2012 Fargo Marathon Recap

Another tremendous Fargo Marathon in the books.  We enjoyed visiting with runners from various states this past weekend.  Everyone of them mentioned how wonderful our area is.  I agree!  Our 10 and 7 year old each ran the mile marathon on Thursday night.  My wife and 10 year old each ran the 5k on Friday.  None of us ran the 10k, half or full marathon, but wow, the respect for those that train and run over 26 miles that we have.  I was fortunate to be in the Fargodome when the male and female marathon winners arrived.  The electricity was unbelievable.  Congrats to everyone who competed.  You are all winners!

Now as we get ready for Memorial Day, the official kickoff to our summer, the hours turn hectic!  Besides having wonderful visitors drop by from all over the world, fruit continues to come in.  This weekend we will have lilacs fermenting so you might have to stop by and check that out.  Lilac harvest should wrap up this week, but rhubarb harvest will continue to grow.  We might even have a tank or two of rhubarb fermenting.  This weekend we will be open Friday, Saturday and Monday 9am to 5pm.  Sunday, by appointment, but we should be there noon to 5pm.  Give a jingle to 701-347-5900 and lets see what North Dakota fruit tastes like in award winning wines here in historic downtown Casselton, North Dakota.

2012 Fargo Marathon

The crew at the Maple River Winery and Distillery are always excited for the annual Fargo Marathon.  We see visitors from all over the world drop by to check out locally made Pride of Dakota products.  Everyone has to bring something back with them whether it is Dandelion Wine or Strawberry Rhubarb Wine or Chokecherry Jelly.  One trend we have noticed is that many of our visitors are in the 50 state club.  Runners trying to run a marathon in all 50 states.  I can't imagine running one marathon.....

Each runner brings new stories about fun, Fargo, and hospitality.  We enjoy doing our part by showcasing locally made products.  Their checked luggage always weighs heavier than when they arrived.   When that happens, it is a job well done for our staff.  As the Fargo Marathon continues to grow, we look forward to spending time with even more people from all corners of the world and all walks of life. 

Rhubarb Harvest is Close

Tuesday will be the start of Maple River Winery's 2012 Rhubarb Harvest Campaign.  This year, our goal is to bring in 100,000 pounds of North Dakota Rhubarb.  If my math is correct, that would be 50 tons of rhubarb.  We need a lot of rhubarb for our Rhubarb Wine, Strawberry Rhubarb Wine, Rhubarb Cordial and Rhubarb Vodka.  When we started 11 years ago, if someone would say to me that we would purchase 100,000 pounds of rhubarb, I would have laughed.  Well, you make a great product, people enjoy it, they come back for more.  We have the best customers in the world.  On behalf of the crew at Maple River Winery and Maple River Distillery, thank you for your purchases.  We appreciate your business.  Now time to get busy with rhubarb!

Bottling Bumble Bee Red Wine Today

Our Bumble Bee Red Wine from our Maple River Winery is one of a kind.  We wanted to incorporate wild North Dakota grapes into a wine but couldn't find the right combination.  We tried blending North Dakota honey and came up with a wonderful sweet red wine.  North Dakota usually ranks #1 in honey production in the United States.  Our honey that we use in our various honey wines is definitely considered local.  The honey is extracted about a mile from our winery.  The beekeeper has hives throughout our area...about a 40 mile radius.  This wonderful partnership has provided many pounds of honey going into many bottles of wine.  Whether it is our Bumble Bee Red Wine, Honeycomb Plum Wine, or our Honey Apple Wine, there is always one open in our refrigerator at home.

Simple Saturday Supper

After wrapping up at the Maple River Winery and Distillery tonight, decided to head home for supper.  Saturday we like to have pretty simple suppers. Tonight, since it is grilling season in North Dakota, we decided to have cheeseburgers and strawberry jello.  Of course, we decided to enjoy our Maple River Winery Dakota Cherry Wine to celebrate another wonderful week in the books.  Now that this note is written, time to curl up outside and listen to the birds sing.

Maple River Winery Expands

Maple River Distillery launched from historic downtown Casselton, North Dakota this holiday season by selling out of almost all of its production!! The Rhubarb Vodka, Rhubarb Cordial, and the Wild Plum Cordial have been the best sellers. I like mixing the Rhubarb Vodka with Lemonade. It goes great with the sunshine. My wife enjoys the Rhubarb Cordial chilled or poured over strawberries. Yum. I think the best would be chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with Rhubarb Cordial or Wild Plum Cordial drizzled over it.

The Maple River Distillery has become another tourist destination in historic downtown Casselton, North Dakota. Casselton is 15 minutes west of Fargo on I-94. Tasting room hours for the Maple River Winery and the Maple River Distillery continue to be year around Monday-Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Drop by and say hi!!

Maple River Winery on the road!!!

We have a very busy road this holiday season. This weekend begins our travels outside of the winery showcasing our wines throughout the state.
This weekend we have booths at 2 different events in Fargo. Friday and Saturday will find us at the Big One Arts and Craft Show at the Fargo Civic Center. Saturday will find us at the Fargodome for the Women's Showcase. Many thanks to our crew covering both of these shows for us so we can focus on getting product ready for the Maple River Distillery which will be open early November. North Dakota fruit everywhere!!

We will post the rest of our schedule here as we get closer. This year we will be attending the most shows ever in our 7 year history. Excited? absolutely!

World Record Fire Truck Parade Update

In 1 week we will know if we had enough entries to break the world record for the most fire trucks ever in a parade. We have been receiving a lot more phone calls than we expected to this date. We were hoping to be around 50% and have 25% of them the week of the parade and then 25% the day of the parade. We are cautiously optimistic since we are sitting at over 120 entries, but know we need more. It would be terrible if a couple had to cancel and we wound up 1 or 2 short. We know there are trucks coming from near Rochester, Minnesota to north and west of Minot, North Dakota. What we don't know is how many are going to show up the day of the parade. One of the magazine writers called them "drive-ups" instead of "walk-ups". Information regarding the fire truck parade can be found on www.casscountysummerfest.com. Information will be posted on there regarding where the best spots will be in Casselton to view this historic event.

Words can't express the appreciation for everyone who has helped so far in the planning process. In 1 week, we will know how great this is. Will there be 160? 200? 300? We hope everyone has a safe trip to and from Casselton and enjoy this historical moment.

Very busy Saturday at the Maple River Winery

We went to Cool Beans today to get the California Burger special for everyone working today. Someone made the comment it was fairly quiet so far on Saturday morning. It didn't last. Before we could finish our burgers several groups came into the winery's tasting room/Pride of Dakota gift shop. Chokecherry Jelly and Lilac Wine were the big winners today. It is surprising how each day of the week a different wine is the most popular. This is fun because we have been guessing each morning as to which will be the most popular wine of the day.

On a side note, strawberries have started coming in. They smell sooooo good and they taste even better. You can't beat locally grown strawberries.

Up next, nanking cherries and apricots. yum.

Fire Truck Parade Time

Growing up, I always enjoyed watching fire trucks in parades. So many different designs, colors, and purposes as well as from so many different communities. In Casselton, we would always see our local communities like Arthur, Leonard, Buffalo to mention a few. In 2004, for our 125th anniversary, fire departments came from Wahpeton, Hillsboro, and Valley City. This year, we have a committee dedicated to putting on the largest fire truck parade in the world. The current record is held in Switzerland with 159 fire trucks that paraded through there. It has been a learning experience finding out all of the different criteria needed to ensure compliance for the world record attempt. On August 15, 2009, we'll attempt to make history in our little community nestled along I-94 just a little west of Fargo. Maybe you'll drop by and visit that day too!!

2009 Penny Sale in the record books

Our annual penny sale wrapped up last week. It was by far the busiest penny sale promotion we have ever had. We always look forward to the penny sale because after the sale we will be spending many hours outside. This year we have many projects. We have some rhubarb growers adding more plants to their farms. We have new fruits being planted in and around Casselton. This fall will be very, very exciting if mother nature cooperates. We have more pears, plums, strawberries, and chokecherries lined up than ever before. Here's to a great 2009 growing season!!

Friday the 13th, 2009

Friday the 13th seems to always scare people. Today is no exception. However, my wife and I are looking at this date today in 2009 and thinking we didn't plan too good 10 years ago. Today is our 10th anniversary. It seems like just yesterday that we were married. So many memories of that day/night and especially the trip to Nebraska to get married. Who would have thought it would take over 3 days to travel 10 hours? We tried to leave early enough on Wednesday morning to make it to our rehearsal on Friday night, but we didn't make it on time. Must have been the high volume traffic in southwest Nebraska or something. Anyways, it is hard to believe 10 years have went by so fast!!! We have a nice house on a quiet street in Casselton, North Dakota, which is a suburb of Fargo, North Dakota. We have 3 wonderful daughters, Katie (7), Sarah (4), and Melody ( 2 1/2 months). We also own Maple River Winery in historic downtown Casselton. If that isn't enough, my wife, Susan, is a Library Media Specialist at Kennedy Elementary School in Fargo. Needless to say, on Friday evenings when the girls go to bed, we crash. Tonight will be no exception.

3 Chicago concerts in 3 days

Friday 8/8/08 my wife and I enjoyed Chicago in concert at the Sioux Empire Fair in Sioux Falls. We were standing in the 2nd row in the general admission right in front of the speakers. Awesome!

Saturday 8/9/08 we drove 3-4 hours southwest to Grand Island Nebraska to enjoy Chicago in the Heartland Events Center. A sellout crowd, we happened to overhear 2 people say their seats were double sold. We offered to give up our seats to sit in some obstructed view seats next to the stage. Of course they accepted and we were able to enjoy the concert from right next to the stage. Awesome!

Sunday 8/10/08 we drove 2 plus hours northeast to Norfolk, Nebraska to enjoy Chicago outdoors at the Divots Conference Center. A massive crowd, but we got there as soon as doors opened. My wife went up to the VIP area with our VIP tickets and secured 4 seats in the front row right in the center. The Smoke Ring was the local band the opened for them and they were great. They were all having a great time. Enjoying the show from the front row was great. The weather was perfect and the music was great. After the concert we were able to take the lawn chairs home that were provided to us for sitting. Didn't use mine at all. Another great Chicago concert.

We hope to be able to do this again someday. A big special thank you to our grandparents for watching our kids while we were on this little "jaunt".

Chicago Live in Concert in Sioux Falls

88 degrees on 8-8-08 at 8 pm when Chicago took the stage tonight. What a concert. At 7pm, there was maybe a couple of hundred people in attendance...by 8pm, well over 10,000. I will be posting photos from the concert on our facebook account. Drop by and check them out.

Tomorrow night, Grand Island, Nebraska.

8-8-08

My wife and I are getting ready to be music groupies for the weekend. On Friday 8-8-08, I am flying down to Lincoln, Nebraska to meet up with her. She and the girls are vacationing at Susan's parents place in southwest Nebraska. We will drive from Lincoln, Neb. to Sioux Falls, SD for the Chicago concert on 8-8-08. The following day, we will drive from Sioux Falls, SD to Grand Island, Neb for the Chicago concert on 8-9-08. The following day, we will drive from Grand Island, Neb. to Norfolk, Neb. for the Chicago concert on 8-10-08. At that concert, we do have VIP tickets. I think 3 concerts in 3 nights can classify us as groupies. I was not able to talk her into the August 7, 2008 concert in Fort Dodge, IA for 4 concerts in 4 nights. I am very excited that she was willing to enjoy 3 concerts. I think the word is eccentric, but am not sure. Anyone else going to any of those concerts? We'll see you there!!

On a side note. It will be a sad day tomorrow. 20 years ago tomorrow was when the first night baseball game occurred at Wrigley Field. I still have a sign in my sports room that says No Lights at Wrigley Field. I guess if the Cubs win the World Series this year, I can relax a little, but 20 years of lights haven't brought a World Series Championship yet....

Strawberry Wine is fermenting away!!

2008 is going down as one of the best strawberry harvests in North Dakota ever. We have received over 1000 pounds of strawberries from all over eastern North Dakota. The whole winery has an overwhelming strawberry aroma that is just plain AWESOME!!!! I can hardly wait to enjoy a bottle of our strawberry wine from this year. We are going to bring in extra strawberries this year so we have enough strawberry wine for next summer. We enjoy the smiling faces as people try the Prairie Strawberry Wine. Try some today!!

Lilac Harvest is now complete

We just finished our lilac harvest today. Lavender, violet, and purple lilacs are all fermenting away at our winery in their respective containers. We hope to have lilac wine ready for Labor Day weekend. One of our rhubarb farmers brought in rhubarb and decided to enjoy the aroma. His advice....wow.....what an aroma. The characteristics will be great to enjoy. Lilac aromas during the winter will help make our winter more bearable. Have you ever heard of or made lilac wine? If you have, let us know at greg@mapleriverwinery.com. We look forward to hearing from you. Lilac wine is an old time wine that was made out on the farm. It truly is a delicacy for the masses.

The Can Pile is saved

Despite many, many roadblocks, the committee that set a goal of saving the world famous Casselton Can Pile from a May 29th, 2008 demolition date succeeded yesterday. As the metal plate was slid underneath the can pile being held by a very large crane and beams inserted in the can pile for support, the onlookers gazed in amazement. As the final push from the payloader pushed on the metal plate, smoke erupted throughout the can pile very similar to a house or building collapsing. A wicked noise of settling cans and erupting smoke rattled all of the teary eyed onlookers. After a few oil cans settled, the can pile was completely on the metal plate. From there, the can pile was lifted up by the crane onto the awaiting flat bed semi-truck for the move along the evacuation route to safety. While this is a temporary location, a non-profit corporation has been set up to start raising funds for the restoration and preservation of the world famous Casselton Can Pile as well as finding a permanent home for it to be the Midwest's most unique tourist attraction. Please consider making a donation to help the project along at http:www.casseltoncanpile.com.

Dandelion Harvest underway

With our gorgeous sunshine comes bright yellow flowers all over the area. These dandelions are what we pick to make our popular dandelion wine. A wonderful unique wine is a great entertaining wine. To get there however, we need thousands of dandelion flowers. We just use the little yellow flower when we produce the wine so you can see how labor intensive production is. We estimate close to 100 yellow flowers in each half bottles of wine. What does the wine taste like? I like to describe our dandelion wine as a semi-sweet white wine that tastes like a cross between a light chardonnay and corn on the cob. We expect this wine to be our top seller on our website again this year. The novelty is growing. It is the perfect conversation piece when entertaining friends, family, and business acquaintances.

Save the Casselton Can Pile

We have been working with a tremendous committee throughout rural Cass County in an effort to save North Dakota's most unique tourist attraction, the Can Pile. Some people say it is being evicted on May 29th, some people say it is being torn down. We have been receiving phone calls day and night from all over the United States asking how they can help save the Can Pile. We have another meeting set for May 15th to establish the how-to's to saving a can pile. It has never been attempted before....anywhere in the world. We are making history. After last Thursday night's meeting, I think we might even have someone that is going to write a book about it.

For those of you in Internet land....you can learn more about our struggles and the history of the Casselton Can Pile at www.casseltoncanpile.com. Maybe even leave a donation.