Nisswa, MN

I Wish You A Slice of Heaven this Summer.....Even if It is Only for a Day.

There are little slices of Heaven all over this magnificent earth. I hope this summer you take the time to enjoy one of them even if it is just for a day.

I just got back from an overnight getaway. My sister lives in Arizona and was spending this week visiting our Mom in Fargo, ND. I was going to head to Fargo too but but I came up with the idea of meeting "sort of" in-between.

It was a three hour drive for each of us and we went "UP NORTH". That is Minnesota slang for heading to the northern region of MN to some of the lake area resorts.

One of the Largest Resort Communities in MN is the Brainerd, MN area with hundreds of lakeside Resorts to choose from. There is one that I have been wanting to stay at for years and this time I did.

Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, MN.

It is in the National Registry of Historic Places with the main lodge built in 1919.

After check-in we went for a walk around the grounds. It was a little misty but it seemed to make it all the more beautiful.

Come on and take a little stroll with me...........

I hope your summer will bring you a little slice of Heaven......even if it is only for a Day.

On Saturday , February 2, 2008 the Miss Nisswa pageant will be held at the Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa. Tickets are $5 at the door and include and cake and punch reception in the church immediately after the pageant. A good time to catch up with the latest locals neighborhood news. If you have been mostly inside due to the extremely cold Minnesota temperatures of late, this pageant and our balmy 25 degrees should warm you up.

Scholarships totals have been raised to $5,300 with the newly crowned Miss Nisswa receiving a $2000 Scholarship and many gifts. The Nisswa Princess will receive a respectable $1400 and the Second Princess will receive $1100. $300 goes to Miss Congeniality and all contestants receive gifts and well as the Little Miss participants.

Contestants for Miss Nisswa 2008 are Sarah Avenson, Nicole Cain, Chelsey Collette, Sonya Hills, Cierra Johnson, Heather Meier, Sammy Mraz, Mary Petersen, Katrina Ritter and Savannah Thomsen. Eighteen photo by sunnybrook100

second graders are dancing in the non-competitive Little Miss Nisswa

pageant that same evening.

The pageant starts at 7 pm.

The spring schedule for the Grassroots Concerts has been set. This is a great opportunity to see and hear artists that you would not normally be able get close to. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children younger that 12. All shows will be held at the Nisswa Community Center in Nisswa, Minnesota.

The schedule is as follows:

• Pieta Brown, February 8th
• Bill Staines, February 22
• Tom Russell, March 14
• Garnet Rogers, April 4
• Gretchen Peters, April 18
• Cosy Sheridan, May 2
  

Here is some interesting information on the first artist of the season. Pieta was brought up in Iowa with no electricity and no running water - imagine that, will you. She was exposed to traditional and rural folk music by her father who just happens to be the two-time Grammy nominee Greg Brown. Be the time she was in her early twenties, Peita was well on her way to becoming a local gifted performer and by 2002 had her debut album out. Brown has collaborated with a variety of artists including The Pines, Iris Dement, Calexico, The Diplomats of Solid Sound and of course, her father Greg Brown.

For more information on this series call 963-2976 or visit Grass Roots Concerts.

photo by Waka Jawaka