Author: Lyn Jerde

Sherry Butcher Wickstrom has learned to like sweet tea. To tout her candidacy for mayor of Manteo – an island community of about 1,600 residents in North Carolina’s Outer Banks – Butcher Wickstrom knocks on the doors of Manteo’s approximately 800 households, knowing from experience that, in Manteo, running for local office isn’t simply a matter of ringing the doorbell, introducing herself and leaving behind some campaign literature. “Every time you go to a household,” she said, “they ask you to sit on their sofa and drink sweet tea. I have never worked so hard for votes.” Manteo is about…

They say age is just a number. In Eden Prairie, that number is 14. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 14 percent of the city’s 64,198 residents, or about 8,987 of Eden Prairie’s people, are age 65 or older – up from 5,225 in the 2010 census. By proclamation of the Eden Prairie City Council, May is all about celebrating older Eden Prairie residents. The wording of the proclamation, included in the council’s May 2 agenda, noted that the growing number of older residents in Eden Prairie presents both opportunities and challenges. Sue Bohnsack, recreation supervisor at the Eden Prairie…

My home in Madison, Wisconsin, is about a six-hour drive from Eden Prairie – seven hours if I run into commuter traffic on I-494. Yet, Eden Prairie is near me. When I took the job as community editor at the Eden Prairie Sun-Current 20 years ago – oh, heavens, where does the time go? – I thought it would be just a paycheck, to keep a roof over our heads while my husband, Jay Jerde, accepted the Hamline University School of Law’s offer of a full-tuition scholarship. I had no idea I’d come to love this community as much as…

To Jill Scholtz, Eden Prairie is like the flowers in her garden, or the fabrics in the quilts she creates – richer and more beautiful because they include a variety of colors, shapes and textures. The growing diversity of Eden Prairie’s population will be explored and celebrated from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, at the Eden Prairie Senior Center, 8950 Eden Prairie Road. “Who’s Your Neighbor?/Embracing Culture and Diversity in Our Community” is sponsored by the Eden Prairie Community Foundation, in collaboration with the Eden Prairie Senior Center. Anyone is invited to participate in the free session. The…