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.

Green Bay Packers

My wife and I were watching the Green Bay Packers play the New York Football Giants on the frozen tundra tonight. As the game concluded, we both wondered: "Was that the last pass of Brett Favre's career?". I can only imagine the tens of thousands of tailgaters partying around the stadium. I know for a fact several bottles of Maple River Wine were in attendance. What a great game. Too bad both teams couldn't have went to the Superbowl. How many days until Spring Training? Oh yes, the temp here today started at -23. Not a mosquito in our entire neighborhood.