Maple Grove Gazette - May 16, 2026

Maple Grove's Only Newspaper of Record — Vol. 1 No. 5 — Edited by Mr. Ellison, Town Archivist & Historian

FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

Mother's Day weekend in Maple Grove proceeded, this editor is pleased to report, with the kind of weather one prays for and rarely receives. Sunshine arrived on schedule. The breeze conducted itself with civility. Brunch lines at Brewed Awakenings exceeded the café's seating capacity by a comfortable margin, and the picnic tables at Memorial Park were, by mid-afternoon Sunday, fully occupied by families who had brought, between them, enough cake to embarrass a wedding.

It is, as readers will be aware, also the final week of the school year for the senior students. The Maple Grove High graduation ceremony is scheduled for Thursday evening, and dress rehearsal in the gymnasium has already produced one item of note—which is shared in the Community Notices, below.

The annual canoe race takes place this Saturday. Civic interest is, as ever, high. Civic complaint is, this editor is told, also high — Charlene having taken a renewed and very personal interest in this year's county fair produce categories, with consequences that have already prompted the Foster family to place an order for fencing of a height not previously seen in their part of town.

Full report follows.

📜 POLICE BLOTTER

THE IRON CREEK BEAVER INCIDENT

Saturday, May 9 — Iron Creek, Salenbeam Property to Walter Farm

The Maple Grove Men's Club volunteers, who by long-standing tradition scout the Iron Creek route in advance of the annual canoe race, conducted their reconnaissance run last Saturday morning. The water level was reported as "noticeably higher than the same week in any of the previous five years," a determination the volunteers reached without instruments and which, this editor is told, was confirmed by two separate volunteers who got their pants wet when they stepped into the water to check for any hazards, and found the tops of their hip-waders below the water level.

The cause was identified at approximately the route's halfway point. A single beaver—referred to in subsequent club correspondence as "the engineer"—had felled every aspen on the Salenbeam property and assembled the resulting timber into what one volunteer described as "a structure with intent." The runoff had been directed, with what this editor must concede was admirably efficient design, into one of Mr. Walter's back fields. Mr. Walter had planted that field exactly one week prior.

A volunteer placed a courtesy call to Mr. Walter that afternoon to alert him to the condition of the field. Mr. Walter, this editor is told, received the news without enthusiasm.

The matter, however, did not end there. The same volunteer received a call back from Mr. Walter the following day. Mr. Walter, in the volunteer's reporting, indicated that he and the beaver had "come to an understanding," and that the canoe race was cleared to proceed as scheduled. The nature of the understanding was not disclosed. Officer Wilson, when consulted, declined to investigate further on the grounds that "there is no indication that any laws have been broken by Mr. Walter or the beaver."

Final Disposition: River clear. Race on. Field condition pending. The engineer remains at large and, by all accounts, undisputed.

📋 COMMUNITY NOTICES

MAPLE GROVE HIGH—GRADUATION CEREMONY

The Maple Grove High School graduation ceremony will take place Thursday evening at 6:00 PM in the school gymnasium. Doors open at 5:30. The Gazette extends its congratulations, in advance, to the graduating class.

This editor must report, however, that dress rehearsal earlier this week did not pass without incident. Conditions in the gymnasium were, by all accounts, unseasonably warm. One member of the graduating class, in what the principal has described as "a deeply human response to a profoundly mismanaged thermostat," elected to reduce the number of layers worn beneath his graduation gown to a number this editor will not specify. The decision, this editor is told, was working perfectly until the steps leading up to the stage—at which point a misstep was made, the gown reasserted its independence, and a brief but vivid moment was witnessed by an estimated forty students, three teachers, and the school's photographer, who was assessing the best spot from which to photograph the ceremony.

This editor declines to elaborate. The student in question has been counseled. The gymnasium thermostat has been serviced. His mother, the Gazette is reliably informed, has already purchased a lighter weight shirt and slacks for the pending ceremony.

ANNUAL CANOE RACE—SATURDAY

The annual Maple Grove Men's Club Canoe Race will take place this Saturday on the Iron Creek route, conditions permitting (see Police Blotter, above). Spectators are welcome at the finish line. Refreshments will be available, and the Gazette is told that the race committee has, this year, "made provisions" for the possibility that the “engineer” may take a renewed interest in the proceedings.

MOMMY & ME—TUESDAY MORNING AT BREWED AWAKENINGS

The Maple Grove Mommy & Me group will gather Tuesday at 10:00 AM at Brewed Awakenings. Coffee, conversation, and the café's spring menu will be plentiful. Strollers will be parked, this editor is reminded, "in an orderly fashion on the sidewalk," by request of the proprietor.

A FOSTER PROPERTY UPDATE

The Foster family has, the Gazette is told, placed an order for an eight-foot privacy fence, scheduled for installation this week. Gordon mentioned the order in passing at the café and has confirmed it on the record. Mrs. Foster has been the reigning produce champion at the county fair for, by this editor's count, several consecutive years. Charlene has recently announced, with considerable conviction, that she intends to claim several blue ribbons in this year's produce categories. She has also, coincidentally, taken up a daily walking route that passes the Foster property at a pace one neighbor described as "investigative."

This editor declines to draw a connection between these two developments. The historical record will, presumably, do that for him.

🏛️ HISTORICAL NOTE

This is not the first time produce competition has driven significant landscape modification in Maple Grove. In 1998, a similar dispute between two long-standing fair contestants resulted in the construction of what was, for six years, the tallest hedge ever recorded on the eastern side of town. The hedge came down only after the contestants reconciled at a funeral neither was prepared to attend without the other.

In 1965, the Gazette's predecessor publication—long since defunct—reported that a beaver had stopped traffic on the old Iron Creek bridge for an entire afternoon. The matter was resolved, per the original article, when "a neighbor went down and had a word with him." This editor has consulted the article twice this week, hoping for further detail. None is offered.

This editor offers the historical record without further comment.

🧁 The Main Course—Meet LB Dayton

If you told me a story about a woman who taught yoga for 25 years, ran her own studio for a decade, competes in ballroom dance, served as president of the Colored Pencil Society of America, and also writes cozy mysteries about art heists — I'd say that sounds like a character I wish I'd written.

But LB Dayton is very much real. And she's become one of my favorite people in the cozy mystery world.

The Art Connection

LB's love of art isn't just a hobby that drifts into her writing — it is the writing. Her Chicago-set series follows the world of art galleries, and the mysteries hinge on theft, forgery, and the kind of high-stakes double-crossing that happens behind velvet ropes. If you've ever wandered through a museum and wondered what would happen if someone actually did try to walk out with a painting under their coat... LB has thought about it more than you have. And she's written it beautifully.

What I love about her work is that the art world details feel lived-in. They're not research — they're reflex. When your author has literal colored pencil competition credentials, you can trust the brushstroke details.

The Dancer, The Yogi, The Mystery Writer

Here's the thing about LB: she doesn't do anything halfway. She taught yoga for 25 years and ran her own studio for a decade — she still teaches classes there. She competes in ballroom dance — and I mean competes, not "took a class once at a community center." She's an accomplished artist in her own right.

And then she started writing mysteries.

She's now 14 books deep across two series — the Chicago art gallery cozies and a Dallas-set chef mystery series that has been picking up serious momentum. The woman simply does not stop creating.

Why You Should Read Her

If you love cozies that feel smart without being stuffy, where the setting is as much a character as the sleuth, LB Dayton is your next binge read. Her Chicago series especially scratches that itch for readers who want a mystery world that feels genuinely specific — not a generic small town with interchangeable shops, but a fully realized world built by someone who actually knows the territory.

Start with her art gallery series if you love atmosphere and clever plotting. Start with the Dallas chef series if you want something warm, food-forward, and fast-paced. Either way, you're in excellent hands.

👉 Browse all of LB Dayton's books on Amazon →

👉 Read the full Spotlight on the Gazette →

✍️ Behind the Scenes

Mother's Day weekend at our house was almost embarrassingly perfect—sunshine, no schedule, and HayHay rearranging the patio furniture into what she informed me was "her restaurant." I was given a menu. I was given a bill. I was charged in hugs, which is the only currency she really accepts. Prior to our Mother’s Day cook-out, my daughters and granddaughters joined me for our annual trip to our favorite nursery. We returned home with two truckloads of flowers and vegetables. Spring planting has begun. Joe avoided any and all talk of plants and gardening by spending an exceptionally long time grilling and then cleaning the grill. Charlie supervised from her sunny patch and registered no complaints, which from Charlie counts as a five-star review. I'd take that Sunday on repeat for the rest of the year.

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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