How does Julie Fryer spell "relief"?

P-L-A-Y-G-R-O-U-N-D.

"Right now all I really feel is relief and exhaustion. It was incredible to watch the kids play on it for the first time and so rewarding to see the families gathered there this afternoon," said Park Partners' playground project publicist.

"Of course, the kids love it. I heard a lot of 'Wow, look at this!' Kids were dragging their parents around to show them their favorite things. I think everyone was surprised by how many fun things they could find, and we had so many kids run up and tell us 'thank you' -- what good manners." Read more

"Our job is to inspire, entertain and educate," SFC Jennifer Eckhoff told Katy Jablonski's ninth grade band class recently.

She and Sgt. Joe Henry perform with the 451st Army Reserve Band headquartered out of Fort Snelling in the Twin Cities. In addition to the regular, required military training in the reserves, they also play musical instruments as part of their jobs.

Army and Army Reserves military recruiter Stan Fieseler brought the pair to Chatfield High School, as well as eight other area schools over two days. He explained the Army furnishes members who serve as "TAIR," or "Total Army Integrated Recruiting." This same week infantry soldiers from Fort Carson, Colo., also visited Chatfield classes, showing hot and cold weather gear and other items. Fieseler is now in the process of picking out TAIR teams for the next school year. Read more