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It’s time to get going, after taking a long break this winter. I’m thinking we would be working with snow drifts and cold weather and we have not traveled in the last few months, but we are ready and anxious to start a new year.

We will open with our annual Travel Show, and invite all of our friends, new or former, to come and check out our 2024 schedule from 2-4 p.m. on Feb. 29, where people will get a look at our schedule.

Ironically, it was Feb. 29, 2008, when we held our first Travel Show after moving to the Mower County Senior Center.

How things change, but still stay the same.

First off, I’m still working with the Austin Daily Herald for columns such as these, and it has been a great experience to share what we do here with our out of town travels.

Some of the shows stay the same and some have already closed. Recently, the Old Log Theatre in Excelsior announced that it has now closed its doors for retirement. “Forever Plaid” was the show we saw on our visit there last year.

“Church Basement Ladies” was already on our list and is still keeping crowds laughing with their Minnesota humor.

A trip to Branson, Missouri, highlighting Danny O’Donnell was a real favorite and he is still wowing audiences.

Our year-end plans included another visit to Chanhassen. We enjoyed planning a Grandparents Day with their young guests to a Wisconsin Dells show which was exciting  for all of them: “Barbie and Ken.”

Our schedule is also included in the March Mower County newsletter, which is sent monthly to members who have joined.

Travels planned this year include:

April 24: Sidekick Theater in Bloomington for “Fabulous Lipitonoes.”

May 9: Minnesota History Center (Life of Charles Schulz creator of “Charlie Brown and the Gang with afternoon free time at Mall of America.

May 30-31: “Nunsense” Fireside Theatre in Wisconsin.

June 12: Minnesota Twins vs Colorado Rookies at Target Field

June 27: “Fiddler on the Roof,” Marion Ross Theatre.

July: Mystery Trip, date still to be set.

July 24: Chanhassen Dinner Theatre for “Beautiful.”

Aug. 14: Twins vs Kansas City Royals.

Aug. 16-24: Colorado Historic Trains trip.

Aug. 26: Minnesota State Fair.

Oct. 2: Riverboat Cruise – Celebration Belle on the Mississippi River.

Oct. 16-24: “Grease,” nine days of fall and holiday travel will be included later.

Our office will now resume with Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday openings from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

We can also be reached by calling 507-438-3946. We will begin regular hours after the travel show and closed on Traveling Days.