Give Pastor Ed Wheatley a bus and there is no telling where the Stacy preacher will end up. But there is a good chance the bus will be filled with good-hearted folks who want to do some good while having fun.

Such has been Pastor Wheatley’s mantra for the past 30 years as he has led delegations far and wide, exploring fun sites, but also doing good deeds to help those who may be down and out.

Photo by Cliff Buchan

Pastor Ed Wheatley will soon be warming up the bus for the next mission trip to the Gulf Coast region where volunteers will help people restart their lives.

To her colleagues, Terry Anderson is best remembered as a consummate professional who led by example in the classroom and in her personal life as a friend and someone who inspired others until the end.

Anderson, who spent 34 years as an elementary teacher in the Forest Lake system, died on Wednesday, Dec. 5 after fighting a series of illness that left her hospitalized for many months. She was 59.

(Photo By Jennifer Larson)

Kristine and Joshua Cameron were among the more than 250 area kids who turned out in Wyoming on Saturday for the annual visit by the man from the North Pole. The Wyoming Lions Club, with help from area businesses, sponsored the Santa Claus Day  visit which was hosted at the Wyoming Municipal Building. 

View Santa video

This holiday season, two local food banks are asking for the community to remember them all year-round, not just during the cold winter months, as the need for donations is always there.

More details are yet to be finalized but some facts are coming forward for plans in January to begin daily commuter bus service from Forest Lake to Minneapolis. The exact start date for the MTC service is still to be determined as proposals are being evaluated. What is known is that bus service will cost $2.75 each way and there will be five daily trips each way. The first trip, tentatively scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. will be a shuttle, taking passengers to the Express Bus leaving the 95th Avenue-I-35W Park and Ride in Blaine. Beginning at 5:45 a.m., buses are  expected to leave directly from Forest Lake to downtown Minneapolis every half hour until 7:15 a.m.

The current plan is the return trips to Forest Lake will start with four direct service buses leaving downtown Minneapolis every half hour starting at 3:30 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., a 250 route bus will leave from downtown Minneapolis for the 95th Ave. Park and Ride where  it will meet a shuttle bus going to Forest Lake.  The Forest Lake service will originate and end at the new Forest Lake Transit Center next door to the new Washington County Headwaters Service Center, 19955 Forest Road N.