Bengal band keeps in step
Select communities across the north metro held parades the last weekend in June. The Blaine Bengal marching band performed in the Fridley '49er Days parade June 25.

Fridley city manager receives top LMC honor for appointed officials
Fridley City Manager William (Bill) Burns received the League of Minnesota Cities Leadership Award for 2009 on June 24.

Fun with magic at the library
Brodini the magician (www.brodini.com) entertained a room full of children and parents Friday, June 26, at the Mounds View Library. He spoke about going to the library as a child with his mother, finding books on magic. Brodini's assistants last week included Joshua Carlson, 8, and Beatta Drake, 7, both of New Brighton. Kay Jacobson, a library intern and volunteer host for the weekly children's programs, presented a dozen different books on magic from the Mounds View shelves for children's consideration. "We always try and pull books to tie in with whoever's performing," she said.

Fridley woman publishes "A Collection of Poetry on Transformation" after overcoming drug addiction
"We really do have a good story," Jennifer Wolterstorff, of Fridley, told Sun Focus over the phone.

Playing prior to parade in Fridley
The Fridley City Band entertained on the Community Center patio for more than an hour before the '49er Days parade on Thursday, June 25.

Rockin' in Fridley
Popular metro band Jonah & the Whales entertained crowds at Commons Park on Friday night, June 26, during Fridley '49er Days. Their music includes many classics of the '80s through hits of today.

Working and playing in Fridley's parade
It is tradition for a two-mile fun run to precede the annual Fridley '49er Days parade. Runners start from the St. Philip's Lutheran Church property before winding their way to 61st Avenue and completing the parade route.

Columbia Heights resident leading Habitat for Humanity trip to Malaysia
To help people in need, a local resident will lead a trip this fall halfway around the world.

Floating in Columbia Heights parade
Columbia Heights Jamboree royalty who were crowned in 2008 wave to crowds during this year's parade down Central Avenue, Friday night, June 26. All past royalty and families gathered again Sunday night, as the royalty program is being discontinued.

Riding high
Driving a car in a parade is one thing, but it takes special skill to ride a unicycle. Unicyclists not only rode in the Columbia Heights Jamboree parade Friday, June 26, but they also performed tricks. One or two of them would set their unicycles down, then lie on the pavement, waiting for another unicyclist to jump over them.

Marching in Columbia Heights
Local veterans proudly show the nation's colors in leading the Jamboree parade.

Column: Stan Kowalski - perhaps the last of a certain breed
If you happen to attend a patriotic program in Blaine or Anoka this July 4, and see U.S. Navy veteran Stan Kowalski there, thank him as one of this country's military service people who have fought to preserve our freedom and independence.

Patriot band keeps in step
Select communities across the north metro held parades the last weekend in June. Participating bands June 27 in Osseo included the Patriots band, which involves students from both Spring Lake Park and St. Anthony Village high schools.

On your mark, get set ... Eat!
A major showdown (or chowdown?) began at 8 p.m. Friday, June 26, at Fridley's Commons Park, when 10 contestants started off in a 10-minute pizza-eating contest held as part of Fridley '49er Days. The pizzas were courtesy of Broadway Pizza in Fridley; the eventual winner - Pat Verbrugge, a New Brighton resident and Totino-Grace graduate - received a gift card to Broadway Pizza (which, we're guessing, he did not use right away that night).

New Brighton golfer, 92, is a much-revered player
Every Wednesday morning at the Brightwood Hills Golf Course in New Brighton, Valeria Walczak, 92, amazes the other, younger women with whom she plays in a weekly senior league.

Hopkins Arts Festival to kick off Raspberry events
This summer's 75th Hopkins Raspberry Festival will begin with a first. The Hopkins Arts Festival will kick off the weeklong festivities this summer, July 11-19.

Hit-and-run victim receives new bike in Hopkins
A boy who was hit by a car while riding his bike in Hopkins May 13 is the proud owner of a new bike thanks to the Hopkins Police Department.

Pilgrim Dry Cleaners teams up with Northern Star Council to collect Cub Scout, Boy Scout uniforms
Your old Boy Scout uniform, still smelling of s'mores and bonfires, can be of use even though it has been stashed away in the attic for years.