Good Deeds & Good Fun!

A couple of dedicated oak team members braved the bitter cold at the Holiday Train event on Monday night in downtown Annandale. As active members of the Lion’s Club, they assisted in collecting approximately 624 lbs of food for the local foodshelf. By early estimates, over $3,000 was raised that evening in monetary donations as well!

Back in the office, our Holiday Coloring Contest wrapped up yesterday. Our lobby walls are covered! Way to go kids!

A group of office elves will be voting soon. Winners will be notified early next week, in time to pick up their prizes before Christmas.

Thank you to all who helped a child participate! We had an outstanding turnout again this year!

Countdown to Christmas is on!

Frozen lakes? Check. Snow? Check. Cold? Definitely CHECK.

In a matter of days it has officially become winter in the Heart of the Lakes!

Our 2nd Annual Holiday Coloring Contest is in full swing, and our lobby is filling up with some wonderful entry’s! Keep ‘em coming… the contest runs through next Wednesday! Download the drawing and get more info on our homepage.

Don’t miss out on some great holiday events happening this weekend…

Check out Pioneer Park again this weekend, with their Holiday of Lights Friday and Story Book Christmas on Saturday. On Sunday morning, enjoy Breakfast and meet Santa at the annual Lion’s Breakfast with Santa event. Then on Monday, gather at the end of Main Street to enjoy the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Holiday Train as it stops in town for a show full of music and fun. Please bring donations for the food shelf along with you that night! The train is due to arrive at 7:30 p.m.!

Have a great weekend everyone… Stay warm.

Kick-Off the Season!

Can you believe it? December is here!

Weekend Opens!
Our office is kicking off the month with a pile of Open Houses this weekend, from 11 am – 1 pm both Saturday and Sunday. New and recently reduced properties in the area, including 4 homes in neighboring Clearwater. Visit our web site for directions and more property information.

Coloring Contest Begins!
This week’s local papers are helping distribute our 2nd Annual Holiday Coloring Contest, which officially begins today. Kids ages 0-12 can enter their completed coloring for a chance to win some great prizes. There are some awesome new sleds in our office right now, that will go out to First Place winners in three age categories. If you missed it in the paper, stop in our offices for a copy or download the 2009 Coloring here.

Enjoy the season with these upcoming local events!

Immigrants Christmas – this Saturday
Experience an old-fashioned holiday  at the 12th annual Immigrants’ Christmas at Minnesota Pioneer Park. Located just across Highway 55 from our Annandale Office, the park brings to life traditions of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s with food, music, a silent auction, horse-drawn rides, and opportunties to purchase homemade crafts and goodies. Santa will be there too! Visit the park’s web site for more information: www.pioneerpark.org.

Holiday of Lights – this Friday & Next
Tour Pioneer Village from 6-9 p.m. for the park’s first Holiday of Lights. The village will be illuminated with lights, filled with music and stores will be open with more goodies for sale.

Plan ahead!
Sunday, Dec. 13th – Lion’s Breakfast with Santa
Monday, Dec. 14th – Holiday Train

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Happy Halloween!

Despite the wind, rain and falling temperatures… the Trick-or-Treat event in town was still a success. We had a variety of characters visit our office yesterday afternoon for some goodies!

“You’re not in costumes!” We still gave the Cross Country Team treats — fuel for their run and a break from the nasty weather!

The last two photos are some of the ghouls belonging to our Oak staff!

Happy Halloween night everyone!

Community Businesses Trick-or-Treat!

Just a reminder that we’re welcoming trick-or-treaters at our Annandale office tomorrow afternoon from 3-5 p.m. as a part of the annual Chamber of Commerce Halloween event! Come on by with the kids! A list of participating businesses can be found in this week’s Advocate, or by looking for an orange pumpkin poster hung in business windows!

Have a safe and spooky Halloween!

Fall is Here!

Did you feel the wind here yesterday? Yes, that was FALL. Not kindly knocking on the door, but blowing it over and bitterly announcing its arrival. Fortunately we didn’t need to dwell on summer’s departure for long… today’s crisp sunshine welcomes what many of us feel is the most beautiful season in the Heart of the Lakes.

There are endless ways to enjoy this area and the fun fall brings. Get out and hike an area park, drive your favorite back roads and enjoy the colors, visit Stumpf’s Pumpkins and Fairhaven Farms, and don’t miss the final weekends of Swappers Meet and Annandale’s Downtown Farmer’s Market. Check out new locations for harvest goodies like Dan & Stacy Mol’s, and the first annual Fall Festival at Pioneer Park this Saturday, Oct. 3rd. Free this Thursday night? Stroll Main & Cedar Streets and  from 6-8 p.m. for the popular Downtown Art Crawl!

While you’re out and about this weekend, we invite you to tour Pintail Ponds, an innovative new development located just South of downtown Annandale.

Learn what a BayHome is… how coving benefits the residents in this new neighborhood… consider building on choice single family lots in a fantastic location, just a mile south of Hwy 55 on County Road 5! Improved pricing and Contract for Deed options makes a home in Pintail Ponds worth exploring! Tour our completed model, and pick out a free pumpkin too!

Lastly, I’ve got to ask, have you tried a SweeTango apple yet? … Yummm! Be sure you do!

Sky Cam at HOLT

Our Sky Cam was used this past weekend to capture the set-up of this year’s Heart of the Lakes Triathlon – check out this short clip of 164 images in fast-forward!

It’s Here!

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!

Summer Begins

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!

A Grand Weekend

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!