The 4th of July thunderstorm came quickly and left just as quickly after it dumped 1.4 inches of rain in my backyard. The rain fell so hard it was more than the down spouts could handle and it spilled over the gutters at the corners. The sudden storm took care of watering the flowers for a few days. . . It also rained again on Friday hard enough to cancel the baseball game with a Minneapolis team and the schedule is getting tight for the remaining games before playoffs begin. Lakers have a busy week with all the rainouts. On Monday they travelled to Buffalo, Tuesday they hosted Waverly, Wednesday they traveled to Delano, Friday they host Buffalo, Saturday is the annual golf tourney and Sunday they travel to Loretto. Sunday is a 2 p.m. start and all other games are 7:30 starts. Jumping into the next week they play Loretto, July 14 there, 2:00 p.m.; July 19 Waconia, there,7:30 p.m.; July 21 Maple Plain, there, 2:00 p.m. for their final league game. Then the Region Playoffs start on July 31 at Hutchinson. The North Star League Standings as of July 8 was as follows: Delano, 15 – 1 Hutchinson, 11 – 4 Maple Lake, 9 – 5 Howard Lake, 9 – 6 Cokato, 8 – 6 Maple Plain 7 – 6 Buffalo, 7-7 Dassel – Cokato 5 – 9 Loretto, 4 – 10 Litchfield, 3 – 12 Waverly, 1 – 14 There was a tremendous amount of vehicle traffic on Division Street Sunday as 4th of July vacationers were heading back to their homes. The line of vehicles with boats, those in campers, and those towing ATVs seemed almost none-stop as they headed south on County Road 8 at the roundabout. It appears the work on Highway 55 from Maple Lake to Buffalo is going well despite the rain delays and you can bet your bottom dollar that H & H Sports and CENEX hope the blacktopping units will be on scene soon. I can only assume both retailers are taking a hit in their pocket books with all that traffic diverted away from their stores during the road construction. I don’t have a date when it will be completed, but I’m hoping early August so it won’t be a problem for the Gearhead Days or the Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament which starts August 16 and 17 in Maple Lake. * * * I caught Tricia Manuel all dressed in her clown outfit getting ready for the Annandale parade on the 4th. She was sporting a pink ukklely and practicing for the event. Her costume looked great and she had the umbrella in case it rained which she said it did. Art Dingman, a retired mortician from these parts, asked her to play a song for his wife Marlene. Tricia aptly chose “You Are My Sunshine” just as the rain was beginning. I’ve been seeing some young turkey poults as they hunt for food in the farm fields. One local hunter reported seeing a covey of pheasants and the chicks were about the size of a golf ball as they scurried across the road. I’m hoping the hard rains that have pelted a lot of Minnesota’s pheasant range didn’t have an adverse effect on the young birds. While I feel for the farmers who were unable to get crops in all of the fields, the unplanted acres could be a haven for the pheasant if there is a sufficient cover and food for them to feed on during the time leading up to the October 12 opener. The ruffed grouse season opens on Sept. 14th and that’s not far away!
A Walleye to Remember
