A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....09-19-03....Minnesota ~ "L'Etoile du Nord"

Mama_Bear

[Mama_Bear]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine ~

Please join us as we take a cyber-tour of another great state in this Union of ours. As we discover and spotlight each of our 50 states we also salute the proud FReepers who call their state 'home'.

Over the coming months each "Finest" hostess will profile her own home state - I will be presenting all the other states in random order. Please FReepMail me if you would like to participate in spotlighting your state. I would love to have your input on what you would like to see highlighted.

These are the states that have been presented to date:

05-23-03 Alabama
06-27-03 Maryland
07-11-03 Vermont
07-25-03 Utah
08-05-03 Texas
08-22-03 Nevada
08-26-03 Washington DC
09-05-03 Tennessee
09-17-03 Florida

Today we are visiting "The North Star State", aka: the milk and blueberry muffin state. ;-)

Mama_Bear

The White-tailed Deer -
and more Minnesota state symbols...

Click on the Loon above to hear it's call.


***********************

A bit of history.....

In 1848 the Minnesota Territory was formed by the US government. Ten years later, in 1858, Minnesota was admitted to the USA as the 32nd state. The state gets its name from the Dakota word "minisota", meaning "water that reflects the sky." Minnesota's state nicknames are the "Gopher State" and the "North Star State", and is the 12th largest state in the US.

Despite the convenient access to the state, immigration was slow until the second half of the 19th century, when people in the east started to hear about Minnesota's woodlands and fertile prairie. Between 1850 and 1857, the state population skyrocketed from 6,077 to more than 150,000. Long before that, the Ojibwa (Chippewa) and Dakota (Sioux) tribes made the land their home. For them state borders were nonexistent, so their territory extended well beyond what is today Minnesota. The French claimed the territory in the mid-1600s. It became U.S. territory through the Treaty of Paris (1783) and the Louisiana Purchase (1803).

What makes this state important? For one, its waterways are vital to the state's and the nation's economies. Besides its quantity of lakes, it is the northernmost stop of the Mississippi River and the westernmost point of the St. Lawrence Seaway, which runs through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Minnesota today is a leader in farming, lumbering, and milling, as well as printing and iron production.

Click on the Capitol Building for some interior panoramic photos.
This is one of the most beautiful Capitol buildings I have seen.

Facts and Trivia
about our 32nd state...
(Yes, there will be a test.)

• Minnesotan baseball commentator Halsey Hal was the first to say 'Holy Cow' during a baseball broadcast.
   
• The Mall of America in Bloomington is the size of 78 football fields --- 9.5 million square feet.
   
  
• Minnesota Inventions: Masking and Scotch tape, Wheaties cereal, Bisquick, HMOs, the bundt pan, Aveda beauty products, and Green Giant vegetables
   
• The original name of the settlement that became St. Paul was Pig's Eye. Named for the French-Canadian whiskey trader, Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, who had led squatters to the settlement.
   
  
• Minneapolis has more golfers per capita than any other city in the country.
   
• The climate-controlled Metrodome is the only facility in the country to host a Super Bowl, a World Series and a NCAA Final Four Basketball Championship.
   
  
• Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline, more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined.
   
• The first open heart surgery and the first bone marrow transplant in the United States were done at the University of Minnesota.
   
• Rochester is home of the world famous Mayo Clinic.
   
• The stapler was invented in Spring Valley.
   
• Private Milburn Henke of Hutchinson was the first enlisted man to land with the first American Expeditionary Force in Europe in WWII on January 26, 1942.
   
• The first Automatic Pop-up toaster was marketed in June 1926 by McGraw Electric Co. in Minneapolis under the name Toastmaster. The retail price was $13.50.
   
• Tonka Trucks were developed and are continued to be manufactured in Minnetonka.
   
• Hormel Company of Austin marketed the first canned ham in 1926. Hormel introduced Spam in 1937.
   
  
  "My friend pork shoulder
  I return to you. This time
  I've brought mayonnaise."
  
  more funny "Famous Spam Haikus"
  by Michael Lubic
  Yummy Spam Recipes
  
  
• Minnesota has one recreational boat per every six people, more than any other state.
   
• Minnesota's waters flow outward in three directions: north to Hudson Bay in Canada, east to the Atlantic Ocean, and south to the Gulf of Mexico.
   
• The first official hit in the Metrodome in Minneapolis was made by Pete Rose playing for the Cincinnati Reds in a preseason game.
   
• In 1898, the Kensington Rune stone was found on the farm of Olaf Ohman, near Alexandria. The Kensington Rune stone carvings allegedly tell of a journey of a band of Vikings in North America in 1362.
   
• Minneapolis’ famed skyway system connecting 52 blocks (nearly five miles) of downtown makes it possible to live, eat, work and shop without going outside.
   
  

More about the Minneapolis Skyways...

Minneapolis is unique in many ways, but the skyway system is one of it's most striking, one-of-a-kind assets. When the weather turns sour, you can use the skyway system to get where you need to go.

One floor above ground, this system links buildings together with enclosed walkways. It connects most of downtown Minneapolis in climate-controlled bliss.

When the temperature plummets or the rain falls, ditch the coat in the hotel room. Explore downtown Minneapolis through more than 7 miles of glass-enclosed skyways. They provide a lively thoroughfare filled with specialty shops, restaurants and services.



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Last but not least, a link to one of my
favorite teams, the Minnesota Vikings!
Good luck this season!




Thank you to the following websites for information and graphics:

Minnesota History - A Chronology
Minnesota Facts and Trivia
THE KENSINGTON RUNE-STONE

Thank you for joining us on our cyber trip to Minnesota. I am sure I have overlooked many interesting facts and points of interest, so please help us celebrate Minnesota by joining in and posting what you know about this Fine state.

Have a nice FRiday and a great weekend!

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 09-15-03...Military Monday 09-16-03...This One's For You T Man 09-17-03...Florida - The Sunshine State 09-18-03...John's Two Cents - JohnHuang2

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4)If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[Mama_Bear]

You can never overestimate the importance of Spam

Apparently not.

The South Korean put it best when he said "It is an impressive gift." LOL!

YES!! And I am so happy because my holiday gift shopping dilemma is solved!

[MEG33]

Beautiful,Mama Bear.I enjoyed learning about Minnesota.

[GailA]

Afternoon John..assignment for you can you find out how much it cost us per month and year and how long we have been funding the the No Fly Zone? I think we need to use it against the liberals lement about the cost of the Iraq war.

[Mama_Bear]

Hi Meg!

Beautiful,Mama Bear.I enjoyed learning about Minnesota.

Thank you! So nice to see you here each day.

[GailA]

I'm not much of a cereal eater, either hot or cold...I like my Rice Krispy treats though.

My friend in Washington state sent this to me:

[LadyX]

"Mix the pudding mix as directed on the box.........
Why mix it on a box? Why not in a box? Or better yet in a bowl? :-) '

Dear Thinny, you have me sitting here clucking my tongue at your trying to try to fool me - your Noble Defender.
How daring of you! (See, everyone - he is not worn down to nothingness !!)

Go back to eighth grade, and take the sentence apart - -

The subject is: 'mix' - further defined by a preposition 'the' and adjective 'pudding.'

The verb (the first word) is: 'Mix.'

Therefore, the adverbial phrase "as directed on the box" gives specifics of how thou art to 'Mix' the mix.

No pat on the back for this one, Thin Man...:(

I, however, will not make you put on a dunce cap and sit in the corner on a stool. I sent algore there on a permanent basis two years ago - - ..:))

You should have listened more attentively
to Mr. Svenson in school:

[deadhead]

Thank You for the lovely presentation and tour of Minnesota, Mama_Bear. Looks beautiful Have never been there, maybe one of these days...one of my goals in life is to visit every planet state.

Billie, Isabel just kind of whispered through Long Island, some winds and a little rain. Thoughts are with those who had damage due to Isabel. Have friends in Annapolis.

Was watching Fox News this evening, the following quote by Gray Davis cracked me up, laughing just thinking about it:

"My vision is to make the most diverse state on earth, and we have people from every planet on the earth in this state. We have the sons and daughters of every, of people from every planet, of every country on earth," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "

[MEG33]

He will never live that down!

[Aquamarine]

LOL! Funny post.

[firewalk]

Thanks for the ping
Hope you have a nice night

[Mama_Bear]

My vision is to make the most diverse state on earth, and we have people from every planet on the earth in this state. We have the sons and daughters of every, of people from every planet, of every country on earth," he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

LOLOL!!! Sheesh! Well, I think we need to send some of these people back to their home planets, starting with the original "grey", Gray Davis. ;-)

Thanks Colleen, I got a real kick out of that.

Glad to hear Isabel didn't cause you any problems. Hope you have a great weekend.

[Mama_Bear]

Thank you so much for the compliments. I was getting such a kick out of that quote from our Governor, that I completely forgot to say thank you.

[deadhead]

You are very welcome Mama_Bear. I appreciate all the hard work and awesome results that all of the hostesses do for the Finest. I don't know how you all do it!

That quote from Davis will stay with me forever, so funny! LOL, If I didn't hear it with my own ears, I don't know that I would believe it! LOL

Have a lovely weekend

[Mama_Bear]

I meant to tell you that your post about "polenta" was very interesting. I have never heard of it before.

Being the chief cook and bottle-washer for a military family, my mom, out of necessity, became one of the best at feeding a family on practically nothing. We were always happy and healthy. We didn't know we weren't eating like kings.

[deadhead]

I forgot to ask you, what planet are you from?

LOL

[Mama_Bear]

I need to leave to go up to Fresno for our rally. I will be back later this evening to say good night to all of my Finest Friends.

Have a nice evening.

[LadyX]

Thank you for the reminder, Gail - -
may we never forget; and may we thank, them, every day.

Lord, we ask You to protect all those who serve
in these troubled times.
Be with them in the midst of whatever they face,
wherever they might be; guiding and steadying them
and keeping them safe.... Amen.

[deadhead]

"Being the chief cook and bottle-washer "

Love that saying, reminds me of my dear Mom. We grew up hearing "what do you think I am, chief cook and bottle-washer" My Mom was a very witty, funny and loving Mom.

Thanks Mama_Bear, that put a smile on my face.

[MEG33]

Thank you for your service and dedication.

[MEG33]

Well done,Lady X!