If you were in the area last night, and watching out the window as a line of storms passed through around 8:30 pm, perhaps you caught a glimpse of this gorgeous rainbow…
It only appeared for a few minutes, and as the wall of clouds rolled East and the sun broke out behind it, it disappeared. But wow, was it an awesome sight!
Annandale’s most celebrated time of year is around the corner! Here is a schedule of events going on the rest of this week thru Sunday, as a part of the city’s 120th Fourth of July Celebration!
Wednesday, July 1st
Carnival Opens at 6 p.m.
KRWC Road Show, 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the City Park
Thursday, July 2nd
Carnival Opens at 4 p.m.
Softball Tournament gets underway at City Park, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Jazz Music on the portable stage by the lake, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
“Route 55″ performs on the portable stage, 8-9 p.m.
Friday, July 3rd
Annandale Friends of the Library Book Sale, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at City Hall
Carnival Opens at noon
Softball Tournament continues at City Park, 4-10 p.m.
Pork Chop Dinner at the Pavilion, 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Pie in the Park 5:30-8:30 p.m., near the portable stage by the lake
AHS Jazz Band performance, 5:30-6:30 p.m. on the portable stage
Annandale Community Band performance, 7-8 p.m. on the portable stage
Pleasant Lake Boat Parade begins at 7 p.m.
Bar-sponsored Street Dance downtown!
Saturday, July 4th
Parade begins at 10 a.m.
Carnival opens immediately following the parade
Softball Tournament, 12 p.m.-3 p.m.
Bingo, Pavilion Noon to 6 p.m.
Queen Coronation, 7 p.m. in City Park
Fireworks at dusk
Sunday, July 5th
Softball Tournament concludes, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Carnival Opens at 1 p.m.
Bingo, Pavilion 1 p.m.-6 p.m.
Water Ski Show on Pleasant Lake, 1 p.m.
*Carnival Tickets are For Sale at The Marketplace, Kaz Hardware, Edward Jones, Annandale State Bank, Arenson’s, Keaveny Drug, Holiday, Annandale Video & Tanning, and Lantto’s Store.
Everyone at Oak wishes you a safe & happy 4th of July!
Our staff is growing, and we want to introduce you to two new faces in our Annandale Office, as well as a new agent working for us from the metro area.
Pictured are Amy McNellis (left) and Angie Wisner (right). Amy was raised on Lake Sylvia, and still enjoys time spent at her parents home on the lake. Although she makes the drive to work here in the Heart of the Lakes from New Hope now, she anticipates returning to small town living permanently. Amy previously worked in the mortgage and advertising fields, and now is a licensed Realtor®.
Angie most recently joined the Annandale Office staff assisting with general administrative and office management needs. Raised on Clearwater Lake, Angie knows the Annandale area well and also brings a wealth of advertising and marketing knowledge to our busy office. We’re very glad to have Amy and Angie on board!
We have a number of agents who work for Oak Realty outside of our offices, and Branon Wisner joined that group this Spring. Like Amy, Brandon was raised here and hopes to settle down here some day. (Funny, this happens a lot to people born or from here!) Brandon’s primary work involves native shoreland landscaping with a Landscape Architecture firm in Minneapolis.
We give a warm welcome to Amy, Angie & Brandon!
Summer truly begins when school lets out, right?
Today is the last day for kids in Annandale, and many other area communities, and tonight the Class of 2009 will graduate. Among them is Steve’s son Mike, who we wish special congratulations to! A few from our office who are members of the Lions Club will celebrate along with the seniors as they assist with the All-Night Grad Party – a favored tradition for all.
We have a few Open Houses tomorrow: This charming rambler is in the heart of town, close to the schools, and right on Annandale’s 4th of July parade route! (There’s still time to buy this one and reserve a great space for your family and friends!) This quaint, stucco home in South Haven will be open tomorrow as well. Tour both homes between 11 am – 1 pm. Need directions?
The second year of Annandale’s Farmer’s Market gets underway downtown tomorrow morning and runs 8 am – noon every Saturday thru October. Don’t miss the array of local vendors selling wonderful handmade and homegrown goodies.
The rain is needed and welcome, but we are glad to see the graduates enjoy a beautiful day before it arrives. Our congrats to all of them,… and to everyone else, here’s to a happy summer!
It was a fantastic holiday weekend to be in the Heart of the Lakes with family and friends, to see the numerous flags and campfires, and activities of fun and remembrance. It was one of the nicest weekends weather-wise we had seen in a number of years. (Anyone recall the hail of 2008? – Many are still getting new roofs and siding from that!)
To keep with our own Memorial Weekend tradition, we had a little fun in the yard…
… and on Saturday, the sky cam was downtown for the Chili Cook-off, where our secret recipe took home the 2009 People’s Choice Award!
Tom’s secret recipe went fast! Of course, no one wanted to miss the table with the silver ladle on it!
Great job Tom, Gary, Justin, Carla, and Steve for putting together another successful year at the cook-off!
Our award-winning chili is back for sampling at this weekend’s Chamber 7th Annual Chili Cook-off! From 12-3 pm this Saturday, May 23rd, grab your friends and family and wander through Annandale sampling a variety of homemade chili recipies, then cast your vote for People’s Choice! Our booth will again be outside City Hall. Be sure to say hello!
Want our secret recipe? You’ll have to talk to Tom!
What a beautiful start to May!
We’re kicking off the weekend with an an open house on Pleasant Lake tonight. Visit 11649 89th Street on the North side of the lake from 4-7 pm.
Tomorrow is Annandale’s All-City Garage Sale, beginning at 8 am. The weather should be great – get out an find some deals! Maps with addresses are available at a number of local businesses. Swing by our office… we may have a few random things out front!
On Sunday, head over to Lake Sylvia and take a look at two listings that came on the market just this week. 7212 Pilger Ave. NW and 14293 71st Street NW will be open Sunday from 12-3 pm.
It should be a gorgeous weekend to get out and tour some lakeshore property. There are some great deals right now on the water. Browse our web site ~ if there is something you would like to see, give us a call!
The annual Annandale Business Expo was held this last weekend at the Annandale High School. Our staff truly enjoys working this event. Local businesses gather to share their services with the community, and year after year the community turns out to show its support.
The expo gives us a chance to say hello to old friends and make new ones. We handed out our “Summer in the Heart of the Lakes” postcards (a favorite calendar for area refrigerators! If you don’t have one, stop in our office!) and brought along our new Sky Cam. Here is a shot of the side of the gymnasium our booth is on…
This camera is going to be so much fun this summer!
And once again, our annual expo drawing gave away a masterfully-crafted bird house, built by Myron Morris. This year’s lucky winner was Karen Christofferson of South Haven! Congratulations Karen!
Record attendance was this years highlight for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. It was a comfortable, sunny day and there was an abundance of excited kids to enjoy the event that The Lion’s Club sponsors every year. They do a great job putting on this event. What a great way to get the community together for something so fun. The event location is always held at the end of Main Street by the pavillion. The Annandale Ambassadors were also there, handing out balloons and greeting kids. It was an event that was fun for all ages, including members of the Oak Team! If you missed it this year, make sure to be there next year!
Hearing the rules first!
The Annandale Ambassadors: Heather, Paige, & Darice
Look at that crowd!
Let the games begin!
A huge thanks goes out to the Lion’s Club for sponsoring an event that brings so much joy to the children of Annandale.
You’ve heard a lot about “going green” in the past year and may be adjusting your lifestyle to reduce your own carbon foot print. Well, one of the best things to do in the Real Estate business is to build or buy ”green.” We had the privilege of hearing a presentation by Jim Green of Lumber One in Cold Spring about the “green” homes that he has built, and the many benefits of doing so.
First of all, did you know that Minnesota is a leader in green building? Number 3 to be exact, and working our way to number 1. Some of the features of a green built home include:
*95% efficient natural gas furnaces, sealed duct work, all light fixtures have CFL(compact flourescent) bulbs, advanced wall framing, insulated hot water lines, carpet that can be recylced into new carpet, low VOC paints and primers and Energy Star appliances. They also use as many solar tubes in the home as they can to let in natural light during the day time hours. Dual Flush toilets that save on average 6,000 gallons of water per year, are also standard in a green built home. If everyone was to use these toilets, think of the improvements it would create! The most suprising green feature to us was the use of drought tolerant plants in the yard to cut on watering costs. With the dry times around here, that would not only cut back on water usage, but the frustration of having your landscaping ruined by drought.
In order for a home to be considered “green built,” builders must adhere to the requirements on the MN Greenstar New Home Checklist. They are awarded points for every requirement that they meet. In order to be a certified green home, they need to accumulate 276 points. There are also two higher levels to attain; Silver and Gold. To be classified as those, you need 419 and 554 points respectively. The elements that go into the house should not only be efficient, but come from within a 500 mile radius of the home to cut back on car emissions.
Jim Green belongs to the National Association of Home Builders and spends much of his time educating people on the benefits of building green. There are many statistics explaining why building green or buying a green built home is more efficient than buying a used home. This is the best way for home owners to reduce their carbon foot print, and save themselves money in the end. For more information on going green, call Jim Green at 320-980-4761!
