I Love It Here!

Thursday, July 29, 2010. Sometime around midnight, last night, my household lost our Internet connection. Also phone and cable. I'd just wrapped up Wednesday's entry. That was frustrating. By 1:30 a.m., communications were still out - and I decided it was time to sleep.

Sorry about the delay, getting Wednesday's entry out.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010. The Red Carpet, downtown, has been a part of Sauk Centre for decades: it was established before I moved here in 1986. Now, someone has an opportunity to take over a Sauk Centre landmark.

The Red Carpet has been there, next to the Palmer House, since before I moved to Sauk Centre back in 1986. July 26, 2010.

Here's a chance for someone to own a Sauk Centre landmark. July 26, 2010.

All I know, at this point, is what I saw in the window: the owner of the Red Carpet is retiring, and the place is for sale.

Driving to Alexandria this afternoon, I saw several fields ready for harvest. And this one, near the tank farm west of town, where harvest was already happening.

Harvest has started on this field, just west of Sauk Centre. July 28, 2010.

Folks have been setting up the midway and getting exhibit spaces ready for the Stearns County Fair.

One day to go before the fair opens - and a whole lot of activity at the fairgrounds. July 27, 2010.

Stearns County Fair is a fund-raising opportunity for several local groups: like the VFW, with their parking spaces. July 28, 2010.

I plan to see what's happening at the fair tomorrow. And, probably, Friday. Saturday evening I'm scheduled to help at the Knights of Columbus Bingo booth. I've mentioned the VFW in that photo's caption: the Lions are just west of the K. of C. Bingo booth. Or, looking at it another way, K. of C. has their Bingo game in the east side of the Lions' building.

Sunday, July 25, 2010. A week from now, the Stearns County Fair will be over. I'm just as glad that I don't have to any of the preparation involved for that.

If I'd taken a closer look at that "Serenity Studio" display in the old drugstore window, downtown, I'd have realized that it was just that: a display. Diane Schmiesing's Serenity Studio (serenitystudio.com) isn't, quite, there.

She's got some of her work displayed in the window, with contact information printed on a card. Pretty good way of making use of an otherwise-empty storefront, I think.

That big "For Sale" sign is for the store itself. Dian Schmiesing's
Serenity Studio phone numbers and an email address are on the smaller card. July 21, 2010.

There's a fairly good range of subjects in the Serenity Studio paintings. July 21, 2010.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Main Street ("The Original Main Street," as it says on the street signs), storefronts south of the Main Street Theatre entrance are boarded up. There's a lot of activity going inside there: I think they're adding an overflow/bad-weather entrance. But then, I thought Serenity Studio had moved in where Winter's drug store used to be: so we'll just have to wait and see.

Sawhorses, ladders: Work in progress on Main Street. July 21, 2010.

The Main Street Theatre folks own those storefronts, where the construction work is happening. July 21, 2010.

I checked the five-day forecast, and see that there's a chance of rain on forecast for Friday. But this is Minnesota, so about all I'm really sure of is that we probably won't have snow.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010. The weekend storm that interrupted the Sinclair Lewis Days celebration made this week's Sauk Centre Herald front page, naturally enough. Folks living around the north end of Sauk Lake had property damage.

I've heard that people working at Pizza Hut, on south Main, looked up and saw a rotating could. This could have been a lot worse.

Gardens didn't, generally, have warning signs when I was growing up. This makes sense, though, I think. July 16, 2010.

Stearns County Fairground. It's going to be busy there, soon. July 19, 2010.

The Stearns County Fair starts a week from today. There's work going on at the fairground, getting things ready.

Electrical work being done, I think, at the Stearns County fairground. July 20, 2010.

It's a good thing I'd seen the fellow working in an electrical box near the base of the pole on the fairgrounds that has a siren on it. When the siren went off - briefly - two times - this afternoon, I wasn't quite as jumpy as I might have been. My guess is that he was testing the system. I checked the weather, anyway.

Earlier Sauk Centre Journal entries are in the Sauk Centre Journal Archive.

The idea, when I started this page, was to have a little journal, where I recorded events as they happen here in Sauk Centre.

It grew.

Above, you'll find this Sauk Centre journal. I update it twice a week.

Brian H. Gill, Webmaster, Brendan's Island