This column will go to print on the day our diligent summer interns give a farewell presentation to the Arts Council, so we unfortunately cannot recap said presentation here. I’m going to assume that like the rest of their work, it surpassed expectations and was exceedingly well-organized.
It’s been a bad week to be preparing a class in editing and publishing. On Thursday, my husband roared up on the lawnmower and was greeted by the sight of his wife frantically slicing her arms at him. It was a gesture I hoped meant “please, cut the noise, I’m on the phone and can’t hear the other person” and not “get out of here, love of my life!” I probably seemed deranged, though; the person I was talking to was my literary agent, who was moving to a new firm and thus delivering the news that we had to part ways.
August is here. The summer goes by so quickly and yet, it’s just a regular part of our continuing lives. August seems to be the end of summer just because school starts, and we start to put away the summer equipment, and drain the pools, and oil up the snow blower. The end of summer is part of the continuum of creation. For the month of August, I’ll be writing on “The Continuum of Creation: Faith and the Land.”
The festival based on the lore of the legendary river squid, Todd, that was rumored to surface in town returns this year to a new location. SquidFest 2025 will be held at Memorial Park in honor of the park’s 100th birthday, as a one-day, all-ages celebration of creativity and community on Saturday, August 16th.
Recently, a bus of residents from Clarkfield Care Center took a special trip to Granite Falls to visit the Kiwanis Popcorn Stand. The Popcorn Stand is in its 106th consecutive season, and is open every night from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. throughout the summer.
Over the weekend, Oscar De Leon, a Moorhead-based filmmaker with deep roots in Southwest Minnesota, was in Granite Falls with a crew filming scenes for “Tristessa. The film is based on a story about a young couple living out of their car, navigating homelessness while holding onto the dream of finding a permanent home. The story hinges on a pivotal scene involving a house owned by Ronette Kennedy Trulson. Filming also took place in other locations, such as Almich’s Market. More information about the progress of the film can be found on the production company, Chamber Six’s official website at chambersixmedia.com.
Each week, the Advocate Tribune will share a photograph from our archives for you to “guess who”. To submit your guesses, send us a message by email to jstolen-jacobson@cherryroad.com or message our Facebook page. We will publish the answers the next week.
Question: I have a new driver in the house and they asked a question that got me thinking. If someone has a crash and hits a power pole, what should they do in that situation?
As you know, here at Beyond Reason, we always tackle the biggest, most important issues of the day. A philosophical conundrum. A Buddhist koan. The t-shirt gun. Look, if it’s in Beyond Reason, it’s important. That’s why, this week, it’s time to consider bunting.
If you already have your will and other advanced planning documents in place, there are some important reminders for you at the end of this column! I recently received an email from Southwest Initiative Foundation (SWIF) with a reminder that August is National Make-A-Will month. SWIF has a valuable partnership with FreeWill, an online tool to write a legal will at no personal cost. SWIF is an independent community foundation whose mission is connecting people, investing in ideas, and building communities. They support many initiatives in our region, in fact, my position at Prairie Five is funded in part with a grant from SWIF.