What is Wannaska, Chopped Liver?

Hello and welcome to a very appreciative Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is July 2nd.

Between yesterday's Canada Day celebration and this weekend's Independence Day celebrations in the USA, people are no doubt out and about adventuring in Wannaska. A reader reached out to me after last week's post and said, "Hey! What's all this 'end of the Earth' business about Wannaska? You live in a greater place! People vacation where you live!"

True, true. Wannaska and all its territories is a beautiful place with interesting places and people and lots to do. Why, just this week I had lunch with Chairman Joe (our resident Sunday Squibber) and Jack Pine Savage (our resident poet) at the new Fickle Pickle in Wannaska, formerly known as Cafe 89. With brand new owners and a new pickle vision, this adorable cafe did not disappoint but delight. I had a cheeseburger on the best artisan bun I've ever had with a burger. I wish I'd asked what kind it was, but I'm guessing a soft ciabatta. (If not, close enough.) I also tried a tator tot-pulled pork-green peppers-onions-and-cheese thing that was quite tasty, too. Jack Pine Savage let me have a bite of her carrot cake topped with ice cream. The locals will be thrilled to hear that, despite the new menu of all things pickle, the potato dumplings are still available.

There is no better holiday that celebrates the spirit of small-town goodness than Independence Day. This year, July 4th falls on a poetic Monday (JPS's blog day), however, even if July 4th fell on a Wednesday, or a Tuesday, or a Thursday, small-town folks are bound to turn it into a 4-day affair.

In my Wannaska nook over by Lake of the Woods, the festivities kicked off July 1st with an ice cream social, a meat raffle, and a variety show capped with a movie in the park. True to small-town nature, there's fun for everyone and all ages.

My kids will tell you that the parade is hands down THE BEST part of celebrating Independence Day. Our local parade is a hoot. We know almost everybody who's in the parade, so naturally, you want to cheer for each float that passes by. I don't envy the Warroad Area Women of Today who have the difficult task of judging the floats for the various "Best of" awards. Kids are all about collecting the candy, whereas I'm all about the convenience of biking into town for the parade and finding a good shady spot along the curb without needing to get there too early before the event.

Public Service Announcement - toss the candy all the way to the curb or, better yet, hand it off to kids and separate animals from the noisy portions of the parade.

The dear reader who reminded me not to treat Wannaska like chopped liver said their favorite activity is the fireworks. There are plenty of good spots on or near the lake for everybody. Mosquitoes can be problematic, but if there's a breeze, they usually adjust accordingly. Again, families don't need to necessarily stake their claim to a spot hours before dusk; about half an hour is sufficient. And if you're willing to sit tight for twenty minutes after the grand finale Ooh-Aah, traffic has pretty much cleared up. There's usually a neighbor or two who is only too happy to chit-chat while you both wait.

Bonus! This year Warroad celebrates 120 years! See a complete list of events here.

Greenbush will be chocked full of goings-on. See a complete list of events here.

If I missed something, comment below!

On This Day

Historic Highlights (credits)

2002 - American businessman, Steve Fossett completes the first solo around-the-world Balloon Flight

This was Fossett's 6th attempt to circumnavigate the world. It took him 13 days in a balloon called Spirit of Freedom to cover 20,000 miles.

2001 - World's First Self-Contained Artificial Heart Transplant

59-year-old American Robert L. Tools became the first person to receive a self-contained artificial heart transplant called the AbioCor at the Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. The AbioCor is an artificial heart that is not connected to wires or an external pump.

1937 - American aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan are heard for the last time before disappearing

They were attempting to make the first around-the-world flight in a Lockheed Model 10 Electra. Neither they nor the plane has ever been found and that has led to speculation about what happened to them. An accomplished pilot, Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

1900 - The Zeppelin Takes Off for the First Time

The rigid aircraft named after Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the inventor of the dirigible and founder of the Zeppelin Airship Construction Company, made its first flight over Lake Constance in Germany. Unlike blimps or balloons, Zeppelins are built by stretching material over a rigid framework, usually made of metal. Zeppelins can be steered and they were used by the German Air Force to conduct aerial attacks during the First World War.

1843 - Alligator Falls Out of the Sky in Charleston, South Carolina during a thunderstorm.

It is believed that the strange incident happened when a waterspout carried an alligator from a body of water and dropped in on the city.

Happy Birthday to You!🎶 

2003 - Nicholas Magnusson, avid reader, dreamer, writer

1986 - Lindsay Lohan, American actress, singer

1925 - Patrice Lumumba, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

1925 - Medgar Evers, American civil rights activist

1877 - Hermann Hesse, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate

1489 - Thomas Cranmer, English Archbishop of Canterbury

Remembering You

1977 - Vladimir Nabokov, Russian/American author

1961 - Ernest Hemingway, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate

1914 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician

1778 - Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher, polymath

1566 - Nostradamus, French astrologer

Enjoy the holiday weekend and make it a great Saturday. 

Kim