Blogs

Have you ever wondered about those fabulous historic homes around town? Now’s your chance to step inside and see what all the fuss is about. On Sunday, September 29, the White Bear Lake Area Historical Society brings us their annual White Bear Historic House Tour where folks can see 10 sites, including a country home, a lakeside cottage, boat shop, former grocery store and more. The tour runs from noon–6 p.m. and is self-guided, so you can take your time getting to know these great locales.             Tickets are $25/$20 WBLAHS members if purchased in advance; $30 on the day of the tour.

While heading to Sweet Home, a vintage/French-inspired-goods shop in the White Bear Mall, I passed by Catherine Wimmer’s shop, The Ruby Slipper. Intrigued by the cornucopia of colors and quantity of items, I backed up and walked in. In this 675-square-foot space was a fabulous assortment of vintage goods, antiques, handmade items, including beautiful crocheted blankets by, as it turns out, Wimmer’s 87-year-old mother. Silver trays adorned walls, antique baby dolls sat on shelves and vintage cookie jars held a bounty of antique buttons.

  Next month, my son Dylan will be a junior at the University of Missouri, where he is studying broadcast journalism. He hopes to spend his career in front of a camera, but early on, it was the stage that held his heart. He spent a good deal of time playing hockey, soccer, baseball, football and took many years of karate lessons, but never once did I see a passion, a ‘fire in the belly’ for an activity; that is, until he started acting.In the sixth grade, he was cast as co-lead in his classroom production of A Child’s Day in Rome.

Each and every day, I am inspired by the people in the communities we cover, and all of the great things they do to make our corner of the world a better place to live. But this week’s events show just how far-reaching and, well, out of this world their actions are.                         First, Josh Cassada, who graduated from White Bear Lake High School in 1991, was chosen to be one of eight astronaut candidates who will help lead the first human mission to an asteroid – an asteroid! And, as if visiting an asteroid won’t be cool enough, Mars is also on the docket for a future mission.