The other day, I received a very eye-opening email from Cindy Myogeto from the Brainerd Lakes Chamber’s Crosslake office, and I asked for her permission to send it out to YOU, the people of the Brainerd Lakes.

As we try to – and enjoy – the (albeit) slow reopening of our beloved lakes area businesses, we MUST do it safely.  We need to do it right and we need to keep it going in the OPENING direction or we’ll lose it again.  Please.  Our friends and neighbors are just getting back to work and the last thing most of them want is to go in reverse if we don’t do this right.  NO, it’s not easy, in fact it may be hard!  But as Glennon Doyle  says, “we can do hard things.”  Please read this and consider NOT ONLY those who we need to protect health-wise, but those whose LIVELYHOODS we need to protect too.  They are our friends and neighbors.

On Friday, 6/26/20, Cindy wrote:

“As you can imagine, the topic of conversation with visitors and residents at the Crosslake Welcome Center inevitably turns to the variables in (COVID-19) protocol at businesses throughout Crosslake.  Some businesses are going above and beyond with face masks, sanitizers and floor stickers, while others have very little safety procedures in place (at least not visible to patrons).

You may have heard, Timberjack Smokehouse & Saloon in Pequot Lakes has closed until July 9th to allow for quarantine of all staff due to an employee testing positive for Covid-19.  My heart goes out to the owners, employees and patrons of Timberjack, closed during the busiest week of the year, and I pray that the employee recovers quickly.  But frankly, my mind immediately worries that this could happen to anyone at anytime, at any business.

You also may have also heard that just today, Texas and Florida are closing and rolling back openings of bars and tightening restrictions in restaurants due to a 10%+ positivity rate in testing.

My point and hope in sending you this email is that you keep at the forefront, revive or refresh your COVID-19 safety protocol measures. It’s easy to relax efforts when times are good, but the last thing we need is for it all to come to a screeching halt today like it has for Timberjack Smokehouse and businesses in other states.

Take another look at our Lake Country Cares Campaign – If you’ve submitted your preparedness plan, look it over and make sure you’re living up to it.  If you have not submitted a plan, do it now.

Our Chambers continue to fully support Minnesota Ready and we urge you to contact the Governor’s office to express your opinions.  Join the effort to re-open our region at 100% safely, friendly and prosperously.  

Have a great weekend!

Cindy Myogeto
Crosslake Chamber of Commerce”

THANK YOU, CINDY, for this message and reminder.  We can do this, if we do it correctly.  Hang in there, friends… we’ll get through this.  After all, we are the BLA and we always come together to help our friends and neighbors.

Have a happy, fun and safe 4th of July!