Rates: 25¢ a word, three-dollar minimum, cash or a plate of bars. Drop them at the Pilot-Independent office or the slot at Tim’s. We do not edit your spelling; we edit your enthusiasm.

Real Estate & Rentals

FOR SALE. Two-bedroom lake cabin, Little Pelican, original 1962 knotty pine throughout — the kind of place they don’t build anymore because they figured out people didn’t want to dust it. Dock, lift, and a screen porch that has heard things. By owner.

FOR RENT. Upstairs apartment, Main Street, above the old dress shop. One bedroom, heat included, quiet except on bingo nights, when it is not. Available August. References, or a good reason you don’t have any.

FOR SALE. Building lot, half acre, lake access — on Mud Lake. We are telling you it’s Mud Lake. We are not hiding it. Dorothy says you’ll thank her, and Dorothy is usually right about Mud Lake.

For Sale

BOAT. 16-ft Lund, 1998, 25-horse Merc, livewell, fishes better than I do, which isn’t saying much, but there it is. Trailer included, tires honest.

PONTOON. 24-ft, recently decorated for a parade and now fully de-decorated, you’d never know. Bimini top, two of the four speakers work. See the Hagens.

FREEZER. Chest, runs cold, currently holds eleven pounds of walleye and the top tier of a 1994 wedding cake I am at last prepared to discuss. Empty on pickup. Probably.

PIANO. Upright, free to whoever can move it. It is heavier than it looks and it looks heavy. Bring friends, a dolly, and low expectations. First Methodist fellowship hall.

CANNING JARS. Quarts and pints, three boxes, from my mother’s cellar, sterilized, lids checked twice. You know who you are and you know they’re good.

RIDING MOWER. Runs, needs a belt and a kind word. $150 or trade for an afternoon’s help putting in my dock.

TACKLE. Estate lot, the late Gordy Lindstrom’s, going to the Legion’s youth-fishing fund — jigs, spoons, and a tackle box organized to a standard the rest of us never met. Inquire at the Legion.

Wanted

WANTED. The recipe for the salsa at the taco truck by the landing. Will trade nearly anything. We are aware the answer is no. We are asking anyway, as a town, with respect.

WANTED. A fourth for Tuesday cards. Must be reliable, must not gloat, must bring opinions but keep most of them to himself. Inquire, carefully, at the Daybreak.

WANTED. Someone, anyone, to take some rhubarb. Bags ready by the back step. No questions asked, none answered. — E. Dahlquist.

WANTED. Honest information regarding the location of the Sportsmen’s Club crappie cribs. I know that you know. I will not tell. I only want to fish in peace before I die. Cash considered.

Services

SMALL-ENGINE REPAIR. Points-and-condenser era preferred, in the spirit of Gordy, who could fix anything and is missed. If it has a pull cord and a grudge, bring it by the Legion.

DOCK INSTALLATION & REMOVAL. I already own the waders and the regret, so I might as well. Reasonable rates, faster if the water’s warm, slower if it isn’t.

LAWN MOWING by the Solberg girls. Brynn will read your situation and Greta will count your geese, and the grass will also, somehow, get cut. Cheap, bonded by their mother.

STARS READ FROM THE DOCK, Loon Lake, by appointment, weather permitting. I do not tell the future. I tell you what the sky is doing, and you decide what to do about it. — S. Pelto.

Help Wanted

BREWERY, opening August in the old Co-op creamery, seeks part-time help. Must be 21, must be pleasant, must not mind that we are still, visibly, figuring it out. Apply within, once there is a within.

TACO TRUCK seeks a weekend hand. Spanish helpful, hustle required, family rate on tacos for the right person. See Mateo at the landing, between the lunch and supper rushes, which is a narrow window.

CO-OP needs an evening stock clerk. Lifting involved, hours flexible, Walt fair. See Walt.

LIFEGUARD, Loon Lake landing, mornings through August. Must be certified, must be calm, must be willing to also post the day’s sign as either SWIM or, when required, BEAR. See Lori at rec.

Free

FREE. Rhubarb. See Wanted. See the back step. See, frankly, everywhere. It will find you whether you answer this ad or not.

FREE. Kittens, barn-raised, good mousers, indifferent to people, which some folks prefer in a cat and in general. Six weeks, eating solid. The Vekved farm.

FREE. Zucchini, and consider this your only warning. Lock your truck at the Co-op. We are not above the bench seat.

FREE. Firewood, split last fall, seasoned and ready. If you haul it you can have it, and you’ll be doing me the favor. Out past the Hwy curve.

Lost & Found

LOST. One trolling motor, off the dock at the Loon Lake landing. Again. If found alongside last year’s trolling motor, kindly return both. Reward unchanged, which tells you something.

FOUND. Several bingo daubers, lightly rained on, on the park pad. The Lions would like them back before next Tuesday. Claim at the fire hall.

FOUND. One folding lawn chair, blue, left along the parade route. It is a good chair, and somewhere a person is sitting on the ground who shouldn’t be. Co-op counter.

LOST. A green tackle box, with sentimental jigs in it that catch nothing but mean everything. No questions. Genuinely generous reward.

Card of Thanks

The family of Gordon “Gordy” Lindstrom thanks the community for the cards, the casseroles, and the company these past two weeks. He’d have said you didn’t need to. We’re glad you did, and so, we think, would he be.

The Fourth of July Committee thanks everyone who decorated a boat, baked a bar, or held a corner of a banner. It looked like us. That was the whole idea, and you pulled it off.

Notices & Personals

HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY to Walt and Carol Sorensen, who have sold this town its nails, its paint, and most of its second chances. With love, from all of us, and from the family.

TO WHOEVER keeps moving the bumper on the public dock: it has a place. The place is where it was. Please. Thank you.

LADIES’ AID meets Tuesday, 7 p.m., First Lutheran. New members always welcome. Bring a bar and an open mind, in that order.