Hello again from Mayor Kim Johnson.

I love how this weather goes between summer warm and fall cool! With the fall fast approaching, we have seen more farmers in the fields and on the roads which reminds me to allow for extra travel time to my various work towns as well as a reminder to slow down when approaching and passing farm equipment.

Various parts of town have been very busy and I’m sure I didn’t see nearly half of what is going on. I went over and welcomed the film crew from EWTN that was in town to film our beautiful Grotto. I provided a welcome basket of Homestead Store snack goodies for our school staff as a ‘welcome back to school’ gesture. I see that Kampen’s Catering is remodeling which I’m sure will be very nice for their business. Speaking of Kampen’s, I can’t wait to try Kampen Foods fresh breads, buns and rolls. If you know me, you know I LOVE bread! Although Courtney, Troy and Grayson Block don’t live in town, they are providing such fun Saturday experiences for our community. Unfortunately, I have been out of town for all of them but am hoping to make “Under the Stars on Block Farms’ this Saturday with my daughter from Minnesota. The main street corner has been filled with sweet corn and now pumpkins and gourds. Thanks to Bargman’s and the Montag family. You can also find Doug Wirtz tooling around delivering his delicious sweet corn to friends as well. I know we all appreciate our friends who have such open hearts. I know we all have also noticed that the Villager is for sale but I am praying that some creative business
soul latches on to this historic property.

I am noticing a decrease in golf carts driven by unlicensed drivers and truly appreciate your efforts in changing some of these routines. Now, the next golf cart or ATV routine I would like to address is driving with your infant or young toddler on your lap vs secured in a carseat. I’m too old and we couldn’t drive golf carts and ATV’s around town when I was a young parent but as a ‘grandma’ mayor, I am strongly encouraging you to be safe on the roads with your precious cargo. The same laws that apply to a car for child restraints, apply to a golf cart or ATV’s. I would love to see a decrease in this routine as well. Then, we move on to continued u-turns on mainstreet. Welllllll – I know I am enjoying seeing the neighborhoods that I now drive around instead of making a u-turn. Think about adding this new routine to your daily jaunts uptown.

I was going to add some legislative updates but as I was reading this I think I need some clarification – lol. So look for this either in next month’s column or a separate column in September. As always, if there i anything you would like me to be doing as your mayor, please reach out. Be assured that there is no cost for this column. We are very fortunate to still have an actual newspaper that serves our community. Feel free to contact me at any time at my email (kjkimtalk2@gmail.com) or you can reach me by phone at 320-241-4770.