Maple Flake 2015

The notorious FishBandit, of WrightCounty was caughtcoming out of CatchN-Stuff Taxidermyearly yesterday morn-ing with a mountedmarlin, red hands, anda decidedly guilty lookon his face.

We joked that hewas caught red-handed because thefool stole the fish be-fore the paint on themounting slab wasdry, deputy PatDowne said.

Hugh Jass, other-wise known as theFish Bandit,a namecreated by local mediabecause of his choice

of booty, has had po-lice baffled for weeks.Since December hehas hit as many as fivetaxidermy shops inthe county, stealingonly mounted, salt-water fish.

A search of the sus-pects home turnedup over 10 differentspecies of saltwaterfish, including shark,marlin, and blowfish,all stuffed andmounted. When askedwhat his motive couldhave been, deputy PatDowne said only thatthey are looking into apossible plot to sabo-tage the Maple LakeIce Fishing Derby setfor this weekend.

As absurd as itsounds, we think hemay have been plan-ning on entering oneof the fish in thederby and claiming itas his own catch.

Every year the Derbygives away a plush fish

house to a fisher manor woman who pro-duces a king-sizedcatch.

Its a temptingprize for any angler,said a derby commit-

tee member whowishes to remainanonymous. Peoplehave tried to cheatbefore. They see thatshinny white siding,that plush, carpeted

interior with the sixholes in the floor andthey want it, its allthey can think about,and they will do any-

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Fish Bandit caught red handedPolice unravel plot to sabotage derby

Classified Ads: Page 12

The REAL Deal onthe Maple LakeFishing Derby:

Pages 6 & 7

Logo by Jettie Olsen

A special supplement to The Maple Lake Messenger Saturday, February 7, 2015

Wardrobe Malfunction at the

Plunge:Page 9

by Paige Turner

Hugh Jass, a.k.a., the Fish Bandit, is caught red handed coming out of Catch-N-Stuff Taxidermy with a stolen marlin. He planned to use the fish to sabotagethe Maple Lake Ice Fishing Derby.

- continuedon page 2 -

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- continued from page 1 -

thing to have it. Itssad really.

All evidence how-ever, suggests thatJass was not a fisher-man of any kind. Of allthe fish he nabbed,none are native toMaple Lake.

Really, our judgeswould have picked upon that. Most of usknow the differencebetween a marlin anda pike, the anony-mous derby commit-tee member said.

Originally fromWeed, California, Jasshas reportedly beenliving in his Aunt, IonaKats, basement inMaple Lake for the last10 years. Thats wherehis stash of trophieswas found.

I just dont under-stand why this HughJass would steal thatfish, said Gil Fish,owner of Catch N-Stuff Taxidermy. Itwas smallish for a mar-lin and the guy who

caught it wanted itmounted on this oldblock of wood, and hewanted it painted redof all things. I tried tomake it look presenta-ble, but really, itwasnt my best work.Now that pike I fin-ished last week, thatwould have beenworth stealing.

Les Pbrain, theowner of the small-ish marlin, was justhappy to have his tro-phy back.

Its a ValentinesDay gift for my wife,he admitted. On our20th anniversary Igave her this beautifulfox mounted on a log.She loves it so muchshe keeps it wrappedup in a box tuckedaway in our closet sothe air cant touch it.She knows a lot aboutpreserving animals.Shes really amazingactually, Pbrain said.

Meanwhile, Jassmade a public apology

earlier this afternoonat a press conferencein hopes that thejudge would lightenhis sentence.

Im not a thief, itsjust those cats thatmy aunt owns, theydrive me nuts, hesaid. Theyre alwaysyowling and gettinginto cat fights, andthe hair, theres haireverywhere. I justthought if I could havea place of my own. . .

You mean youmeant to live in thefish house, a reporterasked.

Well, yeah, he said.Have you seen thefish house theyre giv-ing away? It has akitchen, two bunks,and a heater. Its likethe Hilton next to myaunts basement!

So there you have it,instead of moving intoa fish house, this HughJass will be movinginto the big house.

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Maple Lakes annualfishing contest, whichbegan back in 1906, hashad its ups and downsover the years, mostlybecause of the weather.But there have beenonly a few cancellations,and those were be-cause of unsafe ice.

Maple Lakes Busi-nessmens Club wasproud they could pulloff the 1926 contest

when they came upwith a new scheme toprovide spots in the icefor the anglers to enjoy.Up to this time cuttingholes was a manual job,done with chisels andaxes. It was back-break-ing work no matter howmuch beer the local sa-loon owners provided.

Being the resourcefulgroup they were, thebusinessmen brain-stormed one eveningand came up with anidea to cut trencheswith saws in the icerather the chop holes.They tested their ideaone warm afternoonand, despite being well-oiled with snits andsnats from the saloon,they felt sawing byhand was too labor in-tensive, especially forthose over 50. But all

wasnt lost, local mem-bers of the railroad sec-tion crew, whoinspected rails everyday on the Soo Line,suggested they involvethe railroad companywho used large blockice for cooling perish-ables in their freightcars and have mechani-cal saws. A committeewas named to meetwith Soo Line execu-tives at the James J. Hillmansion in St. Paul tosee what their reactionwould be.

At first Soo Line repsscoffed at the idea, butthe committeewouldnt take no for ananswer. That convincedthe Soo Line to give it atry, telling them theyhad watched their ice-cutting operation in De-troit Lakes where they

maintain a nice houseon the shore of Big De-troit Lake. The Ice Housestill bears that name,but now it is a HolidayInn.

It was an expensiveoperation for the SooLine to bring their ma-chinery to Maple Lake,but they apparently feltthe publicity wouldmake it worth-while.They set up the day be-fore the fishing derbyattracting most every-one in town to the lake.Their machine con-sisted of a huge circlesaw, powered by a bigcylinder hit and miss en-gine, a marvel in itself.They decided on a 2 ft.trench and used pikepoles to steer the iceblocks onto a mechani-cal conveyor where itwas loaded and hauled

by horse and wagonand unloaded into therailroad box cars fortheir future use. Youcould say it was a win-win situation for boththe railroad and MapleLake, who providedmanpower to assist therailroad.

Of course there werethe usual skeptics whofelt it was a fool-hardyidea from the get-go.There was some good-natured razzing, butthe businessmen had aplan for every obstacle.

The skeptics hit onsafety noting peoplewould slip into thewater and drown, if notduring the cutting,surely during the con-test. They had to bitetheir tongues when the

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workers placed polesover the trench andcovered them withchicken netting and hay,both as a safety meas-ure and to keep thewater from freezingovernight. Their planwas to remove the hayand place it next to thetrenches the followingday to provide safefooting for the anglers.

The skeptics also feltthe trenches werentput in the proper spotsfor catching fish andjoked no one wouldcatch a northern, to saynothing about catchingone outside the DNRslot length of 40 inches.

Again they wereproved wrong whenthe innovative anglershad a field day using the

trenches as trollinglanes walking alongpulling their lures. TheNortherns were strikingthe lures with recklesssabandon and most peo-ple in the crowd esti-mated that 225 peopletook home a meal ortwo of fresh fish.

The grand prizehome-built composi-tion fish house went to

Ed Lindala, French Lake,who had the largestNorthern at 41 inches.He was using some kindof secret lure he called arappala which wasdeadly. The skeptics felthe was taking unfair ad-vantage of the local an-glers who were mostlyIrishmen who didntknow a rappala from ared and white dare-

devil. Their cat-calls fellon deaf ears and theskeptics were told to godrown their sorrows atthe local bars.

Everyone left the af-ternoon contest at 3:30p.m. convinced MapleLake had the edge inthe best way to con-duct a fishing contestwith their innovativetrenches in the ice.

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The Maple Lake chap-ter of the Nudist Ice-fishing Post 911International, or N.I.P.I.,will hold a raffle, Thurs-day, Feb. 5, to raisemoney for a new fishhouse to use at MapleLakes annual Ice Fish-ing Derby after severalmembers last yearwere hospitalized forexposure.

Were hoping thenew fish house willprovide some protec-

tion from the ele-ments for our mem-bers, N.I.P.I. presidentAnita Coat said.

Temperatures lastyear dropped to 19 de-grees at the annualevent, with wind chillsreaching a frigid fivebelow zero.

At least three N.I.P.I.members succumbedto the cold and had tobe transported by am-bulance to Buffalo hos-pital where they weretreated for frostbite.

We took precau-tions, Coat said. Myhusband put up thistent-like lean-to for usto keep the wind offour bare-backs, and wehanded out at least 10hand and foot warm-ers. No one in ourchapter actually got

frostbite. The worst wesuffered were a fewchapped cheeks.

Members from theGoodview and Fairviewchapters however,werent so lucky.

Two were hospital-ized and one report-edly lost anappendage.

Every year the MapleLake Ice Fishing Derbyattracts thousands ofice fishing enthusiastsfrom across the stateand N.I.P.I. is alwayswell-represented.

I just love ice fish-ing, I love everythingabout ice fishing, ex-cept actually catchingfish. I think thats cru-elty to aquatic life,Ima Nutt, member of

Ice Fishing Nudistsreveal allLocal chapter to raise money for fish houseto combat exposure

by Paige Turner

The Maple Lake chapter of the Nudist Icefishing Post911 International, or N.I.P.I., will raffle off theseitems, Thursday, Jan. 29, with the hopes of raising$40,000 to pay for their new deluxe fish house.Among the items to be raffled is a one-year, freemembership worth $1,000.


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Join Us! Saturday, March 14, 2015:

St. Patricks Day Celebration: Irish Scamper, Craft Sale, Parade, Coronation

Saturday, June 6, 2015:Maple Lakes 125th Anniversary Celebration

Saturday, August 15, 2015:Gear-Head Get Together

Saturday, February 6, 2016:41st Annual Ice Fishing Derby

Honorary Grand Marshal:Boyd Huppert, Host of KARE 11s Land of 10,000 Stories

Join Us for St. Patricks Day in Maple Lake!

Saturday, March 14IRISH

Pre-PartyHelp Us MakeSome Green!Saturday,March 7

ML American LegionSocial Hour: 5:30

Dinner: 6:30Surprise

Entertainment: 7:30EVERYONE WELCOME!

IRISHScamperSaturday,March 14

Registration: 9AMAt MLHS

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Saturday,March 141:30 p.m.

CraftSale

Saturday,March 149AM-2PMMaple Lake

Elementary School

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Event Schedule:9 AM-1 PM: Vintage Snowmobile

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1-3 PM: Official Ice Fishing Derby40th Largest Northern Pike wins an Ice Castle Fish House!

1-3 PM: Take a Kid Fishing3-3:30 PM: Ice Auger Drilling Contest

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Fishing for Words

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LURESMAPLE LAKE

MINNOWNORTHERN

REEL

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SUCKERTACKLETIP UPWAXWORMWINNER

ACROSS3 Who is appreciated most at the fishing derby? 5 The lake the derby is held on? 6 What prize does the largest bass win? 10 You can get wet at this derby event. 12 The Maple Lake Property Owners Association is the ____ organizer of the fishing derby. 13 The vintage snowmobile show is sponsored by? 14 The Maple Lake Ice Fishing Derby allows what that no other ice fishing contest in

Minnesota allows? 15 What group sponsors the Maple Lake Fishing Derby? 17 This is used to drill holes for fishing. 18 What local group volunteers to assist "plungers" in trouble?

DOWN1 What's the derby grand prize? 2 What size fish wins this year's derby? 4 What musical group will entertain after the derby? 7 The fish species that wins the contest at the Maple Lake Derby? 8 What types of snowmobiles are featured in the 9 a.m. show? 9 What big event happens the day after the derby? 11 Participants in the Arctic Plunge are encouraged to wear what? 16 The slogan of the derby is "Go Big or Go _____"

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7



the Freeborn N.I.P.I. chaptersaid. And I think its just mar-velous that Maple Lake is rais-ing money for a fish house tostay warm in, of course theyprobably wont invite usFreeborns inside. They didntexactly roll out the welcomemat to their lean-to last year,and those hand warmersthey handed out, what a joke.They sure didnt help poorSven from Fairview. Hes notso fair to look at anymore, ifyou get my drift, Nutt said.

Thursday nights raffle will

take place at 7 p.m. at theCoat home, located at 1234Bear Ave. The top prize willbe a one year free N.I.P.I.membership worth an esti-mated $1,000. Also being raf-fled off Thursday night, willbe several styles of birthdaysuits designed by renownedartist, Mother Nature.

We have the skinny lookfor those who want to flauntit a little, and the rumpledstyle, you know, the onesthat look like they just cameout of the drier and need

ironing, Coat said. Both de-signs come in two colors,mocha and ultra white.

N.I.P.I.s goal is to raise$40,000 to pay for the 30-foot-long ice shanty they hadcustom designed earlier thisfall that is currently sitting instorage in Fargo while theycome up with the funds topay for it.

Its pretty snazzy, Coatshusband Harry admitted.

By snazzy, he means itcomes equipped with a full-size bar, oven, microwaveand refrigerator, a full bath-room with a heated showerand a skylight, couches thatfold out into a king-size beds,a stereo system with built-inspeakers and a pop-up satel-lite dish.

Our main focus is safety,and this fish house will go along way in preventing anymore tragedies like the onewe had last year, said Anita

Coat, who hopes to have thenew fish house out on theice for this years fishingderby on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Of course you dont haveto be a member of N.I.P.I. tocheck us out derby day, shesaid. Everyone is invited tojoin us for hot chocolate andstrawberry daiquiris in ournew fish house. And after thecontest, were all going overto the after party to get aneye full of The Naked Cow-boys.

Of course frost bite isntjust a concern for naturalists.

Dr. Ben Dover-NCough re-minded that the best way toprotect yourself from frost-bite is to limit your time out-side if temperatures arebelow zero.

And when you do go out,he said, make sure to dressappropriately, including, well,wearing clothes.

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The community wasscandalized and mysti-fied earlier today whenan arctic plunger pos-ing as a leprechaunemerged from the icylake minus his emeraldgreen trousers, givingbystanders a shockingview of the very un-leprechaun-like leop-ard skin bikini he woreunderneath them.

But what at first ap-peared to be a classicwardrobe malfunctionhas turned into some-thing entirely different.

The green-clad jumperreportedly refused anyhelp from firemenwaiting to assist, thenran off without retriev-ing his pants andhasnt been seen since.

Were looking into apurposeful plot to cre-ate a derby debacle,officer Pat Downe said.There is no trace ofthe leprechaun, nor isthere any record ofone registering tojump. We have our sus-picions that he crashedthe arctic plunge withthe intent of making ascene.

According to onlook-ers, the leprechaun,whose identity remainsunknown, appeared toslip on the ice when itcame his turn to leap.He then toppled intothe water, completelysubmerging for several

seconds.At first I was con-

cerned for him, saidPolly Ester, an eyewit-ness to the scene. Hewent head first intothat shallow water.Even though he wassmall, I was worriedhed hit his head. First Isaw his trousers popup, then his headcleared the surface. Hewas in such a hurry toget out of that coldwater he didnt evennotice hed lost hispants. Amazingly hestill had his greenbowler hat on.

The leprechaunthen reportedly disap-peared around theback of the warmingtent.

He didnt evencome inside to warmup, said Don Key, aplunger participant

whocamedressedas a char-acterfromthe

movieShrek.Im stillfreezing. Thepoor little guy mustbe an icicle by now.

A short time later,Key and a few derbyfishermen who werentcatching anything, de-cided to go out andlook for the mysteriousjumper, but as of presstime, they had had noluck.

Other witnesses weremore concerned aboutwhat had been re-vealed during the inci-

dent,than

what orwho waslost.

It wasappalling,Brighton

Early said.My son and I

saw it all, and I meaneverything! We were inthe front row. Beforethis, my son thought aleprechaun was thefriendly little man onthe box of his LuckyCharms. Now when hesees a leprechaun hesgoing to think leopard-skin tighty-whities!

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the prankster as threeto four feet tall, withwild red hair and a wiryred beard. He wasdressed in the classicleprechaun style:green coat with tworows of buttons, knee-high white tights,green trousers thatbuckled at the kneeand shiny black colo-nial-style shoes withgold buckles.

In fact, his appear-ance was so much like

that of the legendarylittle man from Ireland,that some are specu-lating Maple Lake hashad its first real lep-rechaun sighting.

Local Irish folkloreexpert Noah Lott, hadthis to say: Lep-rechauns are knownmischief makers, sothis kind of behaviorwould be typical, butto know for sure if wehad a visit from a realleprechaun, wed first

have to spot a rainbowthen find the end of it.Even then, theyre slip-pery little men andsuspicious of big peo-ple, always afraidwere going to stealtheir pot of gold.

Already calls havebeen pouring into TheFlake with reports ofleprechaun sightingsall over the city. Theyall describe a little mandressed in green.Groups of believers

have been seen scour-ing the once quietneighborhoods inhopes of finding themythological creatureand forcing him tohand over his pot ofgold. Others are hop-ing for the fabled threewishes.

Deputy Pat Downediscouraged such be-havior.

We have a real crimi-nal out there, and peo-ple need to take

precautions, hewarned. Dont befooled by his childlikeappearance. He isnothing more than apervert in a greenfrock.

If you do see a suspi-cious looking man thesize of a child anddressed all in green,police have warned tonot approach him. In-stead back away slowly,find a phone and call555-789-1011.


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To save time and en-ergy, the folks who runthe Maple Lake Ice Fish-ing Derby have comeup with an innovativeway to turn in yourcatch without havingto set foot out of yourwarm fish house.

Starting next year, aPneumatic Tube Trans-port System, or aP.T.T.S., will carry yourprize-winning catch di-rectly from your fa-vorite fishing hole,literally into the judgeshands.

Competitors willmerely drop their catchback into the hole andcompressed air willpush the fish through anetwork of tubes in-stalled under the ice di-rectly to the judgestent where it will be la-beled, weighed and en-tered into the contest.

When your fish dis-appears back down thehole, dont worry,thats how you knowits working, said BillLoney, the mastermindbehind the new P.T.T.S.

Officials hope theP.T.T.S. will relieve someof the leg work andanxiety that often ac-

companies big compe-titions like the MapleLake derby.

Say you catch a 20pound pike, Loneysaid. Its the biggest,most beautiful fishyouve ever seen inyour life, and youresure its going to winthe contest. But nowyou have to lug ithalfway across thefrozen lake, and any-thing could happen onthat trek. One of thosepesky eagles couldswoop down andsnatch it right out ofyour hands, or worse,somebodys dog couldjump you and run offwith it, heaven forbid.Well, you dont have toworry about that any-more. All you have todo is throw it backdown the hole and ournew P.T.T.S. will deliverit safely into the handsof our judges. Its foolproof!

The derby commit-tee started working onthis project five yearsago when Loney ini-tially proposed it backin 2010.

At first I thought hewas crazy, derby com-mittee chairman JimShorts admitted, butthen he brought meout to the bar onenight to talk about it,and as we sat therehaving a few beers,suddenly it didntsound so crazy at all. Itactually started tomake sense, Shorts

said.Loney said he was in-

spired one afternoonwhile waiting in thedrive-through line atthe bank.

I was watching thatcylinder zip back andforth from car to bankteller and I thoughthow much easier lifewould be if we all hadpneumatic tubes torun our errands. Well ofcourse thats impossi-ble, but I thoughtmaybe we could use itin the ice fishing Derby.

After a lot of search-ing, Loney finally founda contractor that wasinterested in the proj-ect. Phew-matic Sys-tems out of Cando,N.D. is by day a septicsystem installer, but bynight, owner Biff John-son dabbles in pneu-matic technology.

This was right upBiffs alley, Loney said.He was in-trigued bythe seem-ingly impos-siblechallenge ofinstallingsuch anelaboratesystem insuch a hos-tile and in-accessibleenviron-ment as afrozen lake.

But latelast week hepresented aplan to the

derby committee thatdid just that.

The committee ap-proved the plan by a 5-1 vote. Sue Flay was thesole dissenter.

I still think Loney isoff his rocker, Flaysaid. A pneumatic fishdelivery system? Thatsjust plain nuts!

Never-the-less,Phew-matic Systemsplans to install it latenext fall before iceforms on the lake. Thenin the spring, they willreturn to remove the

network of tubes be-fore the boating sea-son begins.

Not only will we bethe only derby in Min-nesota that allows fishhouses, well be theonly ice fishing Derbyin the country, heck,probably the world,with such a high-tech,state-of-the-art fish de-livery system, Loneysaid. It will be some-thing the entire com-munity can be proudof.

Ice Fishing Derby goes high tech

by Paige Turner

DERBY DAY SPECIAL!Coffee or Cappucino: 50

AvailableFUELS:

Non-Oxygenated

Premium for

Boats, Classic

Cars & ATVs.

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E-20, E-30, E-50

Diesel

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BatteriesSpark Plugs

Shocks & Struts Gaskets Welding Supplies

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Brakes & Lighting

We Sell TruckAccessories! Floor Liners

Tonneau CoversLocking Hubs

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Full Line!

MALE/HUMAN: Brown hair,brown eyes, goes by the nameof George. Last seen bent overan ice hole on Maple Lake. CallFido at 555-1234

MAN: Good shape. Comes withTV and remote. $50 OBO. Call555-1212

USED TOILET PAPER: A wide vari-ety of brands and designs. Callfor details and pricing. 555-9906

PONY: Looks like a small horse.$700 OBO. 555-5221

PLAYBOY: And other adult mag-azines. Will trade for guns. Call555-7600

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COMPANION: To take long walkson the beach, relax by the fireand curl up at the foot of thebed. Spaniel or Lab breeds pre-ferred. Call 555-0123


5HHO INA$EAL

This is a publication of The Maple Lake Messenger218 Division Street West P.O. Box 218 Maple Lake, MN 55358

320.963.3813 maplelakemessenger.com

If businessstinks...

You should be advertising

with us!

320.963.3813maplelakemessenger.com

LOST LOST LOST

FOR SALE FOR SALE

WANTED WANTED

PERSONALS

Advertising Sales: Kayla Erickson & Vicki Grimmer Layout & Design: Kayla EricksonPhotos: Brenda Erdahl Writing: Harold Brutlag & Brenda Erdahl

Dangleyour bait in

our classifiedsand see if you

get a bite!

FOUND FOUND

In-House Sampling:DERBY DAY!Saturday, February 7

11 a.m.-2 p.m.Bud Light Platinum

BudweiserBlack Crown

Ice HoleSchnapps

SelectVarieties

50ML: 99750ML: $9.99

ATTENTIONThirsty Fishermen:

10% Off Any Single Item on Derby Day

Pick up your 10% coupon at Maple Lake Wine & Spirits!

Offering a wide beverage selection for any occasion!

320.963.3715 www.mlwine-spirits.com

Miller Lite24 Pack - 12oz. Cans

Regular: $19.99

$17.99

901 State Hwy. 55 East Maple LakeFebruary

WINEof theMonth

REX GOLIATH - All VarietiesRegular: $5.99 SALE: $4.99

320 Maple Avenue North Maple Lake(320) 963-5555 MapleLakeBowl.com

Visit us after the Derby...Warm Up & Relax!

Saturday,February 7, 2015

1/4 lb. Burger & Fry Basket

$2.50Noon-5 p.m.

$1 BOWLINGfrom

5-10 p.m.

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Maple Flake 2015