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The Roundabout
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Good morning and welcome to your weekly Roundabout!
This week, we’re spotlighting retired 3M chemist Jim McDonell, a longtime Woodbury resident who turned decades of expertise into a sustainable soap startup that he believes could make a lasting difference.
We’re also tracking the reopening of key lanes and trails around Tamarack and Valley Creek, as well as a new yard-waste site planned just east of Woodbury to help ease disposal needs.
From cleaner streets to cleaner hands, it seems fresh starts are the theme this week.
Editor: Chuck Nowlen
[email protected]
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Top Story
Retired 3M chemist Jim McDonell with a display of his Sun Seed Soap products at a local coffee shop last week. Photo by Chuck Nowlen.
Trailblazing Soap Inventor Makes Every Move Count
by Chuck Nowlen | Editor | Published on September 17, 2025
A retired 3M chemist and longtime Woodbury resident believes he's found a link to a better future, thanks to a household item he’s been a world-class expert on for the last four decades.
Soap.
“All soap – except some store-bought – is basically made the same: you mix oil with lye,” notes Jim McDonell, who launched Sun Seed Soap in April after three years of focused, targeted probing into every soap secret you can imagine.
News
 | Interlachen Parkway, Valley Creek Road Lanes Set to Reopenby Roundabout StaffHard-working crews are making progress and have begun re-opening some roads and trails. All eastbound lanes on Tamarack Road are now open, as are the trails from the west and south side of the City Hall campus leading to Afton Road. |
City & County
 | Washington County to Open New Yard-Waste Site Near Woodburyby Kathy Saltzman | Staff ReporterWashington County is taking a major step to improve yard-waste disposal services with the planned opening of a new drop-off site just east of Woodbury. |
Corrections & Clarifications
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story reported the wrong date for this year’s One Woodbury celebration and the wrong spelling of city Community Relations Manager Shelly Schafer’s last name. Both errors have been corrected in the story below. Woodbury News Net apologizes for the errors with sincere regret.
 | 2025 One Woodbury Goals: ‘Better Understanding And A Sense Of Belonging’by Roundabout StaffThe food, traditions, music, resources, dancing, art, backgrounds, perspectives and individual expressions of Woodbury’s rich garden of cultures will be in full bloom next Saturday, Sept. 27, at the annual “One Woodbury” celebration at Ojibway Park. |
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