Tickets for the state football tournament semi-final game bettween Eden Prairie and Mounds View will be sold in the Eden Prairie High School Student Activities office on Wednesday, November 18 and Thursday, November 19, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Friday, November 20 from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Ticket prices are $12 per adult and $8 per student. Children in kindergarten and younger are free. The game will be played in the metrodome. The scheduled start time is 8:15 p.m.

By Kristin Holtz

Lynda Otten laughs when she recalls her high school career counselor’s advice after announcing her career goal to show dogs.
“You’ll never make a living,” the counselor told her.

Fifty years after first stepping into the show ring, Otten, 60, continues to parade her beloved dogs at shows around the United States.

Can a big box store mix together with main street appeal? Eden Prairie is about to find out as Wal-Mart plans a redevelopment that would bring it more in line with the city’s Town Center vision.

In yet another sign of the times, the city has seen a notable increase in the demand for scholarship funds to access recreation programming.

Through its Passport to Fun program, individuals with economic need can access up to $150 a year in funds to help pay for recreation programming. In 2007, participants redeemed a total of $4,545 through the program. In 2008, after the Community Center expansion, that number went up to $7,076; then $11,185 in 2009. To keep up with the pace of demand, the city will be reducing the amount available to individual participants from $150 to $100.

Starting Friday, Flying Cloud Airport’s new 5,000-foot runway opened for business. The now-finished project had been in the works for years, and faced opposition from a number of community members opposed to airport expansion.

The expanded runway is but one facet of the changes taking place at Flying Cloud, a facility that is modernizing and becoming more secure.

According to the Eden Prairie School District Web site, the Foundation for Eden Prairie Schools (FEPS) is auctioning off a suite that can be used for a Minnesota home basketball game in November and December. The suite comes with 22 tickets.

The market value is $3,500 with a minimum bid of $550. The bid deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. Bids should be submitted to Mike Frischkorn at FEPS (mfrischkorn@edenpr.org or by phone to 952-975-7205).

FEPS is also selling discount tickets for the 7 p.m. Dec. 2 basketball game. Contact Frischkorn for more information.

By Bernard E. Johnson

Hannah Whitall Smith, a 19th century spiritual writer and speaker, said so many things I need to remember. Here is something that speaks to me on a day when I have been way too busy and over committed.

A quiet spirit is of inestimable value in carrying on outward activities; and nothing so hinders the working of the hidden spiritual forces, upon which, after all, our success in everything really depends, as a spirit of unrest and anxiety.