Bob Statz

As part of the annual graduation celebrations at area school districts, senior high grads-to-be are awarded various scholarships. The Messenger thought it appropriate to publicly list the donors and winners

Above, left: Parade Grand Marshal, Denny Trotter and wife Becky; Above, middle: Five-year old Michael Carlson of Lino Lakes enjoy one of the 850 free ears of corn served on Saturday afternoon; Above, right: Three generations of the Jones from Onamia were selling their homemade maple syrup; Above: If there was a prize for best float, it would have been given to this one, with a patriot theme; Below, left: What would the Garrison Play Days parade be without the Tkaczik clan showing off their family collection of vintage International tractors?; Below, middle: Farm fresh was the theme of this these hardy souls who braved the 90-degree weather to parade inside their clever outfits; Below, right; Travis Grangruth, playing in the softball tourney for the team Wilderness of Minnesota out of Pierz, slammed a double to center field in the first game early Saturday morning.

Appearing on agendas of many town city councils, especially during the summer months, is the topic of what to do about enforcing “blight” issues in their town.

Residents of the Mille Lacs Lake rim woke Wednesday morning, July 15, to the smell and sight of dense smoke from the fires raging in the Minnesota Boundary Waters area of the state — smoke that made its way south causing poor air quality rarely experienced in the lakes area. How bad was the air quality in Minnesota last week? As of 2 p.m. Thursday, July 16, Minneapolis was listed having the worst air quality of any major city in the world, and at one time the air quality index was a 289 (with 201-300 considered unhealthy). Strong southerly winds crept into the Mille Lacs area on Friday, pushing the smog back north, leaving clear skies, albeit 90-degree temps. But, weather forecasters predict, if Mother Nature does not appear in the form of drenching rain over Northeast Minnesota, the fires could remain untamed possibly until the first snow of late fall.

The sign one mile west of Onamia on Hwy. 27 very simply and distinctly reads: “City Brush Pile.”

Isle School Board Vice-Chair Nick Skogen ran an expeditious meeting of the Isle panel on July 20.

Mille Lacs Northern Skys/”Loony Bin”

The following is a report on Isle’s annual Flight Pancake Breakfast, staged at the Isle Airport during the final days of Isle Days, 2026.

Above, right: Jay Schanche and wife Kathy Ajax relaxing among the many unique artifacts they’ve accumulated on their sprawling acreage near Onamia.

Onamia business owner, Marge Agnew, has presided over monthly Onamia City Council meetings as the city’s mayor for the past 10 years.