GaryOsberg.com

A little over 100 years ago, the citizens of the village of Upsala, Minnesota voted to incorporate as a city. A weekend celebration, “Come Home to Upsala” begins tonight at 7pm with a concert in the City Park. Tomorrow, there will be a 5K run, a bake sale and a parade followed by a party at the Rec Building with fireworks at 10pm. I grew up in Upsala and I am planning on driving one of my high school buddie’s old cars in the parade. The weather forecast is great, so maybe now would be a good time to visit a small town in central Minnesota which may very well be Lake Wobegon. I make this claim, because if you study the APHC program from a show performed on October 2, 2004, a copy of which is attached, you will see that “Upsala” has been removed and “Lake Wobegon” is positioned north of Holdingford. You can get details about the Upsala Heritage Days Festival online at www.cityofupsala.com

The APHC show this week is a rebroadcast of the January 14 show from the Symphony Center in Chicago, Illinois. Andrew Bird plays “Pulaski” and “Plasticities,” Laura Marling sings “Nouel” and “Wild Fire,” Beth Stelling investigates the story of her mother’s childhood imaginary friend, and John Williams and Katie Grennan highlight a few tunes you might hear at an Irish music session in the Windy City. Plus: Chris Thile celebrates the Cubs’ World Series triumph with “We, Joe Maddon”; Bertrand Falstaff Heine dines with his ex-wife; and there will be a visit to the Cook Country Library with Ruth Harrison, Reference Librarian.

The St. Cloud Downtown Art Crawl is today from 3pm until 9pm. This is a great way to spend a Friday evening. Be sure to check out the White Horse bar and restaurant.

“We all find time to do what we really want to do”. William Feather