A closer look at flyover land

December festivals, part 1

The month of December is an exceptionally busy one for this festival-fond state. To try and get as much coverage as possible without making a web page that's a mile long, I'm going to report weekly this month. Today's installment will include events through Wednesday, Dec. 7. Check back next Thursday for the following week.

St. Paul
A Victorian Christmas at the Ramsey House
Dec. 1-4
The beautiful Alexander Ramsey House will be decorated to the hilt in period decorations—and there just might be cookies coming out of the wood-fired stove. Reservations recommended.

Minneapolis
Holidazzle
Dec. 1-4
Truly a parade of lights, with life-size fairy tale characters decked out in splendid lit-up costumes. Allow extra time for traffic and parking, and if you're planning on dining before or after, make reservations ahead or be prepared to wait.

Northfield
St. Olaf Christmas Festival
Dec. 1-4
This popular annual event is already sold out, but you can hear it on MPR, or check local TV listings—many stations nationally will carry it.

Bemidji
Lefse Cook-off Festival
Dec. 2
Boy, if there was one festival I could attend this season, I'd be tempted to choose this one. A lefse contest? Can I judge? Please?

Crookston
Winter Wonderland
Dec. 2
Sleigh rides, bonfires, luminary-lined streets.

Owatonna
Christmas in the Village
Dec. 2-3
Stop by the Steele County Historical Society and enjoy horse-drawn sleigh rides, a lavish cookie sale, true wassail, and visit Santa. On Saturday, tour highly decorated historic homes.

Minneapolis
No Coast Craft-o-Rama
Independent crafters make the most of the wonderful Midtown Global Market to display and sell their wares. You'll find fun items here that are often unlike most of what you'd see at other craft shows.

Le Sueur
W.W. Mayo House Candle Light Tour
Dec. 2-3
Tour the tiny home once inhabited by one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic. 

Caledonia
Winter Wonderland
Dec. 2-4
Parades, barn quilt tours, balloon launches, and the Historical Society's Old-Fashioned Christmas. And—a hot air balloon rally!

St. Paul
Grand Meander
Dec. 3
Kick off the holiday shopping and noshing with a stroll down Grand Avenue's 30-some blocks of independent (mostly) retailers and restaurants.

Annandale
Pioneer Christmas
Dec. 3
Visit the Pioneer Park and see it dressed for Christmas long ago. Enjoy live music, shopping, and fry bread and stew.

Grand Rapids
Christmas in the Logging Camp
Dec. 3
Dress warmly—you'll be walking outdoors at the Forest History Center while observing lumberjacks in action and horses pulling carriages, before visiting the cook's shack to see how lumberjacks celebrated decades ago.

Wabasha
Old-Fashioned Christmas
Dec. 3
Christmas caroling, cookie walks, artists' studio tours, horse-drawn wagon rides, Santa, and cookie decorating, all in one of the lovely river towns of southeast Minnesota.

Biwabik
Weihnachtsfest
Dec. 3
Horse-drawn trolley rides, children's musical, ethnic foods, Christmas carols all reflect the town's ethnic heritage.

St. Paul
Hill House Holidays
Dec. 3-4
Costumed actors portray servants at the lavish James J. Hill House, giving living history tours.

Holiday lighting

Or, what happens when those holiday lights no longer work? TC Daily Planet has some answers. 

BY MADELINE SALMON, TC DAILY PLANET

November 20, 2011

It’s a familiar scene, one that plays out year after year when the leaves have fallen: you drag out the bundle of Christmas lights from their dust-enshrouded summer tomb, only to discover when you plug them into the wall that the glow is gone. You say you’re going to fiddle with each bulb until you find the culprit, but you never get around to it, and the next time you go shopping you end up buying a new strand of lights anyway, only to throw the dead one into the trash bin.

The Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM), in partnership with Ace Hardware stores, WCCO, Xcel Energy, and Clean Energy Resource Teams, has a better way to dispose of those lights that don’t work. RAM’s statewide project, “Recycle Your Holidays,” allows Minnesota residents to drop off their unwanted holiday lights at more than 400 locations. Businesses can also sign up to become a collection site and receive a free bin and free pickup whenever the bin is full. A map on RAM’s Web site, searchable by city, lists all current collection locations in Minnesota.

Ellen Telander, a spokesperson for RAM, said the program is in its third year and grows each holiday season. The goal this year is for at least 400 or more businesses to sign up, keeping the program at or above its previous level. Telander said RAM would also like the program to recycle at least 200,000 pounds of lights this year.

Audrey models the wrong way to dispose of Christmas lights. (Audrey lives with the author, and enjoys occasional modeling in exchange for treats.)

RAM will take any unwanted holiday lights, both old and new. Arnold O’Hotto, a manager at Hance Hardware, an Ace store in Hopkins in its second year with the RAM program, said he has seen people bring in light strands with labels from the 1970s. O’Hotto said the program has been successful at Hance and brings in a modest amount of extra business for the store. “People will drop off their old lights and kind of wander over to the Christmas stuff and see what’s over there,” he said.

O’Hotto also said an additional benefit of the program is that people often make the switch to more energy-efficient LED lights when they recycle their old strands. This makes the program good for the environment by reducing both waste and energy consumption.

RAM, a nonprofit organization devoted to resource conservation, works with vocational centers to hire adults with developmental disabilities to disassemble the lights. Every part of the light strand, from the glass bulbs to the metal wiring, is recycled. “Anybody can donate a strand of lights,” said Telander. “We should be proud. This is the only statewide program for light recycling nationwide.”

Copyright: 

 © 2011 Madeline Salmon

 

 

We interrupt our regularly scheduled broadcast

--for a brief PSA.

Wednesday, Nov. 16 is Give to the Max Day in Minnesota. That's a day designated for people to donate to charities based in the state. You don't have to live here to donate. This is the third annual celebration of nonprofits, and it's been highly successful in its first two years.

The organization I work for is the Sajai Foundation. (Full disclosure: I work for this organization.) We are a very cool (braggy, I know) little nonprofit that battles childhood obesity and nature deficit disorder through curricula we've developed for kids ages 6-11, teaching them about healthy eating, physical activity, and exploring the outdoors. Our philosophy is that health is a lifelong approach; that no foods are ever forbidden (except for allergies or religious beliefs), but some foods need to be eaten more in moderation; the word "diet" is never used; that every body is different; and that you can find bits of nature even deep in the city. Our programs have been run in more than 40 states to nearly 15,000 kids. We've found that the programs do make a difference--and that the kids, especially those 8 and younger, actually want to learn more. 

On 11/16, to raise both awareness of our work and funds, our CEO/President is going to walk from her home in Maple Grove to the Mall of America, where the Give to the Max Day HQ is. 

That's 30 miles.

On foot.

Foundation CEO/President Melissa Hanson, training with her (adorable) dog Skeeter.

Even for someone in great physical shape (as Melissa is), that's kind of a huge challenge. So we have a plan: for every $500 we earn in donations, Melissa gets a bathroom break. (Hopefully at a coffee shop and not in the woods.) For every $1000, someone else will walk a mile for her while she takes a break. If we earn $5000, she gets to ride her bike for 5 miles.

We like Melissa very much and really don't want her to be in excruciating pain when she crosses the finish line tomorrow. If our cause appeals to you (and did you know that 1 in 3 kids in the U.S. is either overweight or obese???), please consider making a donation of any size any time 11/16 by clicking here. We have a generous anonymous donor who has pledged $10,000 in matching funds, so your donation would automatically be doubled!!

And if you'd like to follow her journey tomorrow, check us out on Twitter and Facebook. I'm the person behind those accounts, and I'll be following Melissa's walk all day tomorrow and posting about it.

Thank you for your consideration--and now back to Minnesota, where it's getting colder and windier by the minute.

I'm just sayin'. 

What I'm doing this weekend

And where you could come and meet me! Even better: it's for a good cause.

I am participating in a benefit boutique this fall and hope you will stop by. Please join me at this event showcasing over 40 crafters and specialty vendors to browse and shop with plenty of time to order and receive your gifts by the holidays!  Admission and parking is free! Vendor table fees go to support the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life of Eden Prairie. (And some vendors, like me, are donating part of our proceeds to the ACS as well.)

Click here for a flyer with all the details: http://www.thundercom.net/flyer2011.pdf.  There’s a Facebook page, too: www.facebook.com/RemissionAccomplishedMarket.  

Holiday Market

November 13, 2011

11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Eden Prairie Community Center, 16700 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie

 Participating vendors include: A Muse Studio, Arbonne, Avon, Close to my Heart, Crafty Creations by Rebecca, DEBIRDMAN Custom Birdhouses, Discovery Toys, Dove Chocolate Discoveries, EP Power Nutrition, Girlz Crazy Glaz, Holiday Treats, JB Jewelry, Jody Russell Photography, Kate...the Bag Lady, Katherine Seger Fine Arts, Kingdom Oils, KRO Designs, Lia Sophia, Market America, Mexico at Home and More, Miche Bags, Minnesota Authors Amy Rea & Kate Havelin, Norwex, Pampered Chef, PartyLite, Personalize It, Petaling Whimsy, Prairie Bee Designs, Private Quarters, Reliv International, Quilted Colours, Sassyfras, Scentsy, Seams Bizarre, Sheek Lavish Lifestyles, Shure Pets, Simply Fun, Spirit Apparel and More!, Sweet Sister's Caramels, Tammy Morton Creations, Thirty One Gifts, Tickled Pink Treats, Tipsy Spreads, Travelling Greens, Tupperware, Usborne Books, Wildtree, and Woolwine Fine Art Photography...

 

Decorating on a huge scale

Last week I had the pleasure of hanging out at the Mall of America and finding out how much effort (a LOT) it takes to decorate the Mall for the holidays. This week, I wrote about it at WCCO. Check it out if you, like me, love getting geeky about things like giant Christmas trees.