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VOL. 21 NO. 19 www.readthecitizen.com $1.00
ARTS IN COMMUNITY: Mural at Center for the Arts PAGE 15
Local kayaker explores Minnesota lakes
Help celebrate 100 years
BY ERIK SUCHY STAFF WRITER
Renee Sonka likes to think she follows in her parents’ footsteps. The daughter of former canoe racers Dave and Nancy Olsen, she frequently finds herself bringing her love of the outdoors out onto the open water. “My dad has a deep love of it,” CONTRIBUTED said Sonka. “He Renee Sonka has been adhering was also a hobby to a new favorite summer activity photographer as I — kayaking on as many Minnesota was growing up, lakes as she can. which led him to start canoeing. That common love of the outdoors is just as much a driving force for me.” Born in Owatonna, Sonka has lived in White Bear Lake for 18 years. Of those 18, Sonka has devoted the past six to putting her love of nature toward a new hobby: kayaking. Here, Sonka once more highlighted her parents as inspiration for welcoming the open waters with open arms. “I still have one of their old canoes, which originally sparked my interest in getting on the water,” Sonka said. “I started renting one in White Bear Lake about every other week, which became every week because I started loving it. After my second summer of being on the water, I realized I could own my own kayak for the same money I was
PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED
Jerome “Jerry” Saunders, of Hugo, will turn 100 later this month. The Word War II veteran is a resident of Good Life Senior Living in Hugo. For his birthday celebration, community members are encouraged to send him a birthday card. The goal is to collect 100 cards in time for his birthday party Sept. 28. Send cards to White Bear Area Chamber of Commerce, 4751 US-61 N, White Bear Lake.
SEE KAYAKER, PAGE 16
North Metro homeowners share their yards for K-9 adventures BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
Think of an Airbnb, but for dogs. That’s where Sniffspot comes in. Dog owners are offering up their yards to other dogs. Sniffspot’s founder, David Adams, lives with a leash-reactive and a dog-selective dog. He and his wife Rebecca were struggling to meet their
pup Toshii’s basic needs in a city environment, as there was nowhere safe to let their guards down. Inspired by the idea of making things better for dogs, Adams put up a simple website and started crowdsourcing yards. Sniffspot has grown from there. Now Sniffspot operates in all 50 states. Lin Shurtleff lives on the border of Hugo and
Lino Lakes. She has offered up her 1-acre, fully fenced yard as a Sniffspot for about a month. “I saw an ad on Facebook about renting out your yard. I clicked on it, and the more info I saw the more interested I got,” she explained. “It makes sense for us. (My husband and I) work from home and our dogs use the yard a good
portion of the time but it would be a nice way to earn passive income.” She has three dogs of her own, but thought, why not share their “sniffapalooza” with other dogs who might enjoy the space, but not be able to use dog parks? “I know there’s a lot of people that would like to go to a dog park but don’t SEE SNIFFSPOT, PAGE 2
AMANDA ROTHSTEIN | CONTRIBUTED
More and more “Sniffspots” continue to pop up around the north metro.
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