It’s a hidden treasure that has found its way onto the prairie land of North Dakota. Earlier this month, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opened in Medora.

Recently, I resolved to spend more focused time actually reading and exploring my DCI. My usual routine is to flip through it when it arrives, and then set it down—only to pick it up again briefly when the next edition arrives. Not exactly a winning strategy for staying informed!
West Concord’s 41st Survival Days celebration looked like a whole lot of fun, especially the wife-carrying contest. What a hoot!

A quarter-millennium, a grand embrace,
Two hundred fifty years in this expansive space.
From thirteen stars, a flag that caught the breeze,
To fifty strong, from mountains to the seas.
Through trials faced, 
on fields where shadows fell,
Of freedom’s light, the story we still tell.
With immigrant hands, and spirits born to roam,
We built this house, 
and called this Nation home.

This week we will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. While most people know what the 4th of July represents, there are also probably some general myths about our storied history.

I was on the light rail from St. Paul to Minneapolis last Friday night, on my way to meet some friends, minding my own business, thinking about what non-alcoholic drink I would order from the bar, as a bunch of us Millenials danced that night.
The train ride is around 45 minutes which, funny enough, is the amount of time it takes to get across my entire home state of Rhode Island.

You know the drill.
It is summer time in Minnesota, which means, there are a host of community events and celebrations happening virtually every weekend.
In a couple of weeks the Dodge County Free Fair will be underway.
There are events that have already happened like Dodger Days in Dodge Center, and Chicken Fry weekend in Hayfield.
There are Survivor Days in West Concord, and Good Neighbor Days in Byron.