WCCO - Community Calendar

Aquatennial Events
Friday, July 18 WCCO Radio Presents the Labor Neighborhood Block Party
5:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Nicollet Mall between 3rd and 4th Street.
Blues Traveler Headlines
Special guests The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Tim Mahoney
Wednesday, July 23 CenterPoint Energy Torchlight Parade
8:00 pm 10:00 pm
Hennepin Ave between the Basilica of St. Mary and 5th Street
Click headline for more info

Be a part of Ron Schara's Minnesota Bound Invitational
The inaugural Ron Schara Minnesota Bound Invitational is an elite bass tournament. The event is set for July 31 - August 2, 2008 on Gull Lake in Brainerd. There will be activities going on throughout the day on Friday and Saturday including casting competitions for the kids and a chance to meet Ron and Raven. All events will be at Cragun’s and will be free and open to the public. Adults are still needed to volunteer as observers. Click the headline above for more information!

Join WCCO Radio for the Courage Center 5K Your Way Event!
Join WCCO Radio's Susie Jones on Saturday August 2nd for the 2nd Annual Courage Center 5K Your Way Event!

The 5K Your Way—Run, Walk, Roll, or Stroll is a fun, family-friendly event benefitting Courage Center, a premier nonprofit rehabilitation and resource center empowering people with disabilities to reach their full potential in every aspect of life.

The 5K Your Way is open to all ages and abilities. Starting from Courage Center in Golden Valley, participants will travel a 5K (3.1 mile) course on the beautiful walking/biking trails along scenic Theodore Wirth Parkway. You can run, wall, roll or stroll at your own pace.
Click here for more information on how you and your friends can participte in this wonderful event!

45th Annual Old-Time Harvest Steam & Gas Engine Festival
The annual steam and gas engine festival in Jordan is dedicated to preserving the past and educating the present about our agricultural and industrial history. Some of the festivities include a silent auction, bingo, refreshments, live music and entertainment, and machinery demonstrations. The event goes from August 1st to August 3rd. For more information visit www.scottcarverthreshers.org.

St. Anthony of Padua Polka Daze
Polka Daze Festival is an annual event put on by St. Anthony of Padua in Minneapolis. The event begins with a polka mass at 11:30 am and continues on the church grounds until 5 pm, and includes lots of food, crafts, pull tabs, bingo, prizes, and live polka music. For more information contact St. Anthony of Padua at 612-379-2324.

Nobel Gowns of Queen Silvia of Sweden
The American Swedish Institute presents an exhibit of gowns worn by Queen Silvia Sommerlath of Sweden. Since she became the queen in 1976 designers such as Christian Dior, Nina Ricci and Yuki have designed gowns for the queen to wear to the annual Nobel Prize festivities. These gowns will be on display at the American Swedish Institute until September 28th. For more information visit www.americanswedishinst.org.

5K Your Way for the Courage Center
This year’s 5K Your Way – Run, Walk, Roll or Stroll will be a fun-filled event hosted at Courage Center in Golden Valley on Saturday, August 4th. Starting from Courage Center, runners, wheelers and walkers are invited to enjoy traveling a 5-K course on the beautiful walking/biking trails along Theodore Wirth Parkway.

Formerly the Walk-N-Roll, this family-friendly event will also have plenty of things to keep the little ones busy, such as face-painting, clowns, music, games along with free food (burritos from Chipotle) and beverages galore (including coffee and iced tea from Starbucks)! Tours of Courage Center and live adaptive sports and recreation demonstrations will be happening during and after the race.

This 5K Your Way is open to all ages and abilities. Help us raise money for a great cause, and have fun and stay active while you’re at it!
Visit www.couragecenter.us for more information

10th Annual All-You-Can-Eat Pig Roast
The 10th Annual Pig Roast is a fundraiser for the Friends In Need Food Shelf, the Emergency Crisis Fund, and Stone Soup. The cost is $8.00 for attendees 12 and older and $4.00 for children 4 to 11 years old. The Roast is located at St. Rita's Church in Cottage Grove from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

The Minneapolis Mosaic
The Minneapolis Mosaic, a celebration of cultural diversity through the arts, will be held at venues throughout the city of Minneapolis all summer long, with over 100 music, dance, theater, visual arts, film and literary arts events offered. For more information, please check out www.minneapolismosaic.com

Burnsville Fire Muster
September 3-7, 2008 Civic Center Park, Burnsville MN. Event features a fire truck parade, live entertainment featuring High Noon on Friday and CBO on Saturday evening. Food, fireworks, carnival rides, and more. Cost: $5 at gate. Contact: email@burnsvillefiremuster.com www.burnsvillefiremuster.com for more information

PurpleRide Twin Cities
The 3rd annual PurpleRide Twin Cities takes place on Saturday, September 13, 2008, at Elm Creek Regional Park in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The event is a fundraiser for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and a day of family fun. Choose from 8-, 25-, or 50-mile well-supported bike routes and help us raise money for the fight against pancreatic cancer, the 4th leading cause of cancer death in the United States. At the end of the bike ride, enjoy lunch, many family activities, a raffle drawing, and ceremonies celebrating our fundraisers. To learn more or to register, please visit www.purpleride.org.

Silent No More - 9th Annual Walk/Run for Ovarian Cancer
The 9th Annual 5k for ovarian cancer helps to raise money for MOCA which is a non-profit organization that educates and raises awareness about ovarian cancer. The event takes place at Rosland Park in Edina. For more information please visit www.mnovarian.org.

The Abilities Expo
This three-day expo is dedicated to improving and educating the lives of people with disabilities, senior citizens, their families and caregivers. The event will be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center from September 12th to September 14th. For more information visit www.abilitiesexpo.com.

James J. Hill House
The James J. Hill House in St. Paul will be the starting point for Summit Avenue Walking Tours each Saturday and Sunday, through September 28, with guided tours focusing on the architecture, original owners, social history, and current preservation issues facing this nationally-recognized historic district. For rates and times, dial 651/297-2555, or visit www.mnhs.org/hillhouse

Minnesota County Fair's Full Listings!
Minnesota boasts some 800 festivals & events each year, which means you, can always find a reason to celebrate*outdoor concerts, county fairs, art crawls, historical reenactments and of course, the Minnesota State Fair.

And speaking of “fairs”*if you haven’t taken time to visit a county fair in Minnesota, well*you just haven’t allowed yourself the opportunity to have a great time and experience the flavor of Minnesota.

As county fairs emerged on the American scene*eons ago*it was the one time of year that people could come together, mingle in one location and “get the news” from other parts of the state. In many cases, the crops were about to or had already been, harvested. School was about to begin and people just needed a time to have some fun and laugh and visit and “see what’s new”. Heck, they might even get Mom to ride that ‘big thing’ called a Ferris wheel way up there in the sky*maybe not. Mon was more likely to visit the home building to check out the competition to her entry in the pie baking contest. And after that she might mosey over to the ‘handiwork’ building to see the entries in the quilting and sewing contests.   Dad always checked out the latest farm equipment and talked with others about their “year on the land”.   And the youngsters? Well, the midway offered them just about everything you could ever want from rides to monsters to feats of strength. The visit to the midway might also include the possibility of a tender stomach after ingesting something from every food vendor on the fair grounds.

But the memories would last all winter and many times as the wind and snow whistled by the window, they would call up a memory from their visit to the county fair. And, from time to time, the conversation at the dinner table would include center around something they had seen or done at the fair and all would wonder what might be new next year.

There might even be a Teddy Bear displayed somewhere in the house that reminded everyone of when Dad knocked over those wooden milk bottles with a baseball.

Yup, those ARE the days.

Here is a listing of most of Minnesota’s county fairs, though some fairs had not confirmed their dates when this went to press. Listings note the county name followed by the city where the fair is held JULY
*    July 1-5 Cannon Valley, Cannon Falls
*    July 3-6 Kittson, Hallock
*    July 9-13 Chisago, Rush City
*    July 9-13 Hubbard, Park Rapids
*    July 9-13 Polk, Fertile
*    July 9-13 Ramsey, Maplewood
*    July 9-13 Watonwan, St James
*    July 9-13 Winona, St Charles
*    July 10-13 Big Stone, Clinton
*    July 10-13 Clay, Barnesville
*    July 15-20 Rice, Faribault
*    July 16-19 Wabasha, Wabasha
*    July 16-20 Dodge, Kasson
*    July 16-20 Kanabec, Mora
*    July 17-20 Cass, Pillager
*    July 17-20 Ottertail East, Perham
*    July 17-20 Sherburne, Elk River
*    July 17-20 Yellow Medicine, Canby
*    July 20-25 Roseau, Roseau
*    July 21-26 Faribault, Blue Earth
*    July 22-27 Anoka, Anoka
*    July 23-26 Becker, Detroit Lakes
*    July 23-26 Morrison, Little Falls
*    July 23-26 Todd, Long Prairie
*    July 23-27 Isanti, Cambridge
*    July 23-27 Scott, Jordan
*    July 23-27 Waseca, Waseca
*    July 23-27 Wright, Howard Lake
*    July 24-26 Wadena, Wadena
*    July 24-27 Northern MN District, Little Fork
*    July 24-27 Redwood, Redwood Falls
*    July 28-Aug 3 Olmsted, Rochester
*    July 29-Aug 2 Aitkin, Aitkin
*    July 29-Aug 2 Crow Wing, Brainerd
*    July 29-Aug 3 Freeborn, Albert Lea
*    July 30-Aug 3 Beltrami, Bemidji
*    July 30-Aug 3 Jackson, Jackson
*    July 30-Aug 3 Marshall, Warren
*    July 30-Aug 3 Pine, Pine City
*    July 30-Aug 3 Pope, Glenwood
*    July 30-Aug 3 St Louis, Chisholm
*    July 30-Aug 3 South St Louis, Proctor
*    July 31-Aug 2 Rock, Luverne
*    July 31-Aug 3 Blue Earth, Garden City
*    July 31-Aug 3 Lincoln, Tyler
*    July 31-Aug 3 Meeker, Litchfield
*    July 31-Aug 4 Washington, Lake Elmo
AUGUST
*    August 4-10 Dakota, Farmington
*    August 5-9 Goodhue, Zumbrota
*    August 5-10 Benton, Sauk Rapids
*    August 5-10 Mower, Austin
*    August 6-9 Kandiyohi, Willmar
*    August 6-10 Carver, Waconia
*    August 6-10 Clearwater, Bagley
*    August 6-10 Nicollet, St Peter
*    August 7-10 Lyon, Marshall
*    August 7-10 Mille Lacs, Princeton
*    August 7-10 Nobles, Worthington
*    August 8-10 Koochiching, Northome
*    August 10-13 Chippewa, Montevideo
*    August 12-17 Martin, Fairmont
*    August 12-17 Steele, Owatonna
*    August 13-16 Murray, Slayton
*    August 13-17 Brown, New Ulm
*    August 13-17 Houston, Caledonia
*    August 13-17 Itasca, Grand Rapids
*    August 13-17 Stevens, Morris
*    August 14-17 Cottonwood, Windom
*    August 14-17 Douglas, Alexandria
*    August 14-17 Lake, Two Harbors
*    August 14-17 Le Sueur, Le Center
*    August 16-19 Carlton, Barnum
*    August 21-24 Traverse, Wheaton

For additional information, go on line at www.exploreminnesota.com or call toll free... 1-800-TOURISM.

Rush River Produce's U-Pick Berry Farm
Every Thursday through Sunday from 8a to 2p the Rush River Produce farm is open for people to pick their own berries. This 9-acre farm offers red and black currants, gooseberries, and blueberries available for picking. The farm is located just outside of Maident Rock, Wisconsin. It is asked that you call ahead before visiting the farm. For more information or directions call 715-594-3648 or visit rushriverproduce.com