The 300-pound Smith is quite a blues legend in the Twin Cities. In 1998 he became the first blues musician to be in-ducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, joining the likes of Bob Dylan, Judy Garland, Bobby Vee and Eddie Cochran. Smith, et al. have a schedule full of concerts this summer, including shows at the Shoppes at Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove from 6 to 8 p.m. on July 14 and at Excelsior Music in the Park from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 9 in Excelsior. To see the full schedule, go to http://bigwaltersmith.com.






We publish an annual Resident’s Guide for each of our communities. It’s a tremendous source of local information – containing lists of services, names of organizations, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and much more. Keep it handy; use it often. You can find information from the Resident’s Guide here, or order a copy of the publication from our Circulation Department by calling (952) 345-6682 or e-mailing
Southwest Newspapers’ weekly community papers have histories that go as far back as the Civil War era. Several were started from scratch as our communities began to grow in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. These popular newspapers routinely win awards of excellence from organizations like the Minnesota Newspaper Association.