If a whole lot of talk is any measure of an election – and it usually is – expect a wild one this year.

Credit the Jordan Area Chamber of Commerce and the Scott County Historical Society with paying close attention.

Between the two organizations, all four of the most interesting local election races will have candidate forums. The first one is next Thursday.

Cars started to line up by late Friday afternoon for the Heimatfest Classic Car and Cycle Cruise last Friday. (Photos by Deb Pint)

Tom Lundquist of Cologne with his ’77 Chevy Camaro

Seventy years ago, the Spring Lake Sportsmen's Club asked the state to put fish into Lake Cynthia, southeast of Lydia.

For more information, read the Looking Back column in the Aug. 21 issue of the Jordan Independent. Read it online in the Print Edition section, or subscribe by going to www.jordannews.com/subscribe.

Shakopee Valley News reporter Shannon Fiecke shot this video of Preston Nielsen and Spencer Gunnell explaining how they built their raft for a trip on the Minnesota River.

Shannon Fiecke of the Shakopee Valley News reports:

The idea came to them over the Fourth of July, as they were testing out a friend’s pontoon.

Three weeks later, 17-year-old Preston Nielsen of Shakopee and his friends had built a plywood raft, capable of carrying them 50 miles from Le Sueur to Shakopee.

“We thought it’d be fun to do something before we all left for college and missions for our church, so we decided to build a raft and float it down the Minnesota River,” said fellow Shakopee High School senior Spencer Gunnell.