A Prairie Home Companion News from Lake Wobegon
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May 18, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's a gorgeous, gorgeous fall here. Gorgeous nights--warm days, cool nights." Pastor Liz hosts a bonfire and Mr. Lofgren's orchard produces an exceptional harvest of his "Julia" apples, in a monologue from September 2012.
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May 11, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been beautiful out there. We're coming to spring here and everything's gorgeous." Fishing season begins in Lake Wobegon, the host learns of his mother's online Scrabble habit, and the history of the annual Willis Bunsen Grocery Run event.
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May 4, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It snowed this last week. It was harmful, it was hurtful to people, and people suffered from it. They were angry at it." The town attends the high school's production of 'Our Town,' Sarah Peterson worries her parents by becoming successful, and Mavis investigates Vern's past.
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April 27, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Spring has finally arrived and the crocuses are up and the flowers are up and there's green grass and people are hanging their sheets out on the line, just for the smell of it, just for the beauty of it." Donny Krebsbach ventures onto the lake in search of early spring ice fishing, Christopher Inqvist gets a summer job at Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery, and thoughts on the importance of yard work.
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April 20, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"We've had snow. We've had a lot of snow. People are discouraged. People are beaten down, they're cranky on account of this snow." Jimmy Krebsbach helps Arlene Bunsen deer-proof her yard, Pastor Liz makes house calls to hear the town's complaints, and a surprise in Mrs. Olson's purse interrupts the sermon at Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church.
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April 13, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Got a big snow here this last week. Snow in the middle of April just pushed people right to the edge--just so terribly discouraging." Myrtle Krebsbach monopolizes the microphone after winning the "Pick the Pope" contest, Mavis and Vern break off their relationship, and the Pettersons embark on a 60-day juice cleanse.
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April 6, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It has warmed up there. There's still some snow on the ground but there are signs of spring. The loons have come in to the lake and they're singing to each other." Spring is on its way and Donnie Krebsbach gets into trouble while attempting to rescue his fish house.
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March 30, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Had a little bit of frost on Monday just to remind us where we live but otherwise it was warm. It was up in the 60s -- people had their windows open." The Lake Wobegon Whippets take some spring batting practice, Bud learns a lesson about friendship while putting the dock in the water, and Pastor Liz has an exciting evening on Easter Sunday, in a monologue from April 2012.
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March 23, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been a cold spring here, the ice still out there on the lake but the pelicans have arrived and other migrating birds have come in anyway." The milk truck gets stuck in Mr. Hoppe's driveway, Carl Krebsbach builds a house for a stockbroker friend, and it's a tough time for marriage, unless you have a ritual argument like Myrtle and Florian Krebsbach, in a monologue from April 2009.
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March 16, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"We're all used to disappointment and heartbreak in Lake Wobegon. We're all used to being left behind, of course. It's really the story of our lives." Clint Bunsen tries to free a skunk from a trap, a booger joke causes Larry to shoot tapioca out of his nose, and Eloise Krebsbach buys an artificial limb to replace her boyfriend Fred, in a monologue from October 2009.
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March 9, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Drove up here this last week in the cold and the ice because I needed to get some of this 'plaster' that has been in our family for years..." A bad cough requires a cold remedy made from fresh mustard and Aunt Flo makes soup because her daughter is visiting from Minneapolis, in a monologue from March 2002.
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March 2, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been getting warmer up there. The tulips are up a little bit, and the irises, and the lily of the valley as well." Pastor Liz and Clint Bunsen spend some time together while digging a grave for Liz Tollefson, and Pastor Anderson weeps during her funeral service.
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February 23, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It was the most beautiful snowfall in yesterday morning in Lake Wobegon. It was just gorgeous, it was like something out of a children's book." The town pledges for the annual "Big Plunge" fundraising event, Lake Wobegon High School students learn about owls, and a local English teacher makes an enriching discovery while walking in the woods.
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February 16, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
""It's been warm here this last week, been up in the 30s. Just the right temperature to keep the snow on the ground--keep it from melting." Vern visits Mavis for Valentine's Day, Pastor Liz hosts a dinner for the local singles, and the story of Louis Powell, the town's rare Unitarian.
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February 9, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"The snow coming in... It's been kind of a warm week. It's been in the 20s, and a little snow here this last week, a little sliver of moon up in the sky." Marilyn and Bud Bunsen worry about their daughter's unusual plans for the annual Snowball Dance, and a few members of the 1952 Lake Wobegon Leonards football team reminisce about their 1-8 season while visiting Naples, Florida.
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February 2, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been bitterly, bitterly, bitterly cold in Lake Wobegon. It was so cold that they did not do the fire drill up at the high school." A group of Miami tourists arrives in town on a bus tour, Dorothy puts together a last-minute meal for them at the Chatterbox Cafe, and Renee Rasmussen's husband Delbert returns for the first time in years.
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January 26, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been cold, it's been cold. It's been in the low teens--highs in the day. We don't do wind chill in Lake Wobegon. It seems like bragging to us somehow." Memories of the terrible winter of 1951--including sheltering local deer in the high school gym and Seena Halvorson meeting her husband while ice fishing--and Margie and Carl Krebsbach have an awkward encounter with their son, who has just moved home.
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January 19, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been cold out there but it's a dry cold, you know, so it's not painful or anything and of course we are used to it. But, the battle of the thermostat goes on in every house in Lake Wobegon." The town gathers firewood to prepare for the cold weather, Mavis celebrates her 75th birthday in Los Angeles, and Clint Bunsen reflects on missing the opportunity to move to the Southwest.
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January 12, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"We've gotten some snow, even better than that, we've gotten frost--frost, when you have a clear night and you have high humidity, you wake up in the morning and everything is covered with frost." Terrible flu hits Lake Wobegon, memories of ice skating and smoking in the warming house, storytelling around a bonfire on a frozen lake, and the Lutheran church ends the year with a surplus.
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January 5, 2013: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been cold and gray, just a little bit of snow falling, children reluctantly going back to school. Lot of things had to be canceled because of that blizzard a couple of weeks ago." Texting disrupts a choir concert, Darlene resolves to find a man this year, and Clint Bunsen visits his wife's uncle in Omaha.
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December 29, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"We got a little snow -- a little snow Monday night. What a beautiful snowfall it was, and not all that cold out." In a monologue from January 2012, warm weather puts those who suffer from "Pump Handle Phobia" at ease. Plus, Mr. Hansen lends a hand around the neighborhood while his wife visits her sister in Florida, and reveals an unusual secret.
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December 22, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been kind gray and cloudy, sort of drizzly, this last week, waiting for snow to come. We've had a little bit of snow but not as much as we deserve." Mrs. Hansen makes an anonymous donation, the Tolleruds are forced to change their Christmas dinner plans when their daughters invite a Brazilian exchange student, and Pastor Liz hosts guests who have nowhere else to go.
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December 15, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"We had our first really good snowfall of the year. It was predicted in the Gospel from St. Luke, which was last Sunday morning." The Lake Wobegon public schools get a snow day, Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church's seasonal decorations cause discomfort in the congregation, Pastor Liz visits the town's elderly residents, and the Bunsens comfort their daughter after her terrible week at work.
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December 8, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Sort of balmy, balmy weather early in the week and then we got some drizzle and then finally last night we got some snow, snow, beautiful snow." Mavis and Vern continue their relationship despite Irene's objections (and become the talk of the town in the process), Pastor Liz visits elderly residents for the holidays, and the Chatterbox Cafe's potato sausage gives the town a festive aroma.
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December 1, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been cold out there. It's been in the 20s and the 30s, big full moon this Wednesday, people putting up Christmas decorations." Dorothy and Darlene swap Thanksgiving stories, the Bunsens host a Thanksgiving dinner for people with no place else to go, and Mavis and Vern spend some time together despite their political differences.
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November 24, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's Thanksgiving this week and the exiles up from the cities for the traditional Thanksgiving, whatever that may mean nowadays. And then on Thursday, this ice storm hit and the roads became slick and slippery." Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility hosts the town's joint Thanksgiving service, women gather at the Bon Marche Beauty Salon, and Clint Bunsen puts up his Christmas lights.
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November 17, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Winter came in Sunday night. A cold front moved in and the snow fell. Big beautiful flakes still falling on Monday morning." Memories of sledding in Lake Wobegon, Daryl Tollerud goes deer hunting and attends the Annual Meatloaf Dinner (formerly the Annual Lutefisk Dinner), and Pastor Liz discusses Gabriel Garca Mrquez at a dinner party.
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November 10, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been cloudy and chilly, a little rainy. It's been November weather and all these geese flew in--about 500 of them in a flock, along with about 10 swans." The election puts a damper on conversation in Lake Wobegon, Clarence Bunsen proposes the cancellation of the Christmas Lutefisk Dinner, and Mr. Hoppe dies on his way home from the Sidetrack Tap.
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November 3, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"The world has taken a turn towards the cold. The sun comes out but it's not warm anymore -- we've taken the big turn towards fall." Art's rules for staying at the Night o' Rest Motel, Dorothy urges Chatterbox Cafe customers to try pumpkin bread pudding, and Pastor Liz meets a carpenter named Michael at a bar in St. Cloud.
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October 27, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been chilly and kind of gray and drizzly. Winter sort of arrived in a big rush on Thursday. It was briefly sunny, back on Sunday." Irene Bunsen and Mrs. Anderson argue about the ownership of an enormous pumpkin, Lyle points out a hard-to-see meteor shower, which draws a crowd of onlookers, and the last boxelder bugs of the season find refuge in Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church.
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October 20, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been chilly and drizzly and rainy here this last week, and windy as well, so a lot of the leaves have fallen in town." Falling leaves herald conflicting yard work styles, Clint Bunsen makes some improvements to his deer stand, and memories of ill-gotten poker winnings.
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October 13, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been chilly. It's been sunny out there. The gardens are all in--everybody's picked everything there is to pick. People are working on their yards now." Pastor Liz avoids giving a sermon about a difficult verse, the Bakkes move to Arizona to care for Jack's mother, and Darlene bumps into her old English teacher at the El Dorado Casino.
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October 6, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It was warm and beautiful early in the week, and then Wednesday night you could feel the earth turn and the world change." The Pettersons host an enormous bonfire and Orville makes a friend while on a train trip to California.
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September 29, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Fall has come on. There's a definite chill in the air and there are people who have to get up in the night and close their bedroom windows." The Hansens take a road trip to Yellowstone, Kurt visits Amsterdam after retiring as the janitor of the Lake Wobegon elementary school, and Pastor Liz goes on a date with a youth minister.
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September 22, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"A big wind came in yesterday and brought in a little taste of November for us. It turned chilly and cold almost right away." Jimmy Krebsbach returns from Texas to visit his friends and family (leaving behind his large collection of Cadillacs) and reveals the origin of a strange scar on his chest.
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September 15, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's a gorgeous, gorgeous fall here. Gorgeous nights--warm days, cool nights." Pastor Liz hosts a bonfire and Mr. Lofgren's orchard produces an exceptional harvest of his "Julia" apples.
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September 8, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Mozart's 250th birthday this year. All over America, even in Lake Wobegon: choirs celebrating, singing Mozart." Recollections of choirs in Lake Wobegon, plus songs for "Mary Jo" and "One More Spring in Minnesota," in a monologue from 2006.
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September 1, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm and humid this last week and we've gotten a lot of rain, which has been good for the gardens in my town." The town apprehends a band of mailbox vandals, Bruno the Fishing Dog tears through Irene Bunsen's tomato patch, the Whippets start their season, and thoughts on fresh produce in Lake Wobegon, in a monologue from 1999.
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August 25, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It turned cold this week, to everybody's great relief -- to finally have winter here, for sure. No doubt about it. No going back and forth between fall and winter, but just winter. The real thing."
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August 18, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"We're coming to the end of this warm spell in November and it is none too soon. Need to get real here. If we go on much longer with this sort of weather in November and it just encourages people to entertain all kinds of illusions." A monologue from November 2001.
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August 11, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"The Whippets won last Sunday afternoon. They played the Freeport Flyers and they won by a score of 3-2. It was a great game--it was one of those close, tight games where everything that happens means a lot because it's so close." Babe Ruth visits the town for an exhibition game against the Lake Wobegon Schroeders, in a monologue from 1985.
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August 4, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm out there--what we call warm. It's been in the 90s. It's been good tomato-growing weather." Irene Bunsen grows a crop of unique tomato plants and a potential buyer bartends at the Sidetrack Tap to get a feel for the place, allowing Wally to enjoy some time on his pontoon boat, in a monologue from 1999.
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July 28, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm out there this week. Been up in the 80s--unusual for October. The trees are at their peak and everybody should've been happy." Clint Bunsen endures a talkative duck hunting companion, the Lake Wobegon High School football team faces a feared rival, and Pastor Liz chooses between three very different sermon topics, in a monologue from October 2011.
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July 21, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm out there--warm enough so that people are now able to sleep at night with their windows open, which changes everything in a person's life." High school graduates prepare to explore the world, and a life-changing trip to the Grand Canyon, in a monologue from 2003.
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July 14, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been gorgeous, it's been perfect, it's been sunny, it's been warm. The raspberries and the strawberries are coming in. The tomatoes are not too far away." Lake Wobegon enjoys the summer strawberry crop, and the story of Bernice and Earl, who served as missionaries in Ecuador before returning to a Minnesota rhubarb farm.
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July 7, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm--got up to 100 degrees on the Fourth of July so everything has slowed down in town. Dogs are not chasing anything anymore." Pastor Liz checks in on the students at her Lutheran Bible Camp, the Lake Wobegon Whippets defeat the Avon Bards and their unorthodox third baseman, and the town celebrates the Fourth of July.
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June 30, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been a beautiful, beautiful week. It's been warm and sunny--gets up into the 90s in the afternoon but the mornings are perfect." The town deals with a heat wave and the meanest woman in Lake Wobegon passes away.
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June 23, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"A lot of heat at the beginning of the week and storms -- sheets of rain coming down -- it was a beautiful, beautiful thing." Lake Wobegon celebrates Father's Day, Lake Wobegon Lutheran church celebrates the baptism of Roger Hedlund's granddaughter, and the sounds of the town interrupt the Sunday service.
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June 16, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It was very brutally, brutally hot here this last week and the deerflies came in, which is a form of plague." Powerful storms roll into Lake Wobegon, Luanne Peterson copes with the arrival of a new patient in the pediatric intensive care unit, and a story to comfort Luanne when she breaks down under an overpass during the storm.
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June 9, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm there -- what we would consider warm. It's been up in the 80s and it's been kind of rough on these Scandinavians." The high school graduation ceremony moves out of the air-conditioning-less gymnasium, the students are disappointed by the transit of Venus, Hannah Rasmussen overuses a metaphor in her valedictorian speech, and the Mueller children return to Lake Wobegon for their mother's funeral.
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June 2, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been beautiful. It's been dry. It's been in the 70s, a little breeze coming in, very low humidity." The class of 1962 returns for a reunion, the class of 2012 plans their senior prank, the story of an epic food fight, a tent caterpillar infestation hits Lake Wobegon, and Corrine Tollerud discusses Kierkegaard and Christianity with Pastor Liz.
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May 26, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's summer at last and the rhubarb is coming in and the lilacs are in full bloom. Somebody's been cutting alfalfa. The crickets, you can hear them, and the frogs are singing." A rainstorm drenches the town, the Lake Wobegon Whippets begin spring training, local families open their lake cabins, and the Lutheran church switches to its summer service schedule.
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May 19, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been hot out there and we're not used to it. Gets up into the 80s and it's very humid and people get nauseous walking back and forth into air conditioning and back out." The strawberries and blueberries are plentiful in Lake Wobegon, the junior high boys go skinny-dipping in the lake, and Pastor Liz arrives to much celebration and curiosity, in a monologue from 2010.
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May 12, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been spring and the grass is lush and green and the flowers are up. It's just gorgeous. It's that time of year in Minnesota when it's too warm to snow again and not quite warm enough to go swimming." Corrine Tollerud returns from college having discovered Kierkegaard, Mr. Holmberg avoids a public speaking sentence, and Father Wilmer receives an unusual bequest.
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May 5, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Kind of wet this week but nice and warm, up into the 80s. It's the real start of summer here. Spring is just a very brief season in Minnesota." Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church holds its annual book sale. Plus, the story of Dean Levine, who dreamt of becoming a cashier.
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April 28, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been a beautiful spring. It's up in the 60s, been a little rainy but it's warm enough for us." Deer become a nuisance in Lake Wobegon, local high schoolers prepare for prom while the Good Shepherd Nursing Home holds its Sweethearts Dance, and Clarence Bunsen inherits a modest sum when his Aunt Astrid passes away.
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April 21, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been kind of cold and rainy there this last week. We got a little snow on Monday -- we don't need to talk about that at all." The high school seniors prepare for their Senior Prom, the Sons of Knut do some spring cleaning, Pastor Liz ponders her encounter with a highway patrolman, and Mr. Nelson goes on a strange journey.
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April 14, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Had a little bit of frost on Monday just to remind us where we live but otherwise it was warm. It was up in the 60s -- people had their windows open." The Lake Wobegon Whippets take some spring batting practice, Bud learns a lesson about friendship while putting the dock in the water, and Pastor Liz has an exciting evening on Easter Sunday.
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April 7, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It is spring. The lawns have turned lush and green. The loons have arrived -- loons, who are monogamous, and one pair of loons will command a whole wide expanse of water out on Lake Wobegon." The town celebrates Easter, spring yard sales begin, the local Norwegian bachelor farmers wash their sheets, and Pastor Liz delivers an unexpectedly powerful Good Friday sermon.
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March 31, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm out there. It's been windy. The ice went out on the lake a long time ago and even the old grumblers in the Chatterbox Caf have had to admit that spring is here." March was a month of "firsts" in Lake Wobegon, Pastor Liz plans for Easter, and the story of aviator Wilbur Scott, who finds a final resting place at the Sidetrack Tap.
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March 24, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been a big week in Minnesota weather. We had a little snow at the beginning of the week and it was cold and then it got warmer and the sun came out." The story of Mr. Turnblad, who built a sailboat, sailed the Gulf of Mexico for three months, and returned to Lake Wobegon a changed man. Plus, Darlene falls for a new bread deliveryman, and the town deals with rain on the night of the junior/senior prom, in a monologue from 2009.
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March 17, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm out there — temperature's been in the 50s and the 60s. The snow has melted, a good deal of it, except for very stubborn snow that hangs out in the woods." Lucille Tollerud leads a protest against changes to the post office, and other examples of "Irishness" in Lake Wobegon, in a monologue from 2000.
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March 10, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"We got a little snow out there this last week -- six inches but we don't care. We're not shoveling. The shovel's been put away. The snow plow is parked in the garage." Spring comes to Lake Wobegon and town constables Gary and Leroy respond to a dispute at the Magendantz home, in this monologue from 2011.
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March 3, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"We had a little snow here on Tuesday to try and freshen up our snow cover somewhat -- which was getting a little threadbare." Thoughts on ice fishing preparation, and Lake Wobegon Elementary students suffer the airborne effects of an unfortunate school lunch, in this monologue from 2007.
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February 25, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It was a new moon on Monday so it was purely dark for three nights and there was very little snow on the ground to reflect any starlight or streetlights." Clint Bunsen turns to a vegetarian diet after his wife discovers a dangerous German cookbook, Pastor Liz makes a few pastoral calls, and they share an awkward encounter when Clint visits to repair her toilet.
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February 18, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm there. It's been in the 30s — just a little trace of snow here and there, a sunny sky here today. Not winter as we know it. We will survive somehow." The town's Fourth of July committee meets to plan this year's parade, Daryl Tollerud encounters an angry skunk, and Clint Bunsen has a revelation about his ancestry.
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February 11, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Valentine's Day coming up on Tuesday, so love is in the air." Cold weather returns to Lake Wobegon, the Lake Wobegon Leonards basketball team suffers a disheartening defeat, the Bunsens baptize a new granddaughter on Super Bowl Sunday, and Marilyn Tollerud tells the story of her grandfather, who outlived a dire prognosis.
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February 4, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Barely-not-quite-winter -- in the 30s, low 40s, so there's not much snow around. People are kind of cranky as well." The Tolleruds have a gerbil loose in their house, reflections on hiding embarrassing photos and personal effects from your children, the town continues to deal with a warm winter, and Darlene defends a hair color mishap.
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January 28, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"We got a little snow -- a little snow Monday night. What a beautiful snowfall it was, and not all that cold out." The recent warm weather puts those who suffer from "Pump Handle Phobia" at ease. Plus, Mr. Hansen lends a hand around the neighborhood while his wife visits her sister in Florida, and reveals an unusual secret.
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January 21, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been cold out there. It was one below zero here the other day and everybody felt pretty good about that." Kenny does some soul searching after leaving the Sidetrack Tap and getting stuck in a hidden snow tunnel, the Women's Circle switches from quilting to writing, and Pastor Liz has a revelation while "night swimming."
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January 14, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Unseasonably warm early in the week but now, thank goodness, the temperature has dropped into the single digits, which is to everyone's satisfaction." The town's ice fishermen deal with an unexpected lack of ice, residents gear up for the Winter Festival, Lake Wobegon sets a world record, and Darlene is forced to stay close-mouthed.
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January 7, 2012: The News from Lake Wobegon
"The crocuses are up and the tulips are up and then we got a little bit of snow overnight but nobody said a word about it." Dorothy wins the "Guess the Ice Melt" contest, the tundra swans return to Lake Wobegon, spring yard work begins, and Pastor Liz is forced to use her emergency sermon, in a monologue from April 16, 2011.
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December 31, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been warm out there. It's been in the 40s so we had a brown Christmas — we had no snow." Hawaiian visitors head to Lake Wobegon for a taste of winter, the Tolleruds and the Hansens fight over a good deed after a freezer malfunction, and some advice for 2012 as the town celebrates New Year's Eve.
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December 24, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
"The snow is falling even now. I can imagine it -- snow falling across the lake, which is just starting to freeze here just a few days ago." The "city mice" visit the "country mice" for the holiday, and stories from four memorable Lake Wobegon Christmases.
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December 17, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been much too warm out there. It's been raining. It looks dreary -- it doesn't look like the festival of lights whatsoever." Plus, a series of misunderstandings draws a crowd to Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility, the Tolleruds reluctantly accept a gift from a NYC relative, Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church celebrates St. Lucia Day, and the high school choir goes caroling.
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December 10, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been cold and that snow that is on the ground is now there to stay and we're happy about that." -- Winter comes to Lake Wobegon. Plus, thinking twice about offering hospitality after a visit from Aunt Cooter, the Bunsens forego their usual holiday arguments, and the Living Nativity returns to Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility.
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December 3, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
"It's been getting colder -- into the 20s. It's been trying to snow and we've been seeing a lot of Christmas lights." Plus, Pastor Liz reluctantly serves as a "healer" after a miraculous event at a Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church women's retreat becomes the talk of the town.
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November 26, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
"This Thanksgiving--a fairly uneventful Thanksgiving, a little excitement up at the Magendantz home." A fire prompts reconciliation between the Bunsens and the Magendantzes after years of animosity, Clint Bunsen accidentally restores the Moonlight Bay Supper Club's neon sign, the Tolleruds welcome their daughter home from St. Olaf College, and thoughts on Thanksgiving meals.
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November 19, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
"Oh, we knew it was going to snow. We could see that sky—that was a snow sky. People who have lived here for more than five minutes know what that snow sky looks like." Plus, discovering hidden treasures under the floor of Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church, Pastor Liz delivers a sermon on one of her least favorite Gospels, and Lake Wobegon exiles return home for Thanksgiving.
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November 12, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
"This was the week that the weather turned. The big ship swung off to the North." Plus, Lake Wobegon prepares for winter, reflections on Veterans Day, and newly widowed Becky Beckman keeps a final promise to her husband Bradley by taking his place on an annual deer-hunting trip.
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November 5, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been gray, it's been chilly, it's been cold, and we had our first real frost out there -- frosty sidewalks early in the morning. Lyle Janske discovered that the other day. He came out to take his garbage out and he walked across the deck out behind his house, and suddenly without his anticipating it, his feet were up above his head.
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October 22, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
The world has taken a turn towards the cold. The sun comes out but it's not warm anymore -- we've taken the big turn towards fall. People are wearing hats in Lake Wobegon. People are turning on their furnaces.
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October 15, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
This was the week that the chill moved in and the big full moon up there Tuesday night. And then on Wednesday a big rain came pouring down and the wind blew and so a lot of the leaves came down. That red maple tree out in the front yard of the Lutheran Parsonage just almost was stripped of leaves.
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October 8, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been warm out there this week -- been up in the 80s, unusual for October. The trees are at there peak and everybody should've been happy. Of course, the old complainers who sit and nurse their coffee in the Chatterbox Cafe found a way to complain about it after all.
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October 1, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been cloudy. It's been chilly out there. The sun has come out now and then. And then on Thursday this powerful wind came up -- it was very dramatic. Some people lost phone service and weren't even aware of it at the time and leaves blew off some of the trees completely.
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September 24, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's the week of the fall equinox, when we turn towards the darkness -- and we have this week. It's been chilly, it's been cloudy, and the sun -- less of it. The sun going down, people eating dinner by lamplight again and all sorts of odd things happening when the darkness comes on us.
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September 17, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's the beginning of fall. It's been cool -- good sleeping weather when people crawl into bed at night. It's warm under the extra blanket if you're sleeping with somebody else and you tuck yourself into your little envelope on these cool fall nights.
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September 10, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
For a while I grew up the son of a Swedish sharecropper in North Dakota and I got on a toboggan in January and there was a prevailing wind out of the northwest which blew me down to Minneapolis and it just seemed like too much effort to go back. And they didn't seem as if they would miss me anyway so I stayed here.
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September 3, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
Fall is in the air. The last of the gardens being brought in--bumper crops of tomatoes. Irene Bunsen had the great satisfaction this week of walking out of her back gate, out of her garden, and across the alley, and down the way, and into the back gate of her brother-in-law Clarence Bunsen.
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August 27, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's gotten very cold there this last week. The temperature's been highs in the 20s. Cold, bitterly cold weather. It's the kind of weather we're used to. The Northern Lights have been so beautiful--these tongues of green, tips of orange at night.
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August 20, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
We've had snow out there. We had about a foot and a half of snow here this last week, which just sort of killed some people who are just tired of winter. But it snowed anyway, despite their objections.
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August 13, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
We got a little snow out there this last week -- six inches, but we don't care. We're not shoveling. The shovel's been put away. The snowplow is parked in the garage; Bud is not going to bring it out. That snow, it's just going to have to melt on its own.
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August 6, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
The tundra swans came in this week -- hundreds of them. Beautiful white birds came sailing in and landed on the lake. They spend the winter in North Carolina -- most of them -- and they're on their way up to their breeding grounds, which is in the Canadian arctic.
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July 30, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
Clint Bunsen sneezed so hard he threw his back out and he had to miss work for the rest of the week. At the Sidetrack Tap Wally, behind the bar, sneezed with such force that he blew a cigar the whole length of the bar.
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July 23, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It was so hot, a real change of life for people in Lake Wobegon. It is too hot to work -- it just is. And how do you stop doing what you have been practicing to do all of your life?
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July 16, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been beautiful out there this last week. You know, here we are: the end of March, the beginning of April and suddenly it was getting warmer and warmer and the ice was off the lake and the redwing blackbirds were everywhere and the crocus was poking up and still there were people in Lake Wobegon who were saying, "Just you wait, we're gonna get more snow."
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July 9, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been cool up there, been a little bit rainy—but not nearly rainy enough—and so the lake level is still very, very low, which means there's an enormous expanse of beach there.
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July 2, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been hot and humid out there. Some people are sitting around limp in the face of their air conditioners with their arms wrapped around them and a lot of people are not so troubled by 105-degree heat.
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June 25, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been a little wet out there. We got plenty of rain here this last week and it was cool, if that's the sort of weather that you like. It was the summer solstice on Tuesday -- Tuesday around noon.
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June 18, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
Perfect weather -- absolutely beautiful, perfect weather out there. The sort of weather that makes some of us with dark imaginations feel uneasy, as if something is just about to happen on a day so perfect as this.
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June 11, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
The gardens are starting to come in now. The first little radishes are coming in. The first asparagus has been cut already -- a great delicacy.
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June 4, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been gorgeous, just like it is here today -- temperatures in the 70s and blue skies, the smell of lilacs in the air. It's just perfect, perfect days that two months ago we would have spent a king's ransom to go elsewhere to find.
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May 28, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been gorgeous, beautiful weather. The lilacs are in bloom now -- that clean, sweet smell of lilacs in the air, the smell of fresh-cut alfalfa as well.
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May 21, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been a cold spring. Tuesday morning here, the temperature was five above zero, which was the lowest low from that day in history and the high temperature was 13, which was the lowest high in history.
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May 14, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
Spring, spring. Spring came in -- came in on Monday, came in with that gorgeous spring thunderstorm. You never get tired of these gorgeous spring thunderstorms.
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May 7, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been warm out there. We've seen the first butterflies. The first wood ticks have shown up. The daffodils are up. The crocuses are even starting to fade right now.
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Apr. 30, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been chilly this last week and we got a little snow on Tuesday, snow after Easter--and Easter was late this year.
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Apr. 23, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It was warm. The week started out warm and then we got some snow here on Tuesday and we just ignored it, of course -- as you would ignore an embarrassing relative.
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Apr. 16, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
The crocuses are up and the tulips are up, and then we got a little bit of snow overnight but nobody said a word about it.
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Apr. 9, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been warm out there, and sunny. It's been up in the 60s -- not all week, of course.
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Apr. 2, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
We are happy it is warmer; it is beautiful to see green grass again.
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Mar. 26, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It is spring; we had a little snow, 6 inches, but we are not going to clear it as the shovels have been put away.
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Mar. 19, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
We were hit by an enormous snowstorm on Thursday.
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Mar. 12, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
The snow has melted a great deal except for stubborn show that hangs out deep in the woods.
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Feb. 26, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
It is snowing again, despite people's objections.
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Feb. 19, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
The snow is melting and people are able to walk around town again.
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Feb. 12, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
We need snow this time of the year, everyone gets cranky during the month of February.
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Feb. 05, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
Our skin and politeness is becoming thin and crackling as the winter goes on.
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Jan. 29, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
School teacher Margie stays home under her quilts in a form of hybernation to escape the winter.
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Jan. 22, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
Danger and cold weather brings out humor in Lake Wobegon.
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Jan. 15, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
The slick roads in Lake Wobegon makes for some sudden introductions.
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Jan. 08, 2011: The News from Lake Wobegon
Pastor Liz tends to Mr Carny's final moments.
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Dec. 31, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Lunar Eclipse
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Dec. 25, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Four memorable Christmases.
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Dec. 18, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility prepares for their annual Christmas pageant, minus the "slaughter of the innocents" from last year.
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Dec. 11, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Lutheran's don't like to pretend to be happy, they would rather just stay home.
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Dec. 4, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
In Lake Wobegon, even a huge snowfall doesn't cancel events - most of which would bring more pleasure if they were cancelled.
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Nov. 27, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Thanksgiving in Lake Wobegon brought fresh snow and a stream of exiles returning home.
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Extra download! Guy Noir
Guy visits Saint Augustine where he is given a offer that is difficult to resist from Rupert Murdoch.
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Nov. 20, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
33 years after embezzling $200K from the Lake Wobegon State Bank, 92 year old Myrtle Anderson wants to come back home.
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Nov. 13, 2010: The News from Lake Wobe
The first large snowfall of the year finds Lake Wobegon residents unprepared.
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Nov. 6, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
In Lake Wobegon, the review of a 100 year old football game reveals the long-held belief that the ground upon which it was played is cursed.
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Oct. 30, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's Halloween in Lake Wobegon, things get crazy, and we all learn a valuable lesson.
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Oct. 23, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Recollections of a trip to Aunt Eva & Uncle Jack’s farm about chickens, sad songs and a 30 foot fall (in the buff) from the haymow.
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Oct. 16, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Marilyn Tollerud decides not to go commercial with her famous pumpkin bread.
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Oct. 9, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Pastor Liz makes her way around town and loses $200 bucks in the Side Track Tap.
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Oct. 2, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The Lake Wobegon Leonards lose their big homecoming game and the folks in town react to fall and cooler weather settling in.
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Sept. 25, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Clint and Irene Bunsen are away in Indiana, and the tomatoes in their yard are just perfect. But they won't last. So the folks in Lake Wobegon turn to pastor Liz for the right thing to do.
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Sept. 18, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Dorothy at the Chatterbox Caf is raising eyebrows with a new hairdo.
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Sept. 11, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
A review of summer vacations -- the historical low point of any good Lutheran's year.
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Sept. 4, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Fall settles in around Lake Wobegon, which is a good thing, because we could only bear so much summer.
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Aug. 28, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The wild grapes are ripe along the East side of the lake and the Schroeder's have set about making their wild grape wine.
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Aug. 21, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The smell of freshly mowed grass becomes Proust's madeleine, conjuring up memories of young love on a summer afternoon.
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Aug. 14, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Tuna hotdish calls a boy home to his mother.
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Aug. 7, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The Krepsbach's septic system has reached red-alert status, and somehow a 1937 Chevy figures into the solution to their problem.
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July 31, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The story of Myrtle Anderson's plan to embezzle a quarter-million dollars from The First Inqvist State Bank.
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July 24, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It was the fishing opener in Lake Wobegon, and conversation in Carl Krepsbach's boat turned to marriage...
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July 17, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
In Lake Wobegon, summertime is the perfect time to read a good book.
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July 10, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
A bikini-clad water skier knocks the socks off a young pastor, literally.
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Jul. 3, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Just one mosquito can ruin an entire evening.
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June 26, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It was incredibly hot in Lake Wobegon this week, and we're just not used to that.
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June 19, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The sky was an ominous color during last week's big rainstorm, and everyone in Lake Wobegon went to get their video cameras to capture the moment.
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June 12, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
School is out for summer, and the principal is getting nervous at the graduation ceremony...
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Jun. 5, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been rainy in Lake Wobegon this week, which is good, because it simplifies life by eliminating some of your options.
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May 29, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
There's a big bright moon in the sky, and a man on the radio talking about nothing.
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May 22, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's almost summer, and the citizens of Lake Wobegon are enjoying the warm weather... but not too much.
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May 15, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The folks in Lake Wobegon are so excitable, they need to ease into spring, which is why nobody really minds the cold temperatures.
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May 8, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It was cold this week, and the wind knocked all the blossoms off the plum trees.
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May 1, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
This week in Lake Wobegon, the smell of lilacs permeates the air, and a bright full moon keeps everyone awake at 2:30 in the morning.
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Apr. 24, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The first rhubarb pie came out of the oven this week, and it led to a whole mess of gossip.
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Apr. 17, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The news this week gets cut short by breaking news: the results from the Battle of The Bands talent show voting.
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Apr. 10, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been warm enough for all normal purposes, so people in Lake Wobegon have been sleeping with their windows open.
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Apr. 3, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It hit 80 degrees in Lake Wobegon, and the voices of gloom, doom, and heartbreak have faded away.
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Mar. 27, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
They're calling it spring in Lake Wobegon... but everybody knows it's going to snow again.
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Mar. 20, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Barn rage. It happens more often than you think.
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Mar. 13, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
A story about Garrison's time as the student manager of the Golden Gopher football team at the University of Minnesota.
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Mar. 6, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
A cautionary tale from Lake Wobegon Elementary School about serving greasy sausage pizza for lunch.
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Feb. 27, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
The closer we get to spring, the more disgruntled people become.
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Feb. 20, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been warm, (in the 30s) so everyone in Lake Wobegon is acting like it's spring.
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Feb. 13, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
Over at Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery, they've put up a display of Swiss chocolates in heart-shaped boxes.
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Feb. 4, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
People get down this time of winter, and we think too hard about things. Maybe switching the windshield washer fluid from blue to orange will help.
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Jan. 30, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's been so cold in Lake Wobegon... you probably don't even want to hear about it.
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Jan. 23, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
This far into winter, there's very little self-consciousness about how people look...
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Jan. 16, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
It's the middle of January, and folks are coming down with a severe case of cabin fever.
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Jan. 9, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
One upside of cold weather: it's a good excuse to not attend certain social obligations.
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Jan. 2, 2010: The News from Lake Wobegon
In Lake Wobegon, the story of Margie Krepsbach checking herself into a hotel for Mother's Day to watch movies.
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Dec. 26, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
Four memorable Christmases...
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Dec. 19, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
Advent is a beautiful time of year, but then we think of Florida and get restless.
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Dec. 12, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
Christmas is a dangerous time of year.
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Dec. 5, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
Pastor Inqvist brings his ministry to the Sidewinder Bar, on request.
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Nov. 21, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
Clint Bunsen restores his primitive senses by hunting alone this year.
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Nov. 14, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
A cautionary tale about the time Irene Bunsen decided to break from the traditional holiday menu.
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Nov. 7, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
The reason marriage was invented was so that we wouldn't have to argue with strangers.
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Oct. 31, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
There's a big pile of pumpkins in front of Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery...
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Oct. 24, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
Lousy mushroom hunting in Lake Wobegon this year.
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Oct. 17, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
Snowed in Lake Wobegon last week. Some people were dismayed, others enchanted.
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Oct. 10, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
When the roads and sidewalks get icy, you need a little something in your pants to lower your center of gravity.
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Oct. 3, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
Smoking can make you mean.
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Sept. 26, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
Good ol' Ragnar (a.k.a. Tiny) ... had a stroke, and went back in time 20 years or so and everything is better.... sings a little flat though.
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Sept. 19, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
The story of Lake Wobegon's most famous dancer, Bob.
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Sept. 12, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
In Lake Wobegon, the rift between Clint and Clarence Bunsen grows and the Petersen car is submerged in the lake.
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Sept. 5, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
How many loons inhabit each lake in Minnesota?
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Aug. 29, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
In Lake Wobegon, Mr. Hoppe gets a new terrier, Loretta, who rides shotgun in his car wearing her seat belt, of course.
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Aug. 22, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
The little ones are off to Zion Bible Camp...
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Aug. 15, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
In Lake Wobegon, Judy Inqvist volunteers to chaperone the sophomore class to the zoo in order to gather material for a poem she's writing.
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Aug. 8, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
The latest from the epicenter of news in Lake Wobegon, the Bon Marche Beauty Salon.
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Aug. 1, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
What constitutes a Lutheran summer vacation... or not.
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Jul. 25, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
The story of an exile, Eugene Rose, who comes home to his family's lake cabin.
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Jul. 18, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
The story of Herman the Human Lightning Rod, survivor of seven atmospheric discharges.
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Jul. 11, 2009: The News from Lake Wobegon
The story of Uncle Sigurd who went to France to paint nudes.
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- American Public Media
- English
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