North news briefs: Ground is broken for new Castle Field in Anoka

Ground is broken for new Castle FieldA groundbreaking ceremony was held last week for the new Castle Field at a site along 7th Avenue near Anoka High School. The hope is that the new baseball park will open on a limited basis in spring 2013 and be ready for full-time action the following year. The current Castle Field, on Jacob Lane, has been sold to Health Partners, which plans to put a clinic on the site. The field will remain in operation through this summer.

Father Hennepin Festival this weekendMississippi Point Park will be the central site for the city's annual Father Hennepin Festival, scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The community celebration includes a parade at 6:30 p.m. Friday on West River Road.

A wide variety of other events and activities are scheduled -- a daily carnival, music and other entertainment, a pie-eating contest, to name a few. A fireworks show will be held at 10:15 p.m. Saturday.

Action runs from about 5 p.m.-midnight Friday, 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.

Festival buttons are required for youth events, and there will be an $8 cover charge for entry to the main tent on Friday and Saturday nights.

For further information, including a schedule of events, go to www.fatherhennepin festival.com.

Pre-registration costs $25; race-day registration is $30. You can register online at www.active.com.

The Fisher House is a place where patients and family members can stay while the veteran is receiving major medical care. It is one of 56 in the United States and Germany, offered by a private-public partnership. The Minnesota DAR has been operating for more than 100 years.

For further information on the Fisher House program, go to www.fisherhouse.org.

Thursday showing of 'House of Ghosts'"House of Ghosts," the latest sci-fi B-movie creation from Christopher Mihm, will be shown Thursday at the New Hope Cinema Grill. The screening will be part of a dinner-and-movie event running from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $15.99 and include a pizza-salad-pop buffet. Mihm, who hails from the north metro, will hold a Q-and-A after the screening. For ticket information, go to www.sainteuphoria.com and look under the events section. The Cinema Grill is located at 2749 Winnetka Av. N, New Hope.

Armstrong senior wins Mercury awardMichael Greenberg, a senior at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School, is the male winner of this year's Mercury Club memorial award. The Hy Truman/Donald Goldberg Memorial Award is given each year to the outstanding male and female scholar/athletes in the greater Twin Cities area.

He volunteers at Feed My Starving Children and the S.T.E.P Food Shelf and is on the PACER Center Youth Advisory Board/Teens Against Bullying. He'll be attending Minnesota State University-Mankato on a golf scholarship.

JIM KERN

10-minute plays return this weekend in White Bear LakeThe Lakeshore Theatre in White Bear Lake will present its eighth annual 10 Minute Play Festival this Thursday through Sunday.

The festival features 10 comedies and dramas that were selected from 353 entries from around the world. The plays had to be new, no longer than 10 minutes, and have a cast of no more than five actors.

Though the plays come from far and wide, they feature directors and actors from the Twin Cities. Performances will be given at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. All plays will be presented at each performance.