Hockey Day Minnesota

HOCKEY DAY MINNESOTA will be celebrated at Polar Lakes Park in White Bear Township this week, Jan. 26-29. The four-day event will include outdoor hockey with girls and boys high school teams, college teams, and alumni and all-star teams as well as many other entertaining events. Go online to hockeydaymn.com to get details. Planning for the event goes back to 2017.

Hockey is big time in Minnesota. Hockey Day began in 2007 and is celebrated like the Minnesota fishing opener.

About the Town

White Bear has members in the Hockey Hall of Fame at Eveleth. The boys have made 19 state tournament appearances over the years, but never won the title.

Let’s all celebrate.

WE ARE STAYING in Minnesota this winter. As many know, our boat was destroyed by Hurricane Ian when it hit Fort Myers, Florida in September. We are enjoying the heavy snowfall and now the January thaw, but there is something else we are enjoying. When in Florida, we would drive 16 miles east to have broasted chicken at the Alva Diner with country-style dining. It was reasonable and good. Now we found that true with a couple of local restaurants. On a recent Thursday night, we enjoyed broasted chicken at the Blacksmith Lounge in Hugo. When owner George Reus died last year, his two daughters, Jennifer Ehlert and Georgie Gibbons, stepped up to the plate to take over.

Gene Johnson

MY WIFE KATHY was with her doctor for an annual checkup this past week. The key advice from the staff at Vadnais Heights Clinic was, “Be careful on the ice. Walk like a penguin.”

The following day, I was visiting with Dr. Sarah Boo and told her about it. “Being careful on the ice is called the Minnesota shuffle,” she responded. Our daughter Stephanie added, “When inside a home or business, it is the Minnesota stomp your feet.”

DIGITAL CURRENCY IS a morning topic over coffee. If you have noticed how people pay their restaurant check, it’s often with a credit card. Paying for gasoline is usually done with credit cards.

As we move more and more into digital currency, it has the potential to completely change how society thinks about money. Bitcoin, Ethereum and thousands of other cryptocurrencies today exist only in electronic form. This is leading large banks in this country and around the world to research how digital currencies might work. In the political world, our government would have access to personal information such as what we earn and how we spend it, more than they currently know from our tax returns.

Electronic versions of currency are already functioning in many worldwide financial systems. The US currency in circulation is about one-tenth of the overall money supply. The remainder is held in financial institutions in electronic form.

As decentralized cryptocurrencies seem to be working, we may see government and central banks creating their own digital currencies.

Despite all the research and testimony before Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said the possibility of a Fed-backed digital dollar remains remote for now.

Digital would allow faster payments, less expensive international transfers, more access to the public, and support for more than seven million American households that do not have a bank account according to FDIC. What do you think the future of money will be? Canada has already dropped the penny as a coin. Hiding currency under the mattress may become a thing of the past.