This is on a load-bearing post in the basement of the frame shop.

W.H., July 17, 1919, Age 14.

Ode to W.H.

Last night was the 7th annual Red Wing Holiday Stroll. This event is hosted by the Downtown Red Wing Mainstreet organization and is meant to be an alternative to the enclosed mall exodus that typically occurs the day after Thanksgiving.

Anybody downtown can pretty much define whatever activity they want to do during the stroll and many merchants provide discounts and free snacks. We opted to work with The Sheldon Theatre to create a fun family event that is both corny and nostalgic.

It was decided to re-create an Eisenhower-era tradition…the family Christmas photo.

We settled on a fakey outdoor-looking Christmas photo set, obviously taken indoors, very much like you might find at a Macy’s Department Store in 1955. This allowed us to use period overcoats, hats and fake snow to re-create the era and move clients in and out of the set quickly. 15 minutes later they would stop by our shop to pick up a keepsake 5”x7” photo, printed in period fashion and in a stylish envelope. Most clients ‘got it’ and really became involved in the spirit of the event.

All for $5 and all the proceeds went to the Friends of The Sheldon, which is the fund raising arm of The Sheldon.

A small army of volunteers was recruited and it was a mostly-smooth workflow of production. There were a lot of laughs and there are too many people to thank here that made this work. Ideas are already brewing for next year.

Good times.

I grew up on Dragnet. I know how crimes of this nature are solved.

First you interview all the neighbors, learn what they may have seen or heard. Talk fast, so they answer fast. When they begin to wander off topic (as citizens will do), bring them right back on topic. Rattle their cage a bit and leave a business card in case they think of anything later.

Then look for motive. Investigate the victim and see if there are any gambling or large debts owed. Find out if there is a 'dame' involved. Follow-up on any motel matchbook covers or cocktail napkins you might find.

This case quickly boiled down to one of two theories: an expert sharpshooter with a middle-European accent was poised on the roof of The Sheldon Theatre and, in a case of mistaken identity, attempted an assassination under the cloak of darkness.

Or...

Two punks in a p-o-s car fired a wrist rocket at my window and several of my neighbor's windows.

Thanks.