 remarkable rides and attractions, nine mouth watering places to eat, plenty of entertainment and, of course, shopping.  And now having once been Camp Snoopy, the theme park is about to change its name again.

    When completed in March of 2008, the park will be called  the Nickelodean Universe. Nickelodean's licensed characters include SpongeBob SquarePants (my personal favorite), Dora the Explorer and Jimmy Neutron. They are all very appealing, I am sure, but Minnesota will miss Snoopy.

 photo by onekgguy

James Munsch of Brainerd was preparing to start his freshman year at ND State in just 4 days when instead he took off on a bicycle tour alone to raise money for cancer  research for children  With a noble goal of $5 Million, he is now back in Brainerd with the $500 he raised and priceless memories and experiences.

     The bike trek started in Seattle and ended in Manchester, NH where he ran out of his money and took the bus home.  He made it across 22 states and 6000 miles.

     He slept in a "scout tent" which was a 9 x 12 plastic tarp attached to his bike leaning against a tree and a ground support.  Meals weren't much better.  February was spent in ND helping the homeless and gaining a new perspective on being a responsible adult.  He tells those holding a public office or those in charge of making decisions for how others live to get to know the people - find out how their lives really are.  "Live on the street for a day, go to work with the people you represent".

     Wise words from a young man.
 

Every hour of every day, someone needs essential services- from finding an after-school program to securing adequate care for a child or an aging parent.  Faced with a dramatic increase in the number of agencies and help-lines, people often don't know where to turn.  In many cases, people go without getting the services that they so desperately need because they do not know where to turn for help. 

2-1-1 eliminates confusion, giving people one simple, easy to remember number to call when they are in crisis. They don’t have to remember a seven digit phone number or search for one; some people in crisis are not able to search for phone numbers at all. And many persons in need are illiterate, incapacitated, travelers who don’t know where to turn, elderly, or non-English speaking. 2-1-1 is easily communicated and remembered.

On July 21, 2000 the Federal Communications Commission granted a 1998 petition requesting that nationwide 2-1-1 be designated solely for use by the public to access services providing free information and referrals regarding health, human services and governmental agencies. All fifty states and Canada are in various stages of implementing or researching this use of 2-1-1. The Brainerd Lakes area is now in place for the use of this number.

       2-1-1 helps people find and give help.  It connects people with important community services and volunteer opportunities, and provides callers with information about and referrals to human services for everyday needs and in times of crisis. 

                                                                                                     photo credit to  Minnesota National Guard

  Coming home from a  client shopping trip to Minneapolis last night we saw signs on overpasses and dotted down the highway, welcoming home the last of 2,600 Minnesota National Guard soldiers.  The Red Bulls were supposed to be gone 18 months, but their deployments were extended.  The Red Bulls served longer in combat than any other Minnesota unit since World War II and were the longest-serving U.S. military unit of the Iraq War.

     The last contingent of 270 Iraq War veterans arrived on Wednesday.  Almost all waited in a single-file line from the plane to again see Sgt. John Kreisel, who was waiting for them on the tarmac.  Kreisel lost portions of both legs in a December 2 roadside bombing in Iraq that killed two of his closest friends.  He stood waiting on two prosthetic limbs.

     Staff Sgt. Tim Nelson,27, of Bemidji, MN couldn't make that long wait in line and jumped ahead of the others. Nelson was sitting in the vehicle behind Kreisel when the explosion occurred and hadn't seen him, since he held his hand for hours in a military hospital.

     "It was touch and go," said Nelson, his bottom lip quivering as he recalled the aftermath of the blast, which killed Spc. Bryan McDonough,22, of Maplewood, MN and Spc, Corey Rustad,20, of Red Lake Falls, MN.

     Major General Rick Erlandson gave the men their official welcome.  He told them the length and quality of their service made history.  He told them to remember that, no matter what the critics of the war may say in the future. He also wanted them to know that this experience had changed them and that they may never get back to "normal", but would have to adjust to a "new normal".

      Welcome back, Red Bulls - we are grateful to you for your dedication, service and great sacrifice.

 Kathleen Lordbock

Re$ale Design and Home Staging

Brainerd, MN  

 photo by shipperphile4life

In the next few days,more than 400 members of the Minnesota National Guard will leave the state to deploy to Kosovo, joining an international security force.

 The soldiers are from the 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry headquartered in Mankato.

"This mission is ideally suited for the Army National Guard because it involves two key areas we specialize in - community assistance and homeland defense." said Major General Larry Shellito.

The soldiers leave for Camp Atterbury, Indiana for training for their next mission, including lessons in driving military vehicles on the narrow roads of Kosovo and identifying and reacting to land mines. 

Being just a few miles , as the crow flies, from our own Camp Ripley, MN and usually working on the grounds, a least for a  month each year, we have many opportunities to experience life in a training facility.  We are extremely grateful to our men and women who volunteer to leave home and go to foreign countries to assist and to defend our nation.  

 photo by goatopolis

A 26-mile stretch of Highway 25 between Fourth Avenue in Pierz of Morrison County and three-tenths of a mile south of Highway 18 in Crow Wing County will soon be detoured.  The two week detour will go into effect on July 23, 2007 as crews replace the culverts.  The project also includes  turn-lane construction and a new bituminous pavement surface.  This is an area much traveled by the farm equipment of the Pierz area farmers, so turn lanes are vitally important.

The traffic will be detoured via Crow Wing County Highways 117/Thiesse Road, 45, and 2 Monday through Friday afternoons.  Motorists are urged to watch for detour signs and plan ahead.

Local residents will be able to have maintained access to their homes , but they may be required to use roadways crossing Highway 25 as the culvert replacements will require deep cuts. The project is expected to be completed after Labor Day in early September. 

We have several great zoos in Minnesota but the biggest and maybe therefore the best, is the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley , MN. The zoo just topped its 1 million mark in attendance for the fiscal year for the first time in five years.

 More that 1.03 million people went through the turnstiles for the year ending June 30, that is up by about 38,000 visits over the previous year.

 The zoo expects its 30 millionth visitor sometime this summer.  Chief Executive Officer Lee Ehmke credits the attendance jump to interest in recent upgrades to zoo attractions, including the refurbished Minnesota Trail and a new exhibit called "Russia's Grizzly Coast" currently under construction. 

When it is done, our family will take a run to the cities and see it.  The zoo is a great in-state get away and do-able in one very long day for those of us in Central MN. It is about a 3 hour drive there and we hit every exhibit, at least once. We are aerobic zoo visitors, so may even do a little jog on the backstretch to keep the kinks out. 

                                                                                                                                  photo by wingnut225

photo by MamaGail 

                                                                                                            photo by Renato Saavedra
 

photo by Daisyluvinbutterfly

                                                      Alfresco - in the fresh air

• Don't have to pre-clean and post-clean the inside of the house (does not work at our place, because the party always moves indoors eventually)
• Outside everything can be hosed off, including the children and dogs
• Cricket, frogs, and the sounds of running water (depending on what it is running from) are soothing
• Everyone (no exceptions here ) and everything looks more attractive in candlelight
• The food can be simpler and it is more likely others will offer to bring something for a picnic or BBQ
• Adults can eat and talk and the kids can eat and run
• Everything goes with Jello
• Paper plates and napkins can be used to start the wood fire for toasting marshmallows
• Everyone sleeps better after taking in sunshine and fresh air
•  Can invite more guests and use more artistic seating arrangements (lawn chairs, rocks, logs and blankets)
• Need few decorations - maybe only at the buffet table or the head picnic table
• Many group games are for strictly outside - volleyball, softball, horseshoes, croquet
•  More family friendly and intergenerational

The Nation's schools which have been often criticized for unhealthy school lunches, well-stocked vending machines and cuts in their physical education programs - may actually do a better job than parents in keeping children fit and trim.

A study found that 5-6 year olds gained more weight over the summer that during the school year, casting doubt on the assumption that kids are generally more active during their summer vacations time.  Researchers speculate the extra pounds during the summer months come from the lack of the structure of the school year with all its activities and daily comings and goings,

This is particularly interesting to me as a former Physical Education and Health Teacher and long time Public Health Educator.  It should be of even more concern to those who have children home during the summer.

The study co-author says that for many youngsters the lazy days of summer are just that - lazy.  There is more time to eat snacks and lounge about watching TV or playing video games.  The study points to the need for parents to be more involved and to set good examples .

Researchers found the body-mass indexes of 5,380 kindergartners and first-graders on average increased more that twice as much during summer break compared with the school year.  Once kids were back in school, however, the monthly growth rate of their Body Mass Index fell.