On Tuesday, July 26, 57 people boarded a full bus behind Slumberland in Albert Lea. Departure was at 4 p.m. with destination Target Field for the 23rd Annual Lutheran Night at the Twins. The two teams with the worst win-loss record were playing each other. The bus people were of all ages and varied backgrounds. The bus people all had one thing in common, that being each was a Minnesota Twins fan hoping to see a victory over the Atlanta Braves.
As each person got on the bus, they were given a ticket to the ballgame with a number on their ticket for bus prizes. (Thanks to Landon Oldenburger of the Twins for the Twins prizes.)
The great bus singers, Lavoy Ebnet, Ruth Olson, Tom Wentzler and LeAnn Zerck, satisfied their bucket list wish of singing in front of a crowd of people — 26,690 watched as the four great singers led in singing the pre-game National Anthem. (Many of the players and fans doffed their caps in appreciation!)
Interesting tidbit: LeAnn has Twins emblems on her personal checks.
F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on God) of Central Freeborn Lutheran Church in rural Albert Lea was sponsor of the bus trip to the Twins game. There were 24 numbers drawn for bus prizes relating to the Twins baseball team; caps, T-shirts, ladies’ scarves, bobble heads, pencils, plus others.
Thanks to Susie at the Albert Lea Convention and Visitors Bureau for the plastic bag to hold the coupons from the guys at Slumberland, Debbie at Arby’s, Guya at KFC and Stacia at DQ, that were given to each person on the bus. The $5 (as a refund to each for a full bus) was found by all in their bag.
There were two Lutheran pastors on the bus—one on the short side of tall, the other on the long side of tall. One of them got lost finding his way back to the bus after the game. As the lost pastor, being the last to get on the bus, the bus people gave him a round of applause. The other pastor then said, “The title of an upcoming sermon will be, ‘I once was lost, but now am found,’ by the Lost Pastor.”
As I leave the stadium at the end of the game, I bump into Russ Tesch from Waseca. He tells me he has been gone so much this summer that his flower garden is mainly weeds (the Waseca Garden Club has put a sign in his garden that reads, “Weed’s Flower Garden”).
The next planned activities are the number one social event of the year, Soup and Pie Supper on Monday, Sept. 26 at Central Freeborn Lutheran Church, and F.R.O.G. will be taking a bus to Christmas by the Lake in Clear Lake, Iowa on Saturday, Dec. 3.
In case you’re wondering, the pitcher for the Twins (Santana) pitched a complete nine-inning game, only allowing two runs. The big problem was the Twins didn’t score any runs.
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Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent, currently working on his master’s degree in Volunteering. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in Volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. Bob says if you enjoy his column, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of wisdom: There is always room for God.