Maple Grove Gazette - June 20, 2026
Maple Grove's Only Newspaper of Record—Vol. 1 No. 10—Edited by Mr. Ellison, Town Archivist & Historian
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
Father's Day arrives this Sunday, and Maple Grove has entered its annual season of strategic misunderstanding, in which every father in town announces he wants nothing and every family proceeds, wisely, as though he had said the opposite. This editor has watched the ritual play out for more years than he intends to confess in print, and remains quietly moved by it: the fathers do not mean it, the families know they do not mean it, and a great show is made of everyone being surprised on Sunday morning all the same. It is one of the finer customs we keep, and the Gazette would not change a thing about it.
The week's principal event, however, was not a father at all. It was glitter.
On Wednesday, in a spirit of seasonal generosity, Lisa hosted a Father's Day craft workshop at Brewed Awakenings, open to every child in town and whichever parent could be talked into coming along. The project—selected by Lisa over the audible reservations of nearly everyone present—involved glitter, in a quantity this newspaper is not equipped to measure and the café, as it developed, was not equipped to contain. Witnesses report full airborne distribution within four minutes. It is now in the cracks between the floor boards and is clinging to the interior historical brick wall. It was, by one sworn account, in the beard of a man three tables away who took no part in the workshop and had come in only for coffee. Café manager Megan, displaying the decisiveness this paper has long admired in her, confiscated the remaining supply mid-session and placed it under lock and key, where it stays. Lisa maintains the project was "spiritually cleansing." Megan maintains custody.
Mildred observed the whole campaign from her usual table, supplying a running commentary with Belle and Gordon that witnesses describe as drier than the scones and roughly twice as sharp. Her closing remark—delivered as a four-year-old departed wearing considerably more glitter than was glued to the construction paper—has been formally requested for print by three separate readers. The Gazette has elected to preserve it in the archives instead, where the best of Mildred's observations are kept, safe from litigation and the children.
📜 POLICE BLOTTER
Chief Carter reports one citation, no arrests, and a single complaint he describes as "the most time I have ever spent on a matter I cannot do one thing about."
The complaint arrived Thursday from a concerned citizen the Gazette will decline to name, though readers may note her dress was, as ever, memorable. She reported observing—from her vehicle, on the county road—a tractor proceeding through the McGregor fields apparently under the operation of a golden retriever in a ball cap. She wished to know whether this was legal. She wished, further, to know whether the animal was licensed, insured, and aware of the rules of the road.
Chief Carter drove out to the McGregor farm. He reported that the farm is operating "within the law and within reason," declines to characterize the precise division of labor between John McGregor and his livestock, and observes only that the party in question "has a better seat than most licensed drivers in this town and has never once been cited." The Gazette, consulting its archives, can confirm that no Maple Grove ordinance expressly forbids a dog from riding in a tractor cab, wearing a hat, or—should the rows run east and the afternoon light cooperate—appearing, to a nervous motorist, to be steering. We leave the matter there. We leave it there on purpose.
📋 COMMUNITY NOTICES
FATHER'S DAY SERVICE The Methodist church welcomes all for Sunday's Father's Day service. The Men's quartet will provide special music, having rehearsed with an enthusiasm the season did not strictly require. Attendance is encouraged; requests are not being taken.
BREWED AWAKENINGS An old-fashioned sour cream coffee cake with a whiskey-infused glaze will be available for Father’s Day this Sunday; Jenna McGregor advises ordering ahead, as the Maple Grove dads seem to be particularly fond of this treat—”especially when all of the family is present for an entire afternoon.” Patrons are further advised they may encounter glitter on the premises indefinitely. The supply has been secured. The glitter already at large has not.
GORDON'S HARDWARE Grills, tackle, and "the last grill brush a man will ever need" now stocked at the front. Gordon reminds the gentlemen receiving power tools on Sunday that ear protection is available by the register, where he has learned to keep it.
FOUND Several items at Brewed Awakenings are now permanently decorative. They may be claimed, though the Gazette cannot promise they can be restored.
🏛️ HISTORICAL NOTE
Several readers have asked when Father's Day first became a fixture of the town calendar. The Gazette's archives are characteristically vague, recording only that the earliest observance involved a fish fry on the riverbank sometime in the early 1950s, attended by most of the town's fathers and one exceptionally stubborn perch. The perch, by the account in our files, won. The fish fry itself faded over the decades, but its essential spirit—fathers gathered near an open flame, accomplishing very little and entirely content—survives in every backyard in Maple Grove to this day.
🔍 Fellow Sleuths Worth Following
Fellow sleuths, this week's Guest Sleuth Spotlight comes with a passport and a dessert cart: Murder by Meringue by Greta Sinclair. Newlywed food critic Darcy Finnegan wants exactly one murder-free honeymoon in Sydney—harbor lights, winter romance, pavlova under the glow of the Vivid festival. Then a celebrity dessert judge drops dead mid-event, her best friend Lizzie is framed for it, and the only witness keeping his cool is Mozart, a Schnoodle who steals every scene and occasionally cracks the case. Stolen recipes, dockside sugar fraud, and a bonus recipe you can actually make at home.
It's a $0.99 pre-order landing June 26—lock it in now and let it turn up like a present:
FREE READS—JUNE TITLES NOW LIVE
Willow's June Free Books are live on the website—a fresh batch of free cozy mysteries, perfect for loading up the e-reader before the heat sends you indoors with the fan going and the shades drawn. Help yourself:
🍽️ THE MAIN COURSE
It's officially kiddie-pool season, which in my house means one book within arm's reach and a second one hidden where nobody can borrow it. My pick for your towel bag this summer is Harvest of Shadows and Dark Brews—the one where Maple Grove's sunshine picks up a shadow.
This is the book where Lisa stumbles into the closest thing our tidy little town has ever had to a cult, and I won't tell you one inch more than that, because watching it unspool is the whole pleasure. What I will tell you: the coffee is strong, the Jeep earns its keep, Mildred falls back on the training from her mysterious past—and recruits John McGregor for reconnaisance and extraction, and Jenna's "Biscuits!" budget is badly overdrawn by the final chapters.
Same town square you'd recognize from this very newspaper—just with something humming underneath it.
New to Maple Grove? Start at the beginning—Book 1, Scones, Secrets & Sabotage, is free →https://BookHip.com/NPNHTDA
✍️ Behind the Scenes
That's the Gazette for this week, fellow sleuths—the glitter is contained (mostly), the brisket is resting, and Mr. Ellison has retreated to the archives to keep an eye on a perch.
Closer to home, it's a big day at our house: my granddaughter HayHay turns seven today, a number I'm choosing not to examine too closely or I'll need a minute. She's with me all summer and has Big Plans—she's decided we're making videos together, a whole series she's already titled Fun with Gigi and HayHay. I've been informed I'm the co-star, not the director, and honestly that feels exactly right. And because the calendar has a sense of humor, her birthday landed square on Father's Day weekend, so Papa Joe is pulling double duty and loving every second of it.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads keeping their families in good trouble. I'll see you back here next Saturday—same town, new trouble.
— Willow 🌿
Meet Willow
Author, School Board member, and gluten-free baker. I write the Jenna McGregor mysteries from my home in Michigan, fueled by coffee and Peloton PRs.
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