Maple Grove's Only Newspaper of Record—Vol. 1 No. 25—Edited by Mr. Ellison, Town Archivist & Historian
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
The nights have turned cold enough to talk about and not yet cold enough to matter. The low forties, most mornings, and no frost. The township has spent the week waiting for it the way it waits for a verdict, with the mums covered every evening and uncovered every morning, and a general sense that whatever happens next will be somebody else's fault.
On Thursday it was the first of October. By seven that evening a good many chimneys in the village were smoking, though the thermometer outside this office read fifty-four degrees. This editor asked several residents why they had lit a fire. Every one of them gave the same answer, which was that it was October. One of these fires produced more smoke indoors than out, and is recorded in the proper section.
It was also Homecoming Week at Maple Grove High. Last week this newspaper reported on Homecoming at the college, which takes place on the college's property and is none of the village's business. The high school's Homecoming is entirely the village's business, and the community conducted it in full: a spirit day every day, a pep assembly in the gym, a parade down Main on Friday afternoon, the game on Friday night, and the dance tonight. Wednesday was Twin Day. Officer Markle reports that his own twins, who are twenty-one months old and have dressed alike every day of their lives without being asked, did not see what the fuss was about.
The Homecoming court was elected by the student body on Monday. Readers will recall that seven young men ran the length of the home bleachers at the previous Friday's game in their underwear and the school colors, and that they are now serving community service on Main Street on Saturday mornings. One of those seven young men was elected to the Homecoming court. This editor is unable to say whether the students voted for him in spite of the halftime or because of it. The young man will not be named here, at his grandmother's request.
The school took the position that the court belongs to the students. His parents took the position that the parade and the game were acceptable and that the dance was a separate question. On Friday afternoon he rode down Main Street on the back of a convertible at four miles an hour, waving, while the children along the curb scrambled for the candy thrown by the driver. On Saturday mornings for the next four weeks at eight a.m. he will be back on the same street with a broom, under the supervision of Officer Sanchez, keeping the streets, parks, and sidewalks clean. His mother has ruled that he may attend the dance if the curbs are clean. This editor intends to be on Main Street at eight, and expects company.
The Bulldogs won the game by a comfortable margin, which this newspaper reports as a matter of record and not of news. The halftime is described below. The Homecoming queen was crowned at midfield with the same crown every Maple Grove queen has worn since 1952. The crown is described below as well. It has earned it.
📜 POLICE BLOTTER
MAPLE GROVE POLICE DEPARTMENT—INCIDENT REPORT
Reporting Officer: Officer Markle Week of: September 26–October 2
Maple Grove High School Athletic Field—Halftime, Homecoming Game. Reported by Officer Markle. At the request of the band director, Mr. Robinson, four officers were posted for the halftime period: two at the gate behind the concession stand, one at each end of the track, and Chief Carter in the home bleachers. The band performed its halftime show in full, from the first note to the last, on the field, without interruption. Mr. Robinson stated afterward that it had been "a while." Final Disposition: Nothing happened. Officer Markle asks that it be recorded.
Birch Lane—Smoke in a Residence. Reported by Officer Wilson. At approximately 7:15 p.m. Thursday, a resident reported heavy smoke inside the home shortly after lighting the first fire of the season. Officer Wilson responded with the Maple Grove Volunteer Fire Department and found the fireplace damper closed. The outdoor temperature at the time was fifty-four degrees. Asked why the fire had been lit, the resident said, "It's October." Final Disposition: Damper opened. Windows opened. Resident advised that it is not yet cold enough to need a fire, and was not cold enough at the time.
📋 COMMUNITY NOTICES
Homecoming Dance—Saturday, 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., high school gymnasium. The dress code will be enforced. The administration has added the words "at all times" to it this year and wishes it known that the change was not made for any particular reason.
Community Service Crew—Saturdays, 8:00 a.m., Main Street. This Saturday's assignment is the parade route. Officer Sanchez will supervise. Chief Carter repeats his request that residents not take photographs, and notes that a request is all it is.
Frost Protection—Gordon's Hardware. Gordon reports that he has frost cloth in stock, in three sizes, and that so far this fall the village has bought none of it. The village is covering its mums with bedsheets, as its mothers did. Gordon asks this editor to add that the frost cloth will still be there when the bedsheets blow into the road.
🏛️ HISTORICAL NOTE
The crown placed on the Homecoming queen's head at midfield on Friday night was ordered from a catalog in the fall of 1952 for four dollars and ten cents. This newspaper reported the purchase at the time and described the crown as "suitable."
It has been worn by every Maple Grove queen since. In that time it has been repaired five times, and each repair is in the bound volumes. In 1961 one of its points was soldered back on by the shop teacher. In 1974 a second point was replaced entirely by the shop class, and does not quite match. In 1988 eleven of its stones were glued back in after the crown was dropped on the gym floor during the dance. In 1997 it was straightened. In 2003 it was sat on, by whom the Gazette did not report, and was straightened again.
On three occasions the same crown has been worn by a mother and later her daughter. On one occasion it has been worn by a grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter. All three were in attendance on Friday night. The grandmother is reported to have said that it looks smaller than she remembers.
The crown has outlasted the gymnasium it was first worn in, the scoreboard, two sets of bleachers, and the catalog company. It is kept in the trophy case outside the principal's office between Homecomings. This editor has examined it there. It is not a fine object. It has never been asked to be one. This editor offers the record without further comment.
🔍 Fellow Sleuths Worth Following
Murder at the Harbor Bake-Off by Nora Brinkley
The first annual Harbor Bake-Off, a celebrated baker dead in the prep kitchen, and a piping bag that isn't hers. The whole town says heart attack. Bailey the labradoodle disagrees. If you've ever trusted a dog's read on a room over the crowd's, Greystone Harbor is your kind of town.
FREE READS—OCTOBER TITLES
October's free shelf is up. It's the right month for a body in the cornfield and a blanket you have no intention of folding.
Browse October’s Free Books →
🍽️ THE MAIN COURSE
Every October, someone in a small town decides that what the town really needs is a fresh start. In Maple Grove, that someone showed up with glowing vegetables and linen robes.
That's Harvest of Shadows and Dark Brews. The Grove Collective moves in on the edge of town. Their leader, Eliad, is calm. Too calm. And Lisa, who has never once in her life been calm, falls for all of it. Within a week she's traded her wardrobe for linen and is talking about auras at the café counter.
Jenna would like to be supportive. Then a college student overdoses on a tonic that leads straight back to The Grove, and supportive is off the table.
So it's Jenna, Mildred, Joe, and one old Jeep, going places none of them should go, to get her best friend back.
It's Book 3. It's the most October thing I've written. And Biscuit's Biscuits are in the back, if your dog has been good this harvest season.
Book 1, Scones, Secrets & Sabotage, is free →
✍️ Behind the Scenes
Last week I told you I was done with the yard and would be admiring the deck from inside. The yard didn't get the memo. Every sunny afternoon this week I've been back out there with the borders, the planters, and the deck, and I've accepted that this goes on until the frost tells me to stop.
One of my granddaughters turned ten this week. Double digits. I'm not sure how that's allowed, since I was holding her as a baby about five minutes ago.
And Peanut, the kitten who turned up in the brush west of the house last month, is no longer a guest. She's family. She's eating well, growing fast, and pouncing on anything that moves, including Charlie, who is handling it with more grace than I expected.
See you next Saturday, fellow sleuths—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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