Celebrating 35 Years – Part I

Oak Realty marks its 35th year in business in 2009. We’re running ads and raising a glass, but the real fun in anniversary’s is taking a look back at where it all started. We opened the office archives to recall (for some of us) and see (for some of us) what real estate in the Heart of the Lakes was like three decades ago!

We think you’ll enjoy reading these old ads! Tomorrow… some old photos!

Ad in the Annandale Advocate, late 70's/early 80's.

The Annandale Advocate - May 28, 1981

The Annandale Advocate - Late 80's. Photos!

Golf Day for Jake

Amy, Tom, Gary and Justin ready to play!

Last Friday a handful of Oak Team members hit the golf course for the Jake Sundblad Memorial Golf Tournament, held annually at Albion Ridges. Records were set in Minnesota that day for low temps in July, but the wind and chill didn’t stop anyone from having a great time.

Tiffini teamed up with her father and brothers for the event.

Congrats to Tiffini who brought home a “closest to the pin” award. Carla especially thanks everyone who showed their support. Come out and play next year!

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!

Passing Storm on Pleasant Lake

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!

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!

New Faces

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 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!

Start your weekend with some chili!

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!

Deals, Deals, Deals!

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!