Mysterious Man

John still wonders who this mysterious man is that hangs around the Grand Emporium. Do you have any ideas? Here is everything John knows about him so far:

He is always mailing letters in the mailbox.

He is always looking at the wedding clothes in the store window.

Jessica Simpson gave him a kiss on the cheek after her concert.
Is he really that important?

The Handyman once let John up onto the roof of the Grand Emporium for a coffee break and he saw the mysterious man meeting with all the city officials from the neighborhood. Does he work for the city? Why would a town meeting be held on the roof when they have a perfectly good City Hall downtown?




One time John looked at the usual place by the mailbox and saw the national guard sergeant saluting someone. It looked like the mysterious man, but was he wearing an Air Force uniform?



Finally, John thought an adult might know. So while getting an ice cream, he asked the Saleslady if she knew why the mysterious man hung around her store. "I guess he just saw something he liked," she said. "Same as you and that scooter!" It's true, ever since John saw the scooter, he'd been staying around the neighborhood. But what did the mysterious man see that he liked so much? Why didn't he just buy whatever it is and go away? And who is he mailing all the time? There's too many mysteries about him!

Veteran's Day Concert

Lego City held its Veteran's Day parade in another part of the city, because parades get stuck if they go into dead end streets. A few days later, though, word spread through the neighborhood that Mayor Kurt had approved a special concert for the troops of the National Guard, and that it would be held at the Fire Station! Sure enough, guess who showed up!

It's Jessica Simpson!!

Everyone in the neighborhood came to watch. No wonder Mayor Kurt wanted the concert held on this quiet street - anywhere else and it would've caused a huge crowd in the city!

John had to climb onto his scooter just to see over the crowd!

When it was over, Jessica thanked the national guardsmen for their service, and Mayor Kurt for calling her to perform, and all the neighborhood people for letter her use their quiet street as a stage.

That part wasn't really interesting to John, so he decided to take off before the crowd.

See you next time!

Birthday Adventures

It's Alex's birthday today!

Pam didn't have a lot of money to buy presents, so instead she took him out for some of the adventures he had always wanted to try (without leaving the neighborhood, of course).

He got to wear one of the fire brigade's big silver helmets and slide down the station's yellow water pole from the second floor.

Alex laughed all the way but his mother was just stressed for his safety!

Pam also took the birthday boy to the National Guard camp. She thought they would just let him try on one of their helmets, but they also let him hold one of their rifles! She was scared, but they said it was safe, plus Alex was a natural!

Who are all these men in green?

It's THE NATIONAL GUARD!

These guys help the Lego City Police if there's a disaster, but they don't usually come onto the open streets because it makes people scared there's an invasion or something really bad. So, they stay in the alleyways behind the buildings.



The Guard has to train in the city once a year (Alex loves it when they do). This year they're training behind the Grand Emporium and Fire Brigade.

Who hangs out at the Emporium?

Meet the HANDYMAN and SALESLADY! This is the brother and sister team that run the Grand Emporium.

The Handyman keeps the building clean, washes windows, and keeps things like the revolving door working. The Saleslady handles all the sales work in the entire department store! Isn't that a lot for just one person?

Keeping things clean is important in Lego City, so the Handyman's job is really important to Mayor Kurt and all the city aldermen. Sometimes Mr. Banks pays the Handyman to come over and repair things around the Green Grocer, too. He's happy to do it. He likes old style buildings, so this is the perfect neighborhood for him!



The famous old emporium ice cream stand out front is where the Saleslady likes working most. She says clothes and perfumes and things are for younger people than her, but ice cream is ageless. Wait, who's that in line in front of Alex and Pam?

Meet JOHN!

His family actually lives somewhere else in Lego City, but ever since he came to the Grand Emporium to buy his scooter, he's wanted to hang around. His parents know he's responsible, so they let him stay out, sometimes even late at night!

Who lives in the fire station?

Meet the FIRE CREW!

There are three crew members working at Fire Brigade Number 3. In the middle is the captain. He likes to keep the station and the fire truck sparkling clean.

On the left is the only girl on the team, she likes to play ping pong, and she's gotten so good nobody can beat her!

Then there's COOKIE, in the chef's hat. He loves to cook. He has a full kitchen on the second floor of the station.


The crew lives up there, so in an emergency they can quickly slide down the water pole, get their helmets on, and rush to the fire. Hold on tight, Cookie!

There's another girl and her dog living at the Fire Brigade. See her sitting on the comfy station sofa?

Meet PENNY and BRAIN! Penny is the captain's niece. She likes crime mysteries, and always carries some to read in her bag, along with her computer book. Someday she wants to become a police detective, and her faithful companion Brain can become a police dog with her!

Who's living on the second floor?

Meet ALEX and PAMELA!

Pam is always shopping at the Grand Emporium, then taking the new purchases back to her apartment. She lives on the second floor of the Green Grocer. She rents the apartment from Mr. Banks.

Alex is Pam's son! No wonder she shops so much, she's buying stuff for him too!

The things Pam buys usually get broken and thrown out pretty quickly, though, so their apartment is still a little empty. At least it has a big, warm fireplace and two nice balconies, where Pam grows geraniums.

Raising Alex is a full time job, so Pam doesn't have time to work, but don't worry, she gets money in the mail. Alex also gets to spend a lot of time in the neighborhood, because in Lego City, there's no school!

Who's the man in the big top hat?

Meet MISTER BANKS!

He's really rich, and actually owns the whole Green Grocer! He's also this neighborhood's "alderman." An alderman is like a mayor's helper for a neighborhood. Lego City is really big, so Mr. Banks and all the other aldermen help Mayor Kurt manage it.



Mr. Banks' white cat is named Snowball... or is it Fluffy? I forgot which! Anyway, both Mr. Banks and his cat live on the top floor of the Green Grocer. He loves his big grandfather clock and very expensive designer carpet! His cat loves the apartment's radiator, which keeps the room warm during the winter months.

Mr. Banks has a couple that work for him. Meet the ex-hippie couple!

They partied a lot when they were younger, but now they're really quiet. They run the cash register and restock the fridges in the grocery store on the first floor, and clean up around the building.






I don't know their names, and I also don't know... well, maybe you can tell me... is the one on the left a guy or a girl??

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Have you visited before? Mayor Kurt and the rest of the old men in top hats at City Hall say tourists are good for the economy, so welcome! You've come upon one of the quietest and most peaceful neighborhoods in the city, actually.

It's a dead end street, which means nobody ever really comes here unless they live or work here (actually, the Lego City municipal code says you always live where you work). Halloween just ended, so life is back to normal until Thanksgiving. Still, there might be interesting sights to see, so let's look around.

This is the GREEN GROCER building!

Almost no buildings in Lego City are green anymore, so it's a historic place. It's a grocery store on the bottom, and two apartments on top.

It's an old building, but it has been cared for so it still looks like new. Also, the grocery has updated with modern refrigerators, even though when it was built, I don't think they were invented yet!

The neighborhood residents all buy their food from the Green Grocer, and it also seems to be a nice place for them to meet and chat with their neighbors.

This is FIRE BRIGADE NUMBER 3!

It was built from red bricks in 1932, so it's also really old! But old is good, because the new fire stations don't have fancy bell towers and the old golden helmet designs like number 3 does. In fact, Mayor Kurt himself once said that he thought this building was one of the best looking in Lego City!

There's not really many fires, and a lot of the newer fire trucks can work a lot faster than the old one kept here, but the crew at the end of the street is always ready to go in an emergency!

Finally, here's the old GRAND EMPORIUM building!

"Emporium" is the old word for department store, because like Green Grocer and the Fire Brigade, it's one of Lego City's older and fancier buildings.

There are three floors to shop on: clothing, hats and fragrances; tableware and stemware; and of course, toys!

The Emporium brings in new goods every once in a while, usually around the holiday shopping season. Sometimes, it even carries items that attract visitors from outside the neighborhood...