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The Minnesota Landscape

FAdams — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:41:35 -0500

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum invites all Carver County residents to come and enjoy the arboretum gardens and facilities – free of charge – on Carver County Day, set for Thursday, June 26.

All county residents will be granted free admission and receive a commemorative treat on this special day, which is presented by Entegris. Special features of the day include guided nature hikes and informative booths highlighting county services and programs.

The following county departments will participate: Land and Water Services, Public Health, Sheriff, County Attorney, Minnesota Extension, Veterans Service, Carver County Library, Environmental Services, GIS and Historical Society. Displays will address the Carver County Comprehensive Plan, emergency preparedness, composting and the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Plus, attendees will have a chance to check out a sheriff’s patrol vehicle.

Cookies and lemonade will be provided at 1:30 p.m. and ice cream will be served at 3 p.m.
Guided walking tours will be offered, and the tram will be running at 2, 3:30 and 6 p.m. Master gardeners will give presentations at 2 and 6 p.m., and answer questions informally throughout the day. Representatives from 4H will offer a hands-on activity for youth between 5 and 7 p.m. Also, beginning at 6:15 p.m., the Arboretum will be presenting “Stories of the World Tree” with storyteller Kari Tauring as part of its “Tunes & Tales in the Trees” series on the Trex deck/Ordway Shelter.

Check out the latest information about Carver County parks and enter to win an annual park pass. Residents also will have the opportunity to win a rain barrel from Environmental Services.

CART ride buses will be offered to Carver County seniors free of charge to the Arboretum in the afternoon. For more information, call the CART office at 952-466-5260.

If you reside in Carver County, we invite you to “carve out” some time for the Arboretum on June 26! For further information, call (952) 361-1503.

Excerpt from story by

FAdams — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:30:56 -0500

Excerpt from story by Forrest Adams

The building the Herb Bloomberg designed by drawing sketches on napkins is charming, Scallen admitted. But therein lies the dilemma that dinner theater staff must face every day and night as they rush about trying to deliver 1,250 warm meals to guests on multiple levels in several different theaters within an hour-and-a-half time period.

“Part of what gives it its charm is also a nemesis… I marvel every night that we’re able to complete the mission as well as we do… We’re very cramped, but we make due… It causes us to be very, very creative… The investment that we’ve had to put in it in the last few years is staggering for a 40-year-old building… It’s sort of a mixed blessing. Part of the strange design also gives this place an incredible amount of charm,” Scallen said.

Sentimentality aside, what worked when the building was constructed doesn’t work anymore, at least from a business standpoint.

As inherent problems with an old building have resulted in adjustments by the staff and new systems have developed to help them cope with the difficulties, the biggest problem remains. Scallen said the main theater is too small. It seats 577 people, but in today’s competitive environment, main theaters need “at least 1,000 seats to be able to make money.”

“You could get away with 600 seats 20 years ago,” Scallen said. “Well, they couldn’t get away with it 20 years ago because they had to sell it. But it’s even more strained now.”

“Like every business, it’s a far more competitive market. We also compete as much for people’s time as we do for their money. If you go up north to your cabin, you’re not available to come here. If you go to the fair, we can’t sell you something… We look at everything as being our competitor. We want to be the most inviting, most entertaining entity that we can.”

Chanhassen Dinner Theatre generates about 250,000 people in its current facility. Popular shows, like Grease or Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, sell out, and Scallen said they could sell a couple thousand more seats during the weekends.

“But we don’t have the seats to sell,” he added.

... Clayton Johnson from The Bloomberg Companies said on Tuesday afternoon that he’s working closely with four Twin Cities companies that are interested in developing the 12.5-acre Bloomberg property in Chanhassen, of which Chanhassen Dinner Theatres is a part...

“There’s no shortage of developers. They need to know if the theater is going to be there or not there. A development plan could go forward. That’s been the problem. There hasn’t been a lack of cooperation from the city. Is the theater going to be here? We need to answer that basic question. If the theater goes, then you’ve got a blank sheet of paper.”

E-mail correspondence from

FAdams — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:22:09 -0500

E-mail correspondence from Councilor Bethany Tjornhom:

The Chanhassen Dinner Theater has been an essential and dearly loved member of the Chanhassen family for many years. They've certainly put our town on the national map and the community responded with great support for the Dinner Theater through increased sales and attendance.

The success of the Dinner Theater, much like that of our town, means it now must seriously deliberate its need to expand. These growing pains mean consideration of some very hard questions. Still, I am confident and optimistic that the Theater, the community and the city can and will work together to find a positive solution for all.

Let’s hope that the

Villager Reader — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:00:06 -0500

Let’s hope that the lifeguards do a much better job of watching the water this year.

At the May 12 Chanhassen

FAdams — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:10:42 -0500

At the May 12 Chanhassen City Council meeting a Carver County official, Steve Taylor, called the service center "a project that has been somewhat of a struggle."

"We have looked at so many different sights and building configurations," Taylor said, adding that at last: "We really have a great facility for the residents of Chanhassen and Carver County."

"We’re going to have a greeter greet people when they come in and point them in the right direction," he said.

Council Jerry McDonald commented: "I think it’s long overdue. It will be well used and I think greatly appreciated.

Councilor Bethany Tjornhom said she thinks it will be a good tool for bringing more people into the downtown area and said she's looking forward to doing her transactions there.

Community Development Director Kate Aanenson added: “We’re excited about the location.” She called the planned building architecture very nice and highly articulated.

More well news City

FAdams — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:06:12 -0500

More well news

City councilors Monday night approved the redevelopment of one well and the rehabilitation of another.

Well 3 had problems last summer because of the high demand. The well pump yield had to be decreased about 250 gallons per minute, due to sand from the aquifer getting sucked into the well pump. The sand was displaced because of the high water demand and heavy draw-down of the aquifer.

The project that councilors approved will cost the city about $34,175. It will result in redevelopment of the well open hole and removal of approximately 50 cubic yards of sand. The pump is also proposed to be lowered 40 feet deeper into the aquifer to potentially gain more yield from the well.

Well 7 is on the rotation to be serviced. There is no empirical evidence that would lead city staff to believe there's anything wrong with it, but well pumps are recommended to be serviced approximately every 8 years to extend the life of the pumps and motors. This well has not had major service completed on it for more than 8 years. This work will cost the city about $24,335.

Read about the current

FAdams — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:59:49 -0500

Read about the current status of this and two new wells in this week's print edition of the Chanhassen Villager.

Best poem ever. Thanks for

Karla — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:29:19 -0500

Best poem ever. Thanks for the smile this wintry morning.

Colfax fills in all the

eastj1 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:59:32 -0500

Colfax fills in all the empty cracks of life....

Colfax!!!! All the way!!!

geocisme — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:27:56 -0600

Colfax!!!! All the way!!!

Are they the Lake Street

FAdams — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:46:07 -0600

Are they the Lake Street Boys?

Light pole installation at

FAdams — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:20:33 -0600

Light pole installation at Lake Ann Park began last fall. Contractors are adding a total of 22 new light poles around baseball/softball and soccer fields in the park.

"When you light a ballfield, it nearly doubles your capacity for games," said Chanhassen Park and Recreation Director Todd Hoffman. "We're continuing our efforts to increase our field capacity for youth and adult activities."

A shelter is also going up. It will be called Park View Picnic Shelter and will have a capacity of 100-400 people.

The lighting is scheduled for completion by April 15, and the shelter by the middle of May.

Notice the icicles hanging

FAdams — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:59:15 -0600

Notice the icicles hanging from Toohey's hat.

I've never seen so many frozen beards, faces and hats as I saw watching Mora Vasaloppet skiers cross the finish line. When I got to the Main Street and walked over to the path of snow that skiers went across to finish the race, Toohey happened to be finishing.

Always on duty, I shot him with my digital camera and told him I'm from the Chanhassen Villager.

Why was I there? It wasn't to see Dave Toohey, although that was fun. Actually, my mother took part in the race. She's 54, lives in Mora, and finished #249 with a time of 4:38:10. That was about one hour after Toohey. Needless to say, waiting for her was a cold experience.

Keep making progress toward

FAdams — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:14:41 -0600

Keep making progress toward your Eagle Scout, guys. You'll be thankful you did when it's all said and done, and you've got the rank of Eagle.

Has anybody asked the

FAdams — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:06:39 -0600

Has anybody asked the question: How legitimate is the fishing contest when the largest fish didn't win because DNR regulations mandate that it get thrown back into the water immediately because it's too big?