WHY WE LOVE LIVING IN NORTH KATO

WHY WE LOVE LIVING IN NORTH MANKATO

BY LAURIE PALESOTTI

As a kid, I moved around a lot and never felt like I had a community that I knew. Although I had the opportunity to meet many people—I knew I didn’t want that for my kids. When we found ourselves in North Mankato as a young married couple, I knew we were home. Our kids, now 18 and 14, have never known anything else. They have grown up watching this awesome little town grow and change. Here are some of the reasons that we LOVE North Mankato.

Halloween in the neighborhood. Friends and family from the country and neighbor kids would gather at our house for pizza before walking the streets— the parents freezing and the kids oblivious to the cold. They knew early on which houses had the full size candy bars!

The Fun Days parade has been a tradition since we moved here. We started out saving our spot days before, and have been fortunate enough to be a part of it for the last several years. Our kids love seeing friends and throwing out candy! Family bike rides to Culver’s. When the kids were young, we could con them into a longer bike ride if they knew it would end with ice cream.

The sand bottomed pool. Don’t get me wrong—the new facility is amazing, but it was always fun to bring our sand toys to the pool! Blues on Belgrade has become a yearly tradition for our family. It’s a great time to see friends and enjoy great local music.

Lower North has become one of our favorite places to go. Between the pop up shops and specials at the Circle Inn, Neutral Groundz and other businesses, we always find something fun. The trails! My husband can— and has—mapped every length run you can think of just around North Mankato. When he was training for his first marathon, the kids were pretty young. He decided to do a long run at Bluff Park—which meant going in circles for a LONG time. The kids and I packed a picnic and some sidewalk chalk and spent the afternoon cheering him on and writing inspirational messages on the path.

The Anthony Ford Pond Hockey Tournament and the awesome skating facilities and warming house at Spring Lake Park. Our kids have played and refereed at various tournaments—and we have bundled up and spent many days at this amazing event. The brewery! We have been fans since it opened and love the hometown feel. We have even been known to walk. Dino’s birthday club! Both kids have birthdays in February, so this was one of our favorite meals of the year because my husband and I could order the pizza WE wanted (Foghorn Leghorn) since they had their own. Also, how do you beat the make your own sundaes?

But overall, and more than anything, we love North Mankato because it's