Maple Grove Gazette - June 27, 2026
Maple Grove's Only Newspaper of Record—Vol. 1 No. 11—Edited by Mr. Ellison, Town Archivist & Historian
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
Father's Day arrived last Sunday under a sky so agreeable it seemed almost to be showing off, and Maple Grove observed the occasion in the manner it has perfected over the decades: barbecues lit in nearly every backyard, the air thick with the smell of charcoal and good intentions, and the fathers of the town arrayed in fresh regalia announcing their rank. This editor counted, in the course of a single morning's walk, four mugs, two ball caps, and one t-shirt, each declaring its wearer the holder of the title #1 Dad—a distinction the Gazette is pleased to report was claimed without contest, there being, by long custom, no second place.
It was, for the better part of the day, a portrait of peace. This editor would like it entered into the record that the peace held until roughly half past three in the afternoon, at which hour it left Elm Street at considerable speed and did not return.
The particulars belong to the Blotter, where they have been set down with the gravity they have earned. This editor will confine himself here to the matter of the footage. It is the modern misfortune of any public spectacle that it is now recorded, and the recording of last Sunday's events was uploaded to the internet, by parties unknown, before the dust had so much as settled on Elm Street. By Monday it had been viewed a number of times this editor declines to print, on the grounds that he does not entirely believe it. It was at Brewed Awakenings that the footage achieved its fullest reception, Lisa having produced it on her telephone for the benefit of Mildred and Gordon, who watched it through twice and then, this editor is told, a third time at Mildred's insistence. Mildred's appraisal of the proceedings has been requested for print by no fewer than four readers. The Gazette has elected to preserve the sharpest of it in the archives, where her finest observations are kept safe from litigation and the easily scandalized, and will report only that she predicted half the town would require therapy, and that she did not appear, herself, to be among them.
📜 POLICE BLOTTER
Chief Carter reports no arrests, no citations, and one incident he describes as "the most ground covered, by the most parties, over the smallest object, in the history of this department."
The matter began as a gift. Dan Harper—local husband, father of three, and the man who has, over the years, quietly insured a good portion of this town—received on Father's Day a remote-piloted aircraft of the recreational sort, a thing he is reported to have wanted for several years and was, by every account, delighted to finally hold. He took his children into the backyard for its maiden voyage. The aircraft achieved flight. It cleared the trees. For a period the Gazette estimates at four minutes, the venture was an unqualified success, and Mr. Harper had every reason to believe he had mastered the device.
He had not reckoned on the wind. A gust—rogue, sudden, and uncommonly strong for the afternoon—took the aircraft over the fence and out of his control entirely, at which point Mr. Harper did what any devoted father would do, which was to give chase on foot down Elm Street, controller held aloft, eyes fixed on the sky. He was not, for long, alone. Fire Chief Jim Kelly's Belgian Malinois, Xena, observing a grown man running and a small object fleeing, arrived at the only conclusion available to a dog of her temperament: that a game of the highest order was underway and that she had been, somehow, left out of it. She passed Mr. Harper within the first block. She gained on the aircraft over the second.
What followed has been described by witnesses in terms the Gazette finds difficult to improve upon. As the aircraft dipped low over the property of the Trembley family, Xena ascended the hood of their newly purchased pickup truck and launched herself over the fence beyond it, clearing both in a single motion several witnesses have called "the finest thing they have ever seen a dog do." The aircraft, descending, came to rest in a quantity of laundry hung out to dry. Xena seized the aircraft in her teeth without breaking stride—and departed the scene, this editor must report, with a floral dress and certain articles of a more personal nature trailing behind her like the tail of a kite.
The owner of the laundry gave chase, voicing both her objections and her intention to pursue the matter through every channel available to her. Chief Kelly, summoned by the commotion and calling for his dog, was spared what this editor understands would have been a lengthy conversation by the timely arrival of an unrelated emergency: a porch fire, two streets over, traced to a new grill positioned with more enthusiasm than wisdom against the side of a house. Chief Kelly and Xena departed for it at once, the latter still in possession of the aircraft.
No charges have been filed. The aircraft, this editor is told, survived. The dress remains a matter of some sensitivity, and the Gazette—mindful that the complainant's wardrobe has occupied this column before—will note only that it has been recovered, and leave the rest to the discretion of those involved.
📋 COMMUNITY NOTICES
SPECIAL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING A special meeting of the Village Council has been called for this coming Wednesday evening, the agenda consisting chiefly of three proposed ordinances, each of which this editor notes has arrived suspiciously soon after last Sunday. The first would establish a designated "drone zone" at Centennial Park, where operators of recreational aircraft may fly to their hearts' content and, the Council hopes, well clear of the town's laundry. The second would require all outdoor grills to be kept no fewer than ten feet from any structure—a standard Gordon reports he has, in effect, been enforcing at his own register since Sunday. The third would prohibit the hanging of undergarments out of doors. All three are expected to pass. One resident, overheard on the subject of the third, allowed that any ordinance sparing the public the trauma of a certain homeowner's "circus tent drawers" had his wholehearted support; the Gazette records the sentiment and declines, as ever, to name the source.
HARPER INSURANCE Dan Harper wishes the town to know that he is sincerely and personally sorry to everyone affected by the events of Sunday afternoon, and that any resident who suffered property damage in the course of them should file a claim without hesitation, as he intends to see each one processed promptly and without fuss. He thanks Maple Grove for its patience and, this editor notes, its restraint.
GORDON'S HARDWARE Gordon reports that he carries touch-up paint matched to most makes and models of motor vehicle, and has set aside a tube for the Trembley family at no charge, "on account of the circumstances." He reminds the gentlemen who received new grills on Sunday that a grill belongs a good arm's length from the house, the porch, and anything else a man would be sorry to lose, and that he stocks fire extinguishers by the register for those who learned this lesson the more memorable way.
MAPLE GROVE FIRE DEPARTMENT Chief Kelly extends his thanks to the town for its understanding regarding Sunday's events, and reports that Xena is "in good spirits and off active duty pending a refresher on the difference between work and recreation." He adds that the Department would be glad to spend the remainder of the summer at the firehouse, and trusts Wednesday's grill ordinance will help it do so.
FOUND One recreational aircraft, recovered and returned to its owner. Other items recovered Sunday have been restored to their rightful parties, who have asked that the matter be considered closed. The Gazette is pleased to oblige.
🏛️ HISTORICAL NOTE
The chasing of objects through the streets of Maple Grove by its more enthusiastic dogs is, the archive reminds us, a tradition of some standing. The Gazette's predecessor records that in the summer of 1949, a model glider flown at the village green by a boy named Harlan Pruitt was carried off by a farm dog belonging to the Voss family, who returned it three days later, undamaged, having apparently grown attached to it. The boy and the dog were thereafter inseparable, and Harlan went on, the files note, to keep the town's first proper kennel. This editor offers the precedent for whatever comfort it may lend the parties of last Sunday, and observes that Maple Grove has always been a town where a chase, given enough time, tends to end in friendship. He withholds judgment on whether three days will be required in the present case.
🔍 Fellow Sleuths Worth Following
Fellow sleuths, this week we're slipping off the usual map and into a town where the magic is real and quietly coming undone: Feathers of Fading Magic by Tessa Silver, a Quillhaven Cozy Mystery. In the New England town of Quillhaven the animals have gone still, the forest is holding its breath, and the Boundary that's protected the place for generations is unraveling thread by thread. When a wildlife ranger turns up at the Kindred Creatures Refuge with an owl whose feathers have gone ashen—and a runaway girl stumbles out of the woods cradling a fading mother Phoenix and her fledglings—the town's carefully tended magic stops being a private matter and becomes everyone's problem. It's soft, playful enchantment wrapped around a real mystery, and underneath it all a story about belonging, legacy, and the courage it takes to believe the impossible. The series can be read in any order, so this is as good a doorway into Quillhaven as any.
FREE READS—JUNE TITLES
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 festival season—the stretch of summer where every small town worth its salt throws something involving a banner, a folding table, and at least one event nobody fully thought through. Which makes this the perfect week to point you at Parade of Peril, Book 4, the one where Maple Grove runs a festival and a fishing tournament in the same breath and—because this is Maple Grove—turns up a body in the middle of both.
This is the book where Jenna's dad comes back to town, Lisa arrives at the fishing tournament in an outfit that has no business within a hundred yards of a fishing tournament, and Mildred quietly proves, one more time, that she is the most competent person in any room she walks into. I won't tell you who did it. I'll only say the festival makes everything worse before it makes it better, and that the back of the book hides Omar's Gluten-Free Mega Bars recipe, which I can personally vouch for.
If you've been waiting on a Maple Grove book to load up before a long weekend, this is the one I'd hand you first.
New to Maple Grove? Start at the beginning—Book 1, Scones, Secrets & Sabotage, is free → https://BookHip.com/NPNHTDA
✍️ Behind the Scenes
It rained here most of the week, which meant the house quietly reclassified itself as Gigi's Crafting Center and never looked back. The girls painted rocks to tuck into the fairy gardens out in the yard, built pinecone bird feeders and kept a very official tally of every bird that came to investigate, and we spent one whole afternoon growing crystals and pretending we fully understood how. After that it was hours at the craft table—paper, pipe cleaners, stickers, ribbon, and enough tape to supply a small post office—turning out more creations than my refrigerator has room for. All that rain did wonders for the garden, too, so between projects I've been out weeding and fussing over the fruits and vegetables that are going to feed us the rest of the summer. A good week, all told—even if I keep finding marker caps in unlikely places.
That's the Gazette for this week, fellow sleuths—the grills are at a respectful distance, the laundry is back where it belongs, and somewhere in town a Belgian Malinois is reflecting on her choices. 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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