Those looking for a bit of fresh air around Chanhassen's Rice Marsh Lake are likely to leave with a laugh or two thanks to one Chanhassen family.
Neil Collins is a second grader at Chanhassen Elementary and is a big sports fan. His mom, Bethany Collins, says Neil's morning routine before the COVID-19 pandemic involved checking their family's smart speaker for the daily sports scores.
"Since there aren't any sports scores to check, Neil began asking Alexa for a joke each morning," Bethany said. "He started coming downstairs each morning to share the joke with me and my husband, Neil Sr."
The jokes kept coming and the Collins family got the idea to start sharing the jokes with people using the Rice Marsh Lake trail not too far from their home.
"One family sent us three jokes, so they loaded us up," Bethany said. "I've sent a note to the people who have emailed jokes to us to let them know when their joke will be up. We will also put a note up to let people know who the jokes were submitted by."
If they don't get many submissions, Bethany says they have plenty of jokes from their second grade son.
"He doesn't really have his own material, but he loves joke books and he loves making us laugh. He's not much of a jokester on a day-to-day basis, but he loves to try and make people laugh."
In a time of uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Collins family hopes a little laughter can bring back a feeling of normalcy, even if just for a little bit.
"It's been really fun as a family to see how much community is out there right now," Bethany said. "Everytime we go on a walk people make sure to make eye contact and say hello with one another. Just watching people enjoy the outdoors gives us a little something and it makes things a little bit more normal. You sometimes forget it could be because they can't do much else because of everything that's going on."
The joke boards have inspired others to place joke boards on other trails. A fairy garden has also popped-up alongside the Rice Marsh Lake trail as people look for creative ways to bring a smile to the faces of people looking for a brief escape from the COVID-19 chaos.
And if you were wondering, "What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?"
A towel!