The scurs finally discovered the problem with the ’74 Gremlin Weather Eye: The wire on the windshield washer and air conditioning were crossed. Will their repair hold until we cross the corn planting finish line? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the lower 70’s and lows in the upper 40’s. Mostly sunny on Thursday with highs near 70 and lows in the lower 50’s. Mostly sunny conditions continuing for Friday and Saturday with highs in the mid to upper 70’s and lows in the mid to upper 50’s. A modest chance of showers and thunderstorms Saturday into Sunday. Partly cloudy Sunday with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-60’s. An increased chance of a shower or thunderstorm into Memorial Day Monday under partly cloudy skies. Highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Partly sunny again for Tuesday with a decent chance of showers or thunderstorms. Highs again in the upper 70’s and lows in the mid-50’s. The normal high for May 26th is 73 and the normal low is 52. We will see over 15 hours of daylight on the 23rd, the first time since July 19th of last year. Let’s hope the scurs remember which wires were crossed on the Weather Eye come August.

Farmers were definitely enjoying the sudden change in weather fortunes locally after struggling most of the spring to put crop in the ground. Saturday and Sunday marked the best conditions of the planting season thus far with the promise of more to come. Many kept working into the wee hours of Monday morning as the forecast threatened more rain. One can’t blame farmers for being wary after the wicked blow 2013 dealt them. Luckily we dodged a bullet for once and the precipitation was very limited across Greater Bugtussle. An approximate estimate of corn planting locally for May 19th would be roughly 65%. Soybean planting was probably closer to 20%. Corn planted April 26th had emerged to the point that it could be rowed in spots Monday a.m. All in all, a decent start considering the spring although there is a lot of growing season to go. To keep matters in perspective however, you can’t harvest what you can’t plant and we have to be thankful for that.

Around the ranch there are definite signs that it is indeed corn planting time. The leaves on the oaks were the size of a squirrel’s ear this past week and the wild plums were in full bloom. The fragrance they grace the yard with certainly says spring as few others can. The rhubarb has become huge and this weekend would be a great time to make some sauce and a pie if time allows. The garden continues to dry and by the time this reaches mailboxes and newsstands, we should actually have some of it planted. In the meantime it has been interesting to watch the perennial transplants we brought back from Mom’s come to life. Slowly but surely all of the peonies, numerous lily of the valley and a Jack in the Pulpit all made it through the brutal prairie winter unscathed. Best of all the lily of the valley are about to bloom adding to the plum thicket’s contribution.

New bird sightings slowed as expected this past week. It still is fun to watch them after the long winter is finally behind us or it better be! One of the area robins continues to use my official rain gauge as their personal toilet. They’ve been plugging the quarter-inch hole in the funnel so Mr. Cheviot needs to make sure it’s cleaned out ahead of a rain. My stint as a janitor in the dorm prepared me well for this task. Along those same lines we were visited much of last week by dozens of cedar waxwings. Neat little black-masked, brown crested birds and lots of them. Couldn’t figure out what was falling out of the tree on me one morning while filling the birdfeeders. I noticed red stain all over the horizontal surfaces as well as what appeared to be little disk shaped seeds. After doing a little investigating it was determined they were seeds, likely from the American cranberry bushes at neighbor David’s. The sun was shining and I had to laugh. The bushes were full of berries and so were the waxwings, at least until they passed through their digestive tract.

No better sign of spring at the ranch than weaning the lambs from the ewes. Our ewe numbers continue to decrease and that’s a good thing as our recovery time from the annual beating we take is increasing. We do try to utilize our brains more than our brawn however and it usually pays dividends. This time Mrs. Cheviot came up with the idea of loading the ewes into the trailer, then separating the groups once in the trailer. This kept the catching to a minimum and hence the injury potential. With only a bruised rib and slightly sprained wrist this time, I felt fortunate. Once we got them into their groups, we hauled one batch to the kindly neighbors’ and deposited the remainder at home upon our return. The noise was deafening at times the first two days. Ewes that had been busy beating on lambs competing with them at the feed trough and hay bunk suddenly wanted them back. Go figure.

Always a job well done though and time to move onto something more fun like finding the bluebirds at the kindly neighbors. They’ve been nesting in the corner house at the pasture every year for a decade, maybe more. This year was more like “Where’s Waldo?” With no bluebird eggs in the first three nesting boxes I was starting to worry. Had they forgotten or had something happened to them? As I pulled up to the fourth and final house on the hilltop, it contained the small bluish bluebird eggs I’d been looking for. To my delight they had returned after all and officially, so had spring.

See you next week…real good then.

The NRHEG Senior Athletes of the Year has an important stipulation: you must be a three-sport athlete. At times in recent history, there has been a small sample from which to choose the award winners.

What has happened to the three-sport athlete? There was a time in the not-so-distant past that there was a plethora of kids playing fall, winter, and spring. Suddenly, that number has been slashed, and in a school the size of NRHEG, that is troublesome.

Full disclosure: I was not a three-sport athlete myself. When school sports rolled around in middle school, my parents told me to pick two sports. The reasons for this are irrelevant now, but I settled on basketball and baseball. There are times I regret not playing football, but I was still part of the band and even helped with videotaping football games, so I remained involved.

Why are students today not staying involved in all three seasons of the school year? There are a variety of reasons that I hear. One I rarely hear is that a kid doesn’t like the sport anymore. I’m sure it’s the case sometimes, but it’s not a reason often given.

Kids talk about needing to work. It’s too bad that they’re passing on some great memories and opportunities to focus on money. I always worked around my sports schedule, spending more time working on weekends and during the summer. I realize gas costs more than the 95 cents a gallon it did when I was in high school, and college costs more than the $4000-5000 a year I paid. Still, to forego the teamwork skills learned seems a big price to pay for that money.

The more disturbing trend is specialization in a sport and year-round training. When I was part of the baseball board, we often bemoaned the “good old days” when football season went from August to October, basketball from November to February, and baseball from March until July. You might go to some open gyms for basketball between school seasons or go to a passing camp in July, but that was it for mixing these seasons.

Now we have athletes participating nearly twelve months in one sport, especially basketball and volleyball. This is difficult to swallow, even for a basketball coach like me. When you look historically, these offseason programs, such as JO volleyball and Pacesetter and MYAS basketball, started small. When more people started participating, it started a trend. Soon, players and coaches felt they had to take part, for fear of not doing that and failing in the next season.

I’ve heard a number of coaches say they wish they didn’t have to keep working with their players in the summer, but feel they have to in order to meet expectations of players, parents, and community. Since so many are participating in summer leagues, if you don’t, no matter how you fare the following season, anything short of a state tournament will be blamed on not working hard enough in the offseason.

Except there doesn’t seem to be an offseason anymore. These kids are driven and pushed until we see numbers drop, even in those sports. Kids are simply burned out after playing 50+ games a year. But it’ll be hard to ratchet back unless the MSHSL puts some policies in place, preventing so much of this offseason rigmarole.

Carlie Wagner is a perfect example of what our athletes should be doing. Nobody would have begrudged Carlie if she would’ve said she wasn’t playing volleyball or running track. Why risk the investment you have coming in a full ride to college for basketball? However, she has finished her senior year as a three-sport athlete, showing how dedication to your teammates pays off in being a well-rounded individual.

Carlie is a unique athlete; we won’t see many like her. But I keep hearing about kids specializing in one sport, to the detriment of others. I haven’t seen any other athletes at NRHEG that look to be scholarship Division I stars. Might some kids play a sport at a college level? Sure, but we have smaller numbers in so many of our sports because they’re playing volleyball or basketball all spring and have abandoned their classmates, who work so hard for them in the sport of their choice. I’m pretty sure you’re not hitting a volleyball or shooting a basketball every day. If you truly want to get better at a sport, you find time among your other activities. Follow the example Carlie set.

If you’re not interested in three sports, that’s fine. But be active! Find other things to do, such as drama club, band, and other student organizations. These are great resume builders, both as you go to college and find a job some day. If your resume simply lists one activity in school, you’re digging yourself a deeper hole to climb out of and impress others. The more you can show you can do many different things at once, the more likely an employer will want to pay you the big bucks you will not be getting as a professional athlete.

Word of the Week: This week’s word is bumptious, which means self-assertive in an obnoxious way, as in, “The columnist’s seemingly bumptious tone made sense upon a second reading.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

Remembering the life of Rickie D. Waknitz

Funeral Services for Rickie D. Waknitz, of Ellendale, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at First Lutheran Church in Ellendale. The Reverend Richard L. Sliper will officiate. Interment will be in First Lutheran Church, Ellendale. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday at First Lutheran Church, Ellendale, and continuing one hour before services. Bonnerup Funeral Service is assisting the family.

Rickie died peacefully, surrounded by his family, at his home on Thursday, May 15, 2014. He was 61.

NRHEG pounds previously unbeaten Randolph, 16-6

Close, so close.

It was the story for the NRHEG baseball team — until last week.

The previously winless Panthers broke out in a big way, winning three of four games to suddenly improve to a 3-6 season record. NRHEG defeated WEM 4-3, Randolph 16-6 and Maple River 6-3 while being edged 2-1 by Mankato Loyola.

WEM

NRHEG got its first win of the year in a good nine-inning game Monday.

Trevor Tracy pitched seven strong innings and Matt Jensen pitched two scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win.

Softball Panthers go 4-0, knocking off Blooming Prairie, Maple River

It wasn’t a very good week for the NRHEG softball team.

It was a great one.

The Panthers chalked up four victories last week, topping WEM 4-0, Bethlehem Academy 7-2, Blooming Prairie 11-5 and Maple River 3-0. Coach Wendy Schultz’s squad improved to 9-3 overall and 6-1 in the Gopher Conference.

WEM

The Panthers won rather handily at Legion Field Monday.

“The girls played good defense,” said Coach Schultz. “Offensively, we hit fairly well but unfortunately stranded a lot of baserunners.”

Many veterans who served in the Korean War are eligible for the Korean “Ambassador for Peace” Medal from the Republic of South Korea. They can apply for the medal through the South Korean Consulate in Chicago.

To apply for the medal, veterans who served in Korea during the war can fill out an application and mail it to the consulate, or they can call her and she will mail or email the application directly to the veteran.

The medal is currently out of stock, but the Consulate will send the medal to eligible veterans who apply once they receive new stock (likely May or June). 

The special medal is available to those who served from June 25, 1950 to March 1955.

My uncle Paul Hanson was the mayor of Clarks Grove for 33 years and grew up near Ellendale. I ran across one of his notes about growing up in Ellendale in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Paul was one of those people that was always cognizant of what was going on around him. In this piece, he reminisced about small towns. There’s a lesson there for all of us — the smallest thing (like an odor) can take us back across the years. Ellendale-area residents will know many of the places he wrote about, but the lesson is just as appropriate for residents of any small town. Here are some of Paul’s observations:

"Perhaps one of the things that one never forgets, along with sight and hearing memories, is the smell factor. To this day, I can close my eyes and come up with the aroma of a roast beef dinner at Johanna Jensen's cafe, the smell of a big burger with onions at Wes's place and the taste of a chocolate malt at Jorgenson’s. Jorgenson’s was sort of a high school hangout; probably because of their two teenage daughters, Betty and Aileen.

"I can recall the smell of leather at Ziegler’s harness shop, the oil used to temper the leather, as it was a big purchase to get custom made harness from Paul Ziegler.

"The smell of binder twine from the two implement dealers and Nic Jansen, and the distinctive odor of rope, cutting oil and other metal objects at the hardware stores of Miller Brothers, Nelson-Meland and John Stadheim.

"The smell of sawdust on the floor at Anderson Brothers' meat market; fruit odors from Lerberg’s and Speed Nelson’s grocery stores, with the added nose twitch of new denim overalls at Lerberg’s. The smell of freshly steamed cream cans at the Ellendale Creamery, the smell of chickens, testing cream and general merchandise at Nels Peters’ produce station. The iodine smell of Dr. Ertel’s office, as well as the odor and shrill of the drill in Dr. Algie’s office as he ground out your cavities was a smell one doesn't forget easily.

"I never could figure out why the doctors in those days were at the top of about 17 steps, but then they did make house calls. The smell of new tires at the various filling stations, a new car at Aronson’s garage, or the smell of hair tonic at Sander Jellum’s barbershop were not easily forgotten. Neither was the distinctive odor of Jack Ellingson’s pool hall, the smell of new money at the Security State Bank or the Ellendale State Bank. There was also the smell of printer’s ink and the clank of the typesetting machine at the Eagle office where Cecil Campbell and Jimmy Hand put the paper together.

"The smell of freshly ground feed at the Farmer’s Milling and Elevator Co. or from Misgen’s Stockyard also comes to mind. All of it an indelible memory, yet all of it spelled prosperity for the Ellendale community.

"Did I miss some business places? Of course...the smell of lumber and sawdust at the lumberyard, the odor from the forges of blacksmiths Rasmus and Chris Laursen as they sharpened the plowlays, shaped horseshoes, and repaired broken equipment of the community. 

"Wouldn't it be fun to go back to those days for just a few hours? I'd order one of Tillie Lerum’s famous hamburgers, with the meat sticking out the side with pickles and onions. I would plunk down a nickel or dime. And of course I would have to save room for one of Jorgenson’s ice cream malts, too thick to suck through a straw, or Nic Jansen’s popcorn — yellow with Ellendale butter, or a soda from the drug store that many people remember and talk about."

Yes, that is life in small towns. Most of us, if we close our eyes and think about it, have those same vivid memories of small towns, but writers like Al Batt and Paul Hanson express them for us. Who would have thought that smells would bring back memories? There was a time when you could get almost everything you needed in small towns. A trip to the Twin Cities was a grand adventure and something only done perhaps once a year. Anything not available in a local store could be ordered by the storekeeper or bought from a catalog.

People supported their local merchants in small towns, because the merchants (and their employees) were friends. Many rural kids got their first jobs working for these local merchants.

Perhaps the first threat to small towns would be the loss of a grocery store. Most people today aren’t aware that in the days before supermarkets, people raised many of their vegetables in their gardens, and put up produce in glass jars. They may have even raised and butchered their own livestock, and in the era before home freezers were popular (mid-’60s) they would put up the meat by renting space in local locker plants. For those who had to purchase their meat and vegetables, they went to the butcher shop for meat, to the greengrocer for produce, and the store for canned and dried goods. The supermarket is a relatively new invention; putting all grocery needs under one roof and causing the demise of many small-town shops. Even supermarkets are now threatened by mega-stores — and by non-stores like the Internet. 

Think back to all of the small shops in your town. Will you have memories similar to my Uncle Paul’s, or will your memories consist of products that were delivered by UPS or FedEx? As for me, I like small-town merchants and supporting small towns. I try to patronize them every chance I get by doing business with friends and neighbors. It’s one of the reasons we choose to live here.

Some of our Star Eagle readers have commented they like to read about events such as family and school reunions, birthdays and anniversaries, and birth and wedding announcements. In order to read about these important things we need our faithful readers to pass along the information to us. Also if you have an idea for a story that you think would be of interest to our readers, please contact me. 

If you have birthdays and anniversaries you would like include, or news to share please contact me via e-mail, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; by postal mail, P. O. Box 192, Geneva, MN 56035 or telephone, 507-256-4405.

This week’s birthdays and anniversaries include:

• Thursday, May 15th: Carter Hagen, Evan Dobberstein, Megan Grubish, Alex Wayne, Mark Flesche, Dan Hagen, Don Hagen, Nicole Strand Harris, Stephanie Krueger, Neil Berg, Sandy Jensen, Marsha Neitzell, Tammy Thompson, Brett & Jessica Richards, Ralph & Irene Krueger, Jon & Nicole Farr

• Friday, May 16th: Ron Kubicek, Mark Reistad, Mark Skroch, Vernie Stieglbauer, Kim Lageson, Doug Lembke, Judy Karsjens, Anne Larson, Allycia Zinke, Becky Phagan, Bev White, Annie Larson, Christine & Brian Carlson

• Saturday, May 17th: Laura Caroline Deml, her 7th; Caitlyn Nelson, David Thompson, Dale DeRaad, Rhonda Lund Thevenot, Jerry Blouin, Robert Briggs, Dyne Thereneau, Kay Barclay, Darlyne Paulson, Judith Hatch, Thomas Shawback, Rose & Carl Glienke

• Sunday, May 18th: Blake Ihrke, Zachary Jacob Dau, Cory Bailey, David Farr, Arlene Busho, Arlene Cummins, Xan Johnson, Mandy Muri Johannsen, Charlie Hanson, Dan Schember, Hank Thompson, Carol Stohr, Roger Draayer, Kelly Krumwiede, Rod Serdahl, Dan & Val Schember, Sue & Dean Westrum, Ken & Pat Sable

• Monday, May 19th: Christina Hill Berry, Madison Schweirjohann, Summer Schember Schultz, Mike Rysavy, John Oolman, Dawn Parks, Tim & Tiffany Hanson

• Tuesday, May 20th: Oakley Baker, Kaye Schember Cady, Laureen Hohansee, Kathy Hanson, Hannah Ashton, Carrie Thorstenson, Penny Nordhorn, Haley Collins, Scott Stohr, Kevin Peterson, Kent Lageson, Josh Kelly, Virginia Jensen, Cynthia Butler, Jay & Marsha Neitzel, Ed & Camille Nelson, Hannah Ashton, Adam & Kristen Arends

• Wednesday, May 21st: Tony Dodge, Christopher Flim, Tom Wilker, Joel Cooper, Ryan Parks

Celebrating with you as you mark another year. Hoping that your day is filled with family, friends and cheer!

With its strongest week yet this season and a lower-than-average week from the previous first-place squad from Edina, the NRHEG clay target team was able to launch itself into the top spot in the conference last week.

The team was led by perfect 25 performances from Kyle Bartz and Sam Bartz of Waseca and Carter Suchanek from New Richland. For Kyle, it was his second 25 of the season.

It took me a while, but I do believe I have actually gotten excited about fishing. I’d guess the smell of dead fish that occasionally finds its way to our neighborhood from Albert Lea Lake when the wind is from the right (wrong) direction may have influenced my lack of exuberance for fishing. I do believe that I have now dealt with it and moved on and I can only hope the odor will soon do the same.

Spring is the season I always look upon as a re-birth of another season of outdoors activities. The smell of spring, especially after a rain, can be exhilarating, and coupled with a little sunshine, it will definitely put some extra spring in your step. It is funny how each season can actually have a smell all its own, although I still haven’t actually nailed down a sure-fire smell for winter yet. I’d guess that if you are outside in the late fall or winter and have a wood stove or fireplace blazing in the house or cabin, then the smell of that wood burning would symbolize winter for me.

The other day as I was driving around Fountain Lake I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of folks fishing by Blackmore Bridge and even from the shores of Dane Bay. The crappie fishing has been pretty good this spring which, no doubt, has re-kindled my excitement for fishing. I sometimes don’t believe that we appreciate how lucky we really are to live in a city that surrounds a pretty darned good fishing lake.

As a kid growing up north of town I can remember the excitement I felt when I was allowed to ride my bike to town for the first time with fishing pole in tow. I held a can of worms in one hand and fastened my fishing pole to the bike frame with the end sticking out in front, almost feeling like Sir Lancelot on a jest. My tackle box consisted of an old Buss fuse box with a couple of hooks and lead sinkers inside. I had a cork bobber or two in my pocket and 25 cents for a treat.

I would spend a good chunk of the day climbing around under the dam catching bluegills, crappies and bullheads. In the course of a day I would usually fish most of the shore from the dam to the beach. I can’t really remember ever getting hungry or thirsty until it was time to head home. I would quench my thirst with that ice cold water you could get at the creamery and for my 25 cents I would usually get a chocolate marshmallow sundae, my favorite.

Now that I am in fishing mode and anxious to make that first next cast, I will need to make sure all my reels have new line on them. Once that is done I will indeed be ready for “Mr. Lunker.” I usually spend a cold winter day or two cleaning my tackle box and putting new line on my reels, but this year I put it off and before I knew it the opener was here and nothing was done.

After attending the Governor’s Fishing Opener I will be heading north to the cabin for a few days to see how it fared in the hard winter that we have just put behind us. Fishing will not be my number one priority for this short stay but, knowing me, I will be wetting a line a couple of times if the ice is indeed out on the area lakes I like to fish. Just because the walleye and northern season is now, crappie and perch are still very good early-season table fare. My mouth starts to water when I just think about the sight of those tasty morsels browning in the skillet.

Each year as the time approaches to open the cabin I feel a little anxious in not knowing what I will find. I am hoping there are no trees down across the driveway or that one has not fallen on the cabin. In the past I have encountered numerous downed trees and some pretty near-misses when it comes to the cabin. Whatever little obstacles I may encounter I am looking forward to another fun year spending time in the north woods.

MUSKY TALK

The May meeting of Crossroads Chapter 54, Muskies Inc. will be held at 7 pm, Wednesday, May 14th at the Eagles Club in Owatonna.

Our speaker will be the new Fisheries Manager, for Waterville Fish Hatchery. Our meeting includes informative speakers, updates, door prizes, raffle and lot of musky talk. Need not be a member to attend. Bring a friend, help improve musky fishing in Southern Minnesota.

Until next time; any time is a great time to enjoy a little fishing on one of our area lakes but no matter when or where you plan to fish be safe and if you’re in a boat always wear your life jacket.

Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers because they are the reason we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.