Kendra Olson is THE Carver County elections expert. She explains how voting, vote counting and the sanctity of the voting process is handled and secured in Carver County and in Minnesota in general. Given the conflicting information bouncing around on the news and within social media, it seemed like a good idea to get straight talk and accurate information from someone who knows the real inside scope. We discuss absentee voting, early voting and of course, in person voting. For more information, check out www.mnvotes.org

This episode is a lot closer to my day job than others and Missy Florek is a terrific home stager and frankly a little bit of a cross between a home style maven and a crazy bargain shopper. I'm always amazed at what she can do on sometimes minimal budgets. This is a nice visit about how people can plan ahead and make good choices about their living decor.

John Fahey and his family are well known on the western part of Carver County. Community involvement was something he literally grew up with as a young boy and he has continued to serve residents of Norwood Young America his whole life. John and his wife Janet are fixtures around Carver County and their hands are on many important initiatives. Also, if you've seen those cool quilts designs on random barns around the area, you've been impacted by their influence. John talks about his life experiences and his goals and vision for the county. Please enjoy this wide ranging discussion with my friend John Fahey.

Dan Keyport is a world traveler, community advocate, husband, father and owner of Carver County's coolest wine shop located in the Historic Chaska Depot. Dan talks about entrepreneurship, pivoting business models during a pandemic and the benefits of community involvement. He also speaks briefly about his goal of visiting 100 countries. The web site fornthe store is www.dolcevitawine.net

Even here in Carver County there are people losing their housing who need a place to stay and who need food and basic necessities. His House Ministry has locations in Excelsior and in downtown Chaska. Martha Brannon is the director and people may recognize her big smile as she's running around in a white Ford van picking up food and delivering to those is need. She works in conjunction with Carver County Health and Human Services director Dr Richard Scott (a previous guest on this podcast) to fill an increasing community need. Martha's good nature is infectious and she's always looking for more people to get involved.

I wanted to reflect on season 1 and the remarkable guests who were kind enough to spend a little time sharing their little or sometimes bigger corner in Carver County. I also wanted to share what I've been doing to improve myself during Covid-19 on what I called "my remodel project". Thank you for checking this podcast out and I hope you enjoy my new batch of guests. They are; "The people who make Carver County the BEST PLACE to live, work and raise a family"

You've probably seen the "You Matter" signs around town. I invite you to meet the Matt behind the sign. Chaska resident and bundle of energy Matt Udermann talks about his thoughts on community, a sense of civic duty and his vision for our growing region. Matt has a lot of ideas and this is one of those podcast interviews where the best thing I could do was to get out of the way and give him the time to expand on his vision for the future and his thoughts about how we should engage in our community.

Lifetime Fitness personal trainer Corey Grenz and I riff about staying sain, fit and balanced during a quarantine and what he likes to read to stay on top of recent fitness trends. He also offers some breathing exercises to monitor how well you are pacing. He is available for personal consultations to help you cope with lots of "family time"

The stressors of "physical distance" could become too much for some families. In Carver and Scott Counties we are fortunate to have a resource to help. Christie Larson, Executive Director talks about the services available at SVABW and the shocking number of cases they see each year. There are many ways they come along side victims to help or advise about options out there. The web site is www.svabw.org and if you need to speak to a crisis line advocate, the help line number is 952-873-4214. If you or someone you know needs help, please contact them.

We are fortunate in Carver County to have direct access to over 14,000 acres of stunning wildlife refuge along the Minnesota River. Robert "Randy" Petzel is the president of the Minnesota Valley Refuge Friends and he wants us to know that despite the 2 visitor centers in Bloomington and Carver being temporarily closed, nature and the 40+ miles of trails are open and crowd free. Visit www.fws.gov/refuge/minnesota_valley/ to find out how you can take advantage of this amazing community asset. Also if you have interest in volunteering, he can be reached at; [email protected]