Minnesota
Hats Off to Josh Montgomery, Shannon Draper and Tara Aiken
Starting with a Vision – Ending with a Giant Ladybug Josh and Shannon envisioned the giant ladybug intersection painting project, and artist Tara Aiken brought it to life. Josh Montgomery and Shannon Draper live in the small suburban town of Hopkins, Minnesota in a neighborhood called, “The Avenues”. The Avenues are noted for tree-lined sidewalks…
Read MoreAmtrak Roomette Hacks
St. Paul to Seattle on the Empire Builder It has always been one of our bucket list trips to take the Empire Builder from St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington. For the trip we rented a “roomette” which is the smallest and cheapest sleeper car. On this trip we learned many hacks to make the…
Read MoreGSR Fine Art Festival Mankato 2022
Dozens of artists, authors and musicians demonstrated their outstanding work at this annual fall event again this year, the weekend right after Thanksgiving. The festival is a juried show, meaning you have to show your work to earn the nod of approval to get in. It is a collection of the finest artwork in southern…
Read MoreNational Coffee with A Cop Day, Lindstrom, MN
National Coffee with a Cop day is the day that cops go to local coffee shops to meet with the public. Hats Off America celebrated the event in Lindstrom, Minnesota with Northwoods Roasterie and Lakes Area PD which serves Lindstrom and Chisago City. Police Chief Bill Schlumbohm says “police officers are just citizens doing a…
Read MoreHat’s Off to kidney Organ Donors!
Hat’s Off to those involved in the tremendously important field of kidney organ donations. 17 people die per day waiting for a life-saving kidney, and 100,000 Americans are on the waiting list!
Read MoreHat’s Off to the Hopkins Royal Triathlon
The race makes every effort to make triathlons accessible to everyone by offering a Mini-Sprint and Sprint levels. You can choose your own distance. For example, if you are more comfortable with the biking portion, you can do the longer segment, but do the shorter segment for the running portion.
Read MoreBraham Pie Day
Hat’s off to the Homemade Pie Capital of Minnesota In 1990, Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich declared the little city of Braham to be the “Homemade Pie Capital of Minnesota”. Braham Pie Day was born! Before Interstate 35 was built, Twin Cities residents drove through Braham, Minnesota, on their way to their lake homes. On the way, they would…
Read MoreHat’s Off to the Hopkins Raspberry Festival!
The 2022 Raspberry Festival was the best one yet! The Hopkins Raspberry festival started in 1935, when growing raspberries was a key part of farming in the area. Even now, when you walk through the alleys of Hopkins you see many residents growing their own. The Raspberry Festival is held the third weekend of July,…
Read MoreBreakfast on the Farm
Hats Off, America, to the Wright Carver Breakfast on the Farm fun event on Saturday, June 11th. A tip of the hat also to BOB Country, Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF), Halquist Farms, Princess Kay of the Milky Way Anna Euerle and many others who made it all possible. Thank you, Minnesota farmers for all…
Read MoreMinnesota Ukrainians Help Their Homeland
Hats Off to the Ukrainian Church of Minneapolis, who held a highly successful fundraiser to raise money for Ukraine. People lined up at their church for the opportunity to purchase Ukrainian perogies, kabobs, chicken and sweet treats! Thousands of people attended the event. Who knows better than immigrants from Ukraine how to get donations to…
Read MoreHats Off to Historic Hopkins, Minnesota!
Hopkins Commercial Historic District is officially on the National Register of Historic Places The Hopkins Commercial Historic District has been placed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. The historic area includes Mainstreet between, 8th and 11th avenues. If you walk down Mainstreet, you will notice very old brick buildings. This section…
Read More200 Miles on Foote
Hats off, America, to Doug Foote, who walked 200 miles to bring to light fire fighter health awareness Bob Metoxen from Hats Off, America, interviewed Doug Foote in Hopkins, Minnesota towards the end of his 200 mile walk the summer of 2021. Fire Fighter Doug Foote from Chanhassen, MN, started his walk on the Minnesota…
Read MoreHopkins Police Department Delivers Thanksgiving Groceries
Each year the Hopkins Police Department coordinates the delivery of groceries for Thanksgiving to families in need. Bob Metoxen interviewed Chief Brent Johnson, Driskills General Manager Deb Beckman, and Sam Stiele, of the Hopkins Rotary.
Read MoreGSR Fine Art Festival in Mankato
A small community with a stellar art show Tom Bliese, Co-Director of the GSR Fine Art Festival, talks about the thriving community of artists in the Mankato area. The GSR Fine Art Festival is an opportunity to feature the fine arts in southern Minnesota. The show for 2022 will be on November 26 and 27.…
Read MoreHats Off to Team Tucker!
Tucker Helstrom died after a heroic battle with osteosarcoma 5-years ago, but his impact on the City of Hopkins lives on. During his weeks in the hospital, Tucker noticed that some children didn’t have any visitors, and the organization in his memory, PlayLaughLove.org, wants to change that. To honor Tucker’s wish that all sick children…
Read MoreHats off to 50 Years of the ICA Food Shelf!
The ICA Food Shelf is celebrating 50 years of distributing food to those in need in the Hopkins/Minnetonka community. “ICA” stands for Intercongregation Communities Association. The food shelf was incorporated fifty years ago by a coalition of churches in Hopkins and Minnetonka. It started at a house in downtown Hopkins, then for many years it…
Read MoreMaking the World Less Scary for Kids
Hats off to Kevin Kunkel, author of the children’s book, The World We Choose. How do you explain to children that all of the bad things they see or hear about on the news are not likely to happen to them? How can we make the world less scary? Watching the news can give viewers…
Read MoreInternational Owl Center in Houston, Minnesota
Hat’s off to the International Owl Center! International Owl Center The International Owl Center in Houston, Minnesota is a lovely day trip from the Twin Cities. The Houston area is surrounded by beautiful river bluffs. It is in the scenic Root River Valley, and is a great place for hiking as well as learning about…
Read MoreMinneopa State Park in Minnesota
Hats off to Minneopa State Park! Minneopa State Park is only an hour and a half from the Twin Cities and so makes an easy day trip. The park is beautiful, as you would expect with any state park. But what makes this one special is the herd of bison! Efforts have been made to…
Read MoreMichael Lanning
Hat’s off to Michael Lanning! Michael Lanning fell off of a ladder while putting up holiday lights and sustained spinal cord injuries in 1997. He and his family have faced those injuries with courage as well as ingenuity. In his workshop, Michael enjoys problem solving and creating unique furniture solutions.
Read MoreReach and Restore
Hat’s off to Reach and Restore based in Hopkins, Minnesota! Reach and Restore (R&R) provides needy families with resources to provide a sense of hope and be a support to get back on their feet. This may include physical needs such as household items, furniture, locating housing or transportation and personal needs such as moral…
Read MoreThe Twin Cities Marathon Wheelers
Hat’s off to the wheelers at the Twin Cities Marathon! Date: October 1, 2017 Thousands of people ran in this year’s Twin Cities In Motion Marathon, aided by volunteers, law enforcement and medical personnel. Here’s a Hat’s Off salute to the wheelers!? We spoke with some of them including Matthew Porterfield, Chad Johnson, Tyler Byers…
Read MoreSeptember 11 Tribute at Lake Harriet
Remembering September 11 at the Lake Harriet Bandshell Visited date: September 11, 2017 Location: 4135 W Lake Harriet Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN There is a beautiful 9/11 ceremony and concert every year at the Lake Harriet bandshell. The planning is by the Minnesota 9/11 Tribute. The highlight is the military marching and flags.
Read MoreHappy 4th of July!
We made this short video to pay tribute to the 4th of July celebrations occurring all over the USA today. The video footage was taken at the Bloomington, Minnesota Summer Fete. We asked the question, “What does the fourth of July mean to you?” Happy 4th of July! Bob and Susan Metoxen
Read MorePipestone National Monument
The Pelicans of West Central Minnesota
We took these photos of pelicans in Hutchinson and near Marshall.
Read MoreRum River
The Rum River connects the?Mille Lacs Lake with the Mississippi River. Photos are from the area near Milaca, Minnesota.
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