Eagan Rotarian series #18

Tony Ripley, coach for the Eagan High School 9th Grade B soccer team, works at the school with Young Life. A young, married fellow with two kids, he serves as the Youth Exchange officer of our Eagan Rotary Club.

Need an oil change?

Bo was standing along Beacon Hill Road beside the Jiffy Lube station trying to drum up some business. How much is an oil change where you live?

Stonecliffe Red

Autumn has arrived in Eagan and one can see red, yellow and orange leaves here and there. I smile every time I drive by this Maple tree!

Autumn Joy

This butterfly was enjoying the Sedum plant in our yard!

Holz Farm celebrates Autumn

Fall harvest on the Holz Farm takes place Saturday and Sunday, September 25 & 26 from 11 - 4 pm. Don't miss out on the many activities including: barnyard animals, horse rides, rope making, butter churning, corn grinding, field plowing, bread baking, egg picking, hay rides, live music, concessions and much more!

Reflective guests

The bride & groom greeted their guests following their wedding ceremony on a Friday evening in the "backyard" of the Eagan Community Center.

A canvas of color

The Scherer's Garden of Eagan at 1535 Cliff Road sits on 6 acres of lush gardens, shrubs, ponds, waterfalls and fountains. You can rent the garden for a wedding or other special occasions from mid-June through mid-September. A second family generation celebrates the garden's 33rd year! www.scherergardens.com

Nigel Barker - Celebrity Star Power!

University of Wisconsin Stout students gathered among many other fans at the Mall of America to meet Nigel Barker on his US book tour and have him sign their copy of his new book, "Beauty Equation." Nigel, an English fashion photographer and former international model, has participated as a judge and photographer on the American reality television show, "American's Next Top Model." Smile ladies!

Flamingo 'ed!

A flock of plastic flamingos mysteriously appeared in this yard overnight....

For a small fee to the Eastview High School Community Foundation, the PINK birds will disappear!

Snowless in Eagan

Derek Wallen, an Apple Valley resident, was roller skiing through our neighborhood on a Friday evening. He's been ski racing since 2001 and has participated in the Vasaloppet and Birkebeiner races. When he's not roller skiing, Derek works as a graphic designer in downtown Minneapolis.

Nice, new, nifty nurses!

Three men and twelve women received their nurse's pin at a special ceremony on Friday night at the Eagan Community Center. They are the first graduating class of LPN nurses from Rasmussen College in Eagan. Congratulations!

Silvia's bench

One of the most beautiful backyards in our neighborhood belongs to Silvia. This cozy, shaded garden bench is just a small sampling of her garden! She could charge admission.

Just between friends

If you have infants and/or toddlers, you'll want to swing out to the Eagan Community Center for the "Just between friends" Fall/Winter sale going on through Saturday until 7 PM. Clothes galore, fun toys, maternity, strollers and more! (Saturday is HALF PRICE DAY)

www.jbfsale.com

Meet & Greet

Ted Daley, an Eaganite candidate for State Senate, and Doug Wardlow, another Eaganite candidate for State House, both gave people to opportunity to hear their platforms and have important questions answered on a rainy, Wednesday evening at the "Pardon my French" cafe'.

www.DaleyforSenate.com www.DougWardlow.com

Eagan dog series #23

Jane & Greg were walking their Havanese dogs past the Eagan Police station off Pilot Knob Road. Jazz & Izzy are sisters and soon two years old. They are a Havanese and King Charles Cavalier mix. Havanese dogs are a Bichon dog family "relative."

Our souvenir from Sweden

We picked up our new Volvo V70 "Hagen Wagon" in Goteborg, Sweden on July 15 and drove it 3,109 miles on our family vacation visiting relatives and friends through Norway and Sweden. Four Weeks after dropping it off back at the Volvo factory, we picked it up in Minneapolis at the Borton Volvo dealership. ABBA music blared through the moon roof all the way back to Eagan!

From the '50s

Neighbors Gordon from Scotland and Cory from Wisconsin love cars. Their ruby red 1957 Chevy came from Oregon. That beauty is completely redone and loaded with a Corvette LS1 engine. You haven't seen the last of these friends ...

Future NFLers?

The Tigers & the Bulldogs, two Eagan football teams of 8 year olds, squared off for a Saturday morning game in one of our many parks. One Football Dad wore his Brett Favre football jersey while watching his son.

Lakes of Eagan series #6

Fish Lake is of our 16 primary lakes in Eagan. Just East of Pilot Knob, North of Wescott Road and East of Denmark Avenue, this 31.4 acre lake with a maximum depth of 33 feet is situated near the City Hall and Dakota County Library.

The fish species include: bluegills, bullheads, catfish, large mouth bass, northern pike, perch and walleyes. Beyond the parking lot, one finds a boat ramp, walking trail and fishing pier. I wanted to take out the green canoe for a scenic ride...

Eagan Explorers

These three young Explorers help the Eagan Police with traffic and crowd control. The local group of 15 Explorers, ages 14 - 21, trains weekly at the Eagan Police Station with hopes of someday becoming police officers.

Out of this world music!

On a beautiful, cool Summer evening laced with Autumn flavorS, a crowd listened to the Newgrass Art - Rock fused with Jazz & World Elements music of the Galactic Cowboy Orchestra.

Band members: Dan Neale played guitar, Lisi Wright fiddled her violin, John Wright fingered the bass and Mark O'Day provided drums and percussion accompaniment.

www.galacticcowboyorchestra.com

THIS IS MY 500TH BLOG POSTING!

"Service above self"

In a world where over 18,000 children die daily from starvation, Eagan Rotarians recently joined together at the Feed My Starving Children site in Eagan. They packaged 19,656 meals in 91 boxes with the 86 volunteers gathered for just 90 minutes! These vegetarian meal packages were filled with soy, rice, dried vegetables, vitamins, love & hope! Then the boxed meals were shipped to some of the 60 designated countries.

www.fmsc.org

1st day - bus line up

All these kids got on the school bus for their first day of school after Summer vacation. The bus patrol kids wore orange belts.

Bonfire hotdogs

Some family friends, Mark, Mary and their daughters, invited our family over for a bonfire dinner of hotdogs and picnic food in their backyard on Saturday night. The early Autumn weather cooled the evening as we talked about next week's beginning back to school.

Wild Bill's Curly Fries

Our family just visited the Minnesota State Fair, a huge annual event held in St. Paul at the fairgrounds. Everyone eats lots of different typical fair foods including french fries, doughnuts, corn dogs, corn on the cob, etc. Our kids spent lots of tickets on the various rides and we ended the adventure with milk shakes and ice cream cones.

www.mnstatefair.org

Running 20

These friends were jogging down the sidewalk along Dodd Road on a beautiful Friday afternoon. She wore a funky shirt while he had on Minnesota Vikings purple!

Sitting next to history

Idling at the stoplight, I whipped out my camera and snapped a photo of this beautifully restored antique automobile. It was a gleaming, green Chevrolet truck.