AM 1240 WJON » Best of St. Cloud

Places To Go Sledding In Central Minnesota

Ashli Gerdes — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:00:34 +0000

With snow in the forecast, you may get the chance to put your sled to use this winter. We have put together a list of the various places to sled around the St. Cloud and surrounding area. Check out our list.

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Places To Cross Country Ski In Central Minnesota

Ashli Gerdes — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:00:48 +0000

Central Minnesota is home to many cross country ski trails. We put together a list of the various places you can ski in the area. You can find park information as well as how to become a ski patrol, after the jump.

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10 Great Central Minnesota Businesses to Buy Your Christmas Gifts This Year

Abby Faulkner — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 06:01:09 +0000

We're undoubtedly in the thick of the busiest shopping season of the year, and there are more options than ever before. With the rise in popularity of such shopping holidays as Small Business Saturday," many people are now opting to spend their money at local, independently owned shops.

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Family Friendly Fall Date Ideas

Jen Jacobs — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:21:08 +0000

Just because summer is drawing to a close doesn’t mean you have to hole up inside and live like a hermit until spring. That is, unless you want to, but if you’re looking to get outside and enjoy our beautiful fall weather, here are a few ideas to help you out.

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Best Places in the St. Cloud Area for Easter Brunch – Dick Nelson's Top Five

Dick Nelson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:00:37 +0000

Easter is the ideal time to bring family and friends together for a delicious springtime meal at your favorite restaurant then head home for an energetic egg hunt with the kids. There are many great choices for Easter Brunch in the St. Cloud Area, but here are my Top 5. 5 The 400 Supper Club [...]

Best of the St. Cloud Area

Tim Lyon — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:26:46 +0000

Whether it's where to find the best cup of coffee in the area, the most prominent landmarks or the top places to get an affordable meal, we've got it in our “Best of the St. Cloud Area” guide to Central Minnesota._ Pete Nyblom Famous Landmarks in St. Cloud Explore the landmarks of St. [...]

Best Central Minnesota Golf Courses – Lee's Top Five

Lee Voss — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:28:23 +0000

It won't be long and the birds will be singing, the flowers will be blooming and the grass will be "greening up." It means golf season is near and with that, here is a look at my Top 5 area golf courses to play this year.

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Best Places to Watch Sports on TV in the St. Cloud Area – Jay's Top 5

Jay Caldwell — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:15:52 +0000

Whether it's the Big Game, college ball, hockey or hoops -- where you watch the game DOES make a difference. Here's my list of the best places in the St. Cloud area to watch sports on TV -- and maybe have an adult beverage or three.

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Top 5 Ways to Celebrate Winter in the St. Cloud Area

Jim Maurice — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:33:48 +0000

This winter by all accounts has been a mild one, but from time to time I still hear comments from people grumbling about the cold, or the snow, or both. Come on people we’re Minnesotans, we’re suppose to wear our pride of our long cold winters on our sleeves like a badge of honor. Our ability to survive the cold climate is what sets up apart from the whimps who live down south. So come on folks, join me in getting up off the couch, put on your parka, and participate in our Minnesota winter. Here’s a few suggestions:

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The Most Convincing Haunted Places in Central Minnesota — Our Top 5

Abby Faulkner — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:40:44 +0000

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Best Halloween Events and Attractions in the St. Cloud Area – Our Top 7

Tim Lyon — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:21:10 +0000

I love Halloween. Just love it. There are so many fun things to do with this holiday. (All the spectacle of Christmas without all that pesky gift giving.) So, go get your costume and have some spooky fun at these Best Halloween Events and Attractions in the St. Cloud Area.

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Great Places to Watch the Vikings – Our Top Five

Jim Maurice — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:00:59 +0000

It’s game day, you don’t have tickets, but you’re looking to get out of the house. What do you do? Where do you go? There are plenty of places across the St. Cloud metro area that offer not just a bunch of TVs with the game on, but also food and drink specials, and some even give you a chance to win prizes…

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Little Known Facts About the St. Cloud Area — Our Top Five

Jim Maurice — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:15:25 +0000

This week I took on the task of finding new and interesting tidbits of trivial information about the St. Cloud area. I figured since I've lived in St. Cloud for six years now, and I'm a lifelong Minnesotan, this should be easy! I just went to my computer and started googling. But the

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Ghost Towns: Stearns County Towns that Disappeared from the Map — Our Top Five

Abby Faulkner — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 02:38:06 +0000

So a few weeks back, we explored a smattering of supernatural legends from St. Cloud State University. This time around, I wanted to take a different approach to the concept of haunted spaces, and turn focus to a bunch of real "ghosts" we unknowingly encounter every day - the dissolved, forgotten towns of central Minnesota.

Many of us probably get the same old timey, western-style mental image when we hear the phrase “ghost town” – sepia-toned montages of overgrown, decrepit buildings with punched out floors and collapsed roofs, flanked by cacti and maybe a tumbleweed or two. I’m sure those Hollywood-style colonies are out there somewhere – but really, you won’t find them here in central Minnesota. As a matter of fact, most of the structures in the towns on this map were extinct before the turn of the century.

Like a good ghost story, the forgotten towns of central Minnesota are full of mystery. It took this reporter a few hours of digging around in the spectacularly organized archives of the Stearns History Museum to find the essential maps, facts, dates and photos to prove these places really existed. Now, while I’m crazy about history, research and heavy-duty air conditioning on 90-degree days, I was slightly discouraged when I realized that the vast majority of these towns have one thing in common – hardly ANY documentation exists to describe exactly where they were, what they looked like or who lived there.

Another mystery I quickly uncovered - there's no good reason some of these towns flourished (if only for a while) and others failed almost immediately. These towns (pictured on the above map) were surveyed and settled by enterprising immigrants during the 1850s and 60s, itching to develop profitable commercial trade centers. Some were temporary outposts - they drifted into disrepair and vanished. Others were platted, named and never saw so much as a single building. A handful served as the foundations for towns we know and live in today. Take a close look at the map we've created.

The latter sums up the towns that made this list. May I present for your consideration - and in no particular order - 5 central Minnesota ghost towns that captured and haunted my imagination.

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Famous Sports Figures and Athletes from the St. Cloud Area — Our Top Ten

Tim Lyon — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 06:32:58 +0000

Central Minnesota has produced a number of high-caliber athletes that have left their marks on the sports world. Pro athletes in baseball, football and hockey as well as college football and hockey coaches are represented in our top 10 list of famous sports figures and athletes from the St

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Worst Central Minnesota Storms in Recent Memory – Jen's Top Five

Jen Jacobs — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:00:10 +0000

The weather in Minnesota never leaves us lacking for something to talk about. The conversation at the dinner table, the water cooler at work and even in the elevator with strangers always seems to turn to what’s going on outside. Bein

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Four Notorious Haunted Places at St. Cloud State University

Abby Faulkner — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:56:08 +0000

Whether you believe or not, it can’t be refuted that history is full of earnest accounts of things going bump in the night. So, in the spirit of spooky speculation, here’s a brief list of some ghost stories from right here in St. Cloud – St. Cloud S

Famous People From the St. Cloud Area — Our Top 10

Tim Lyon — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 07:26:32 +0000

The St. Cloud area's had some pretty interesting people pass through over the years. Everyone from the stars of the silver screen to politicians to musicians to business moguls. Here are some of those folks and what made them famous. Oh,

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Best Outdoor Activities in St. Cloud — Our Top Five

Abby Faulkner — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 21:06:22 +0000

If you had asked me about what I like to do outside in St. Cloud when I moved here at the start of winter, I would have looked at you all cross-eyed. “What do you mean “do outside?’ Does sprinting from my car to my house in the blistering cold while trying not to fall on the ice count? No?"

Ok, so I admit I didn’t hold out much hope for the outdoors in the middle of January.

But as it always does, summer

You Know You're From St. Cloud If…

Tim Lyon — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:50:41 +0000

This fall I'll be celebrating my 25th anniversary of moving to and becoming a citizen of St. Cloud. That got me thinking about all those wonderful things that make our area what it is. So I put together a list. Help me out -- tell me how you would finish the phrase, "You know you're from St. Cloud if..."

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