Veterans set their sights on new Isanti County park
Jared Johnson took part in the inaugural veterans hunt that took place at Phillip G. Nyman Park in Isanti County late last month. Johnson did not bag a deer — and that’s why he considered the hunt a success, not a failure. “As I was getting ready to hunt, several of my kids told me that they’d love the opportunity to come with me and sit in the blind during this hunt,” Johnson wrote in a letter to the organizers of the event. “After getting an attendant approved, I set up a schedule to bring out one kid at a time for the evening and morning hunts over the three-day period. But when I harvested a deer, the hunt would be over, and those who didn’t get a chance to come with would have to wait until next year.” So when Johnson did not collect a deer, he received something more important: An opportunity to spend time with Adelya, Ellianna, Sherman and Amira Johnson. “Being selected for this hunt afforded me the opportunity to take four of my kids out with me to the blind that I was slotted for,” Johnson wrote. “Each time I went out, I was able