By KATHY PAULSEN

Staff Writer

In March, a story was included in the Star Eagle following a benefit for Christian Reichl of Albert Lea. At that time, we learned Christian had been diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2010, when he was 4. Christian underwent two brain surgeries and three minor surgeries in two and half years and then traveled to Chicago where he had to undergo six weeks of proton radiation treatments.

Christian and his family continue to deal with many medical issues and appointments. On June 11, the Reichl family spent a long day, 11 1/2 hours to be exact, at the Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. Christian underwent his 12th MRI and met with seven specialists.

Annual community celebration held earlier this year

By KATHY PAULSEN

Staff Writer

Ellendale Days seems to have snuck up on us this year. Previously, it was an event that followed the Fourth of July, but there were any number of reasons to schedule the event before July 4th this year.

The Ellendale Commercial Club welcomes everyone to Ellendale Days, which will begins Thursday, June 27 and runs through Sunday, June 30. They hope you are able to attend and enjoy your visit to Ellendale.

There is music from the get-go starting with a dinner and a dance at Ellendale's Municipal Liquor Store on Thursday night. Luverne's Concertina Band will be on hand to play music that everyone understands, from 6-9 p.m.. Come and enjoy; there will be free popcorn at Budget Tax Solutions.

Free youth golf outing Thursday in Owatonna

The Open Arms Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention program is sponsoring a free golf outing for teens Thursday, June 27, beginning at 4 p.m. at Havana Hills Golf Course in Owatonna. The organizers are also planning a bonfire for Thursday night, starting at 10. The youth participating will need to find their own rides to and from the event. Questions, call Robert Sikel at 507-456-1884.

Kitten Adoption Event set for Saturday

The Steele County Humane Society will hold a Special Kitten Adoption Event Saturday, June 29 from 9-12 at Farmers Feed and Pet Supply (616 N. Cedar Ave., Owatonna). This event will be held due to the wonderful selection of kittens available for adoption and to make room for kittens waiting for foster home care.

Apparently, T.J. Schiltz wasn’t ready to take a break after winning two medals in the recent Minnesota State High School Track and Field Meet.

The NRHEG student, a senior this fall, turned in a record-setting performance in Saturday’s AAU District Qualifier. Schiltz broke the meet record in the 1500 meters, winning with a time of 4:18. The old record was set in 2005. Schiltz also qualified in the high jump despite arriving late, throwing on his shoes and jumping with no warm-ups. He cleared 5 feet, 6 inches.

Schiltz’s showing qualifies him for the 2013 National Qualifier on June 30 at 8 a.m. in Des Moines, Iowa. From there, if he qualifies, Schiltz would move on to the AAU Junior Olympic Nationals in Ypsalanti, Mich., July 27 to August 3.

How well do you know New Richland? For the next few weeks, test your knowledge against clues that might lead you to the hidden Farm and City Days medallion and the prize of $50 in New Richland Bucks! Another clue is added each week, right up to the big July 11-14 weekend celebration. Clues will be posted in the Star Eagle, and by 10 a.m. Thursdays at local businesses. Happy hunting!

Clue No. 1:

1, 2, 3s and A, B, Cs, put the clues together and you will find me!

Look low, look high, look forward, look backward, that is the key!

I recently read that volunteers removed 26,000 tons of trash from Minnesota highways at a savings of $6 million annually. Thank you, thank you.

Not only does it make our roadsides green and is great to see, but it saves us a lot of money! The sad part is these efforts shouldn't have to be. I always wonder why people are so busy cleaning out their vehicles and think the public should have to take care of their own trash. 

Someone had just cleaned the roadside, the trash bags had been picked up and everything was clean and green. But then, there on the corner, where someone had stopped for a stop sign, was a mess of paper containers, cans and other trash. It stuck out like a sore thumb. I could have cried, especially for those who had just volunteered their time and labor.

Everybody has access to a bag from purchases or a garbage sack where trash can be kept until they get to a proper disposal place. In my day and age, we were taught that you do not throw anything out the window.

As a teenager, my mom wrote an article for the paper concerning clean environments. At the time, she was surprised to receive a very nice letter from the Department of Transportation, thanking her for her comments. 

Mom always pushed the rule: If one was old enough to drink anything from a can, bottle or paper cup, they were old enough to know the proper place to deposit the empty container.

I always wonder about trash throwers. Do they live in spotless homes so they are inclined to throw the trash or do they live with trash so it doesn't bother them to throw it out in the environment? Yes, it is one of my pet peeves. What irks you about bad habits?

Another is food fights. To me, a pie in the face is disgusting!

Throwing edibles at each other or wolfing down food for fun to see how much one can eat is not far behind in my mind. Food should be just that, food to nourish the body, not to be exploited in any way. 

Okay, call me a prude, but that is how I feel. There are plenty of fun things to do without misusing food.

A "long" time ago, the affluent were inclined to recline when they were eating because they were able to eat more. Of course at that time, "large and heavy" was supposedly a sign of wealth. 

My, how times have changed. Now they wisely tell us to eat slowly because it gives your stomach time to tell you enough is enough.

If one went by the recommended individual suggested portion, we would be apt to find most of us over eat, except kids. If kids do, it is seldom and something they like and leave the other food alone.

Left to their own "food feeling," kids generally do well on their own. If good food is available, kids won't starve. By good food I mean, many raw fruits and vegetables, plus other good foods like natural peanut butter.

My cousin Jim just sent me his personal recipe for chicken soup. Yes, chicken soup.

Chicken soup is a favorite prescription for almost anything. Even doctors agree that there is more to it than mom's hearsay passed down through the generations.

If it works, why change it?

Pressure Cooker Chicken - Fresh

• 3 pounds chicken

• 10 ounces frozen vegetables (carrots, peas, cauliflower, broccoli)

• Small package frozen corn kernels

• 1 red or green sweet pepper, finely chopped

• 1 cup chopped green onions

• 3/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

• 3/4 teaspoon Cumin

• 3 bay leaves

• Cayenne pepper or coarse ground black pepper

• 1 quart chicken broth (you can use bouillon - there will be fat from the chicken)

• 3 stalks celery, finely chopped

• 3 cloves minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2 cups cooked rice

• 1 pound bow tie pasta

In the bottom of a pressure cooker, sauté onion in butter until it is translucent. Add half of celery.  Add garlic and "sweat" for only two minutes (any longer and it gets bitter). Add chicken broth and bay leaves.

Put chicken on top rack. If frozen, cook for 20 minutes. Then release steam and separate wings and thighs. If thawed, separate wings and thighs and cook for 30 minutes.

Remove chicken, separate from bones and discard skin. Chop dark meat fine and leave white meat shredded. Remove rack from cooker, return chicken to pot, add remaining ingredients, and cook for ten minutes. The vegetables and the pasta will not be overcooked.

For a completely different taste, serve a can of diced cooked tomatoes separately with corn chips and Mexican blend cheese.

I hope that you will try it and enjoy!

Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, June 27th: Eugene & Phyllis Hagen, Carlyle & Judy Hagen, Jamie & Kim (Weckwerth) Farr, Stormi Hagen, Mary Groth, Karrie (Newgard) Moen, Marge Trandem, Michelle Vangen, Milton Nelson and Sandi Serdahl.

• Friday, June 28th: Warren & Bonnie Nelson, Jenny (Broskoff) & Chris Dutton, Danielle (Wagner) & LuVerne Zacharis, Amanda (Reese) Beavens, Shane Reese, Margaret Dobberstein, Zack Kromminga, Sara Hoyt, Sara Jensen and Noah Peterson.

• Saturday, June 29th: Donald Hope, Nate VerHey, Courtney Haugen, Jacob Peterson, Brenda (Janka) Tschann, Jane (Jensen) Bratten, Berniece Whelan, Barb & Dale Mrotz, Brent & Valerie Christensen, Brent & Michelle Meiners, Wally & Marge Wobschall.

• Sunday, June 30th: Tammy & Jeff Busho, Susan (Schmidt) & Jon Anderson, Ann & Brent Wiersma, Nate & Kristine VerHey, Julie Vanden Heuvel, Robin Eder, Nathan Robertson, Donna Reichl, Steve Jensen, Barb Wright, Lorrie Kelly and Roger Shaunce.

• Monday, July 1st: Keralyn (Paulsen) Powers, Eugene Hagen, Mary Edwardson, Linda O'Neil, Joanna Ruth Vermedahl, Jill Hanson, Chris Ihrke, Jason Churchill, Marjorie Otterson, Deb Schimek, Rachel (Eaker) Lee, Gary Carlson, Tristan Bangert, Robert Christensen, Roger & Joyce Wayne, Heather (Krause) & Dion Quiram and Frank & Marilyn Cuden.

• Tuesday, July 2nd: John & Wendy Schultz, Delbert & Judy Karsjens, Leslie (Gatton) & David Hecker, David & Sidney Skroch, Christopher Matthew Wacek, Mary Ann Ewing, Stacy Shaunce, David Beck, Chad Ritz, Wilma Arbogast, Melissa Quaintance and Tony H. Seykora.

• Wednesday, July 3rd: Danika Marie Jensen, Lorry Pelzl, Amy Storlie, Amy Walterman, Cynthia Nelson, Sara & Chris Ihrke, Rachel & Michael Schmidt, Phillip & Karen Briggs.

With each passing year, grow stronger, grow wiser, and grow richer in spirit.  May the year be filled with new discoveries and God Bless America! 

The one thing predictable about fishing is that it is pretty much unpredictable. What does that mean? Well, although there are conveniences available to us that just a few years ago were not even considered a possibility, there is still the unknown part that nature has in store for us. For example the old “green box” has long since given way to underwater cameras and fish finders with GPS capabilities to take most of the guess work out of the sport. Call me old-fashioned (you’d be right), but I still like the element of surprise fishing has always brought to the table of my life.

I know I have trolled across countless miles of water holding no fish, but in my mind that “big one” was about to strike at any moment. To me that uncertainty is the best part of the game and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I do own a fish finder of sorts, namely an inexpensive one that will tell me the depth and does show if there are fish in the area, but I’ve covered too much water with fish showing on it but not on my hook to put all my faith in electronics. I do like to know the depth and where the weed lines are but that is where I draw the line.

I’d have to say I am a shoreline type of guy and most of the northern lakes I fish are very clear and can pretty much be fished without a locator just by keeping an eye on the weed line. You can use all the technology you want, but you still need to spot a “deadhead” with the naked eye. I like to think I am fairly adept at finding the fish in my own “old school” style of fishing. I have always said no matter how good a fisherman is, there is still a good amount of luck involved.

Over the years I have seen and heard about some pretty humorous escapades fishermen have had. I have had more than my share of “oops” events when it comes to fishing. One time in particular comes to mind when I was fishing alone on Spider Lake and decided to do some casting for musky. Now, when you are camping with the family and only have a small boat, the opportunity for throwing some “big stuff” for that toothed one is pretty rare. One particular afternoon the kids and my wife decided to stay in, so I headed out in search of the “big one” I knew was waiting just around the next point. After many casts short of the 10,000 minimum that some persistent fisherman had set, I was getting a little arm weary and as I went to make a cast with a lure about the size of a small dog, I hooked one of my other poles. As I lunged forward that pole went flying past my head and into the water. Luckily that lure had more than enough hooks to secure the rod that I now had dangling over the side of the boat. Once I had my other pole securely back in the boat, I did what any good fisherman would do – I looked around to see if anyone had witnessed my smoothness. As far as I know I had no witnesses to that debacle.

Another instance came on the same lake as I fished alone early in the morning. I was using a Rapala and had hooked a northern, but while I attempted to bring it into the boat, it spit the hook. I could accept that part of it but when the hook embedded itself in the inside part of my hand between thumb and forefinger I knew I had a predicament. The lure had small treble hooks and one of the barbs went all the way through but was too small to clip off. After many attempts at different hook-removing techniques that folks had told me were sure-fire, I did the only thing I could think of: push down and rip ‘er out with the needle nose. Once again there were no witnesses.

One year on the way north I ran over a semi tire that had blown out and the wire inside of it wrapped around my trailer axle and stopped my tire from turning. It happened in a construction zone and by the time I could stop, the tire was gone, the rim was tiny, flat on one side and the hub was ground down to nothing. What a way to start a vacation.

I know fishermen who have lost their trailers, but the one time that sticks out in my mind is when my grandson Trevor and I were at a northern lake not far from our cabin which has a very long steep landing. As I went to put the boat in, Trevor asked if the plug was in. I was sure I had put it in, but that question always seems to put that little element of doubt in my mind that makes me want to check. As I went to pull the boat ahead so that I could check it I was unaware that he had already unhooked it. After hearing a loud, sickening thud, I looked back to see the boat sitting on the cement landing. Luckily, the motor was up. The look on Trevor’s face was priceless as he muttered, “What do we do now?” To which I said, as nonchalantly as possible under the circumstances that we would just crank it back up. I had no idea if that would actually work but it did and after a little minor patching, the boat has been as good as ever.

Yes, fishing can be a lot of work at times and after a few of these stories you could ask what is so relaxing about that. They say you need to take the good with the bad and believe me when I say that to me, it’s all good. There is nothing more exhilarating than cruising down the lake in the early morning with a cool, misty breeze splashing your face like a bottle of lake scented after shave with a vision of that next big fish dancing in my head.

Until next time; get out and enjoy some fishing in one of our many lakes and streams of the area.

Please remember our servicemen and women who serve our country so that we may enjoy the many freedoms that we have today.

Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting

"I go to a yoga class each week."

"What day?"

"Some weeks it’s Monday, sometimes Wednesday, and other weeks the class is on Thursday. The secret is to be flexible."

Driving by the Bruces

I have two wonderful neighbors — both named Bruce — who live across the road from each other. Whenever I pass their driveways, thoughts occur to me, such as: It’s nice to be busy. A busy person doesn’t have time to judge anyone else.

Talking baseball

What has 18 legs and catches flies?

A baseball team.

Sorry. On with the story. The fellow sitting next to me complained bitterly about the umpire.

I don’t complain much about umpires. I used to be one.

The fellow nearby threw his hands up after a pitch was called a strike and asked if I thought the umpire was terrible at calling balls and strikes.

I replied that I wasn’t a good one to ask. I couldn't tell if a pitch was a ball or a strike when I was playing.

Jack Brush of New Ulm asked one of his coworkers, "What do you do with your dog while you're umping?"

The man replied, "What dog?"

Jack responded, "Your seeing-eye dog."

Cafe chronicles

I stopped to have a bowl of gruel and some hardtack. It was a homey eatery where the eggs were fresh. They’d just been fried yesterday.

I was met with a smile and a question, "When Barbie and Ken go to a fancy restaurant, who parks their car?"

Before I had a chance to offer an answer, I was told it was "Valet of the dolls."

"What would you like to eat?" asked the waitress of a friend seated in a cafe where nothing was fresher than the waitresses.

"Anything with gravy on it," came the reply. "No hurry. I have the time to wait. I quit fixing up those old tractors."

"Why?"

"Because I didn’t know how."

Older than dirt’s father

I stopped to visit him. His life had been shrunk to a small room with few remaining possessions. He’d stayed in the small town he’d been born in because "somebody had to."

He laughed when I told him that getting old was like frying bacon in the nude. You know it’s going to hurt, but you’re not sure where.

I thought of the writer Temple Grandin, who said this about aging, "I used to be able to able to stand in a forklift truck loading dock at the feed yard and I could jump up on the ramp. Gosh, there is no way I could do that now. But one of the things that getting older does give you is wisdom and a perspective that you didn’t have before because you’ve been to a lot of places and you’ve seen a lot of things. That’s why, in a lot of societies, they look up to their elders. In elephant society, younger elephants look up to the matriarchs. Why? Because they know where to find the water from 50 years ago.”

There’s a call for you from an Audi

My brother-in-law Reid Nelson of Sheboygan, Wis. caved and purchased his first cellphone. He called his mother on her birthday and after wishing her a euphoric natal day, told her that he was calling while driving.

His mother scolded him for such a hazardous activity.

He tried to calm her by saying that he shouldn’t have been driving 90 miles per hour either.

We think he was kidding. We hope the same.

Did you know?

Most people are 50-65 percent water, which is roughly 40 quarts.

The average life of a major league baseball is seven pitches.

A ruby-throated hummingbird moves at 20 to 30 mph in regular flight propelled by 60-80 wingbeats per second.

Customer comments

Rocky Von Eye of Mitchell, So. Dak. wrote, "Love the 'tick taxi' dog story. We called my little Bischon a tick transport. He also transported the ticks into the house."

Bill Thompson III of Whipple, Ohio met a British farmer who was so tight that when he reached for his wallet, the Queen attended the opening.

Nature notes

I planted a serviceberry in my yard. I like the edible berries. Wildlife loves them. It’s called serviceberry because early settlers used the tree’s spring flowers for burial services when the ground thawed enough to allow them to bury loved ones who had died during the winter. It’s also called Juneberry.

Meeting adjourned

Karen Berg of Fountain sent this quote from Frederick William Faber, "Many a friendship — long, loyal, and self-sacrificing — rested at first upon no thicker a foundation than a kind word."

Who was born in Waseca County on June 27, 1918? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who was one of the many great people to graduate from New Richland High School? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who was proud to serve his country in the U.S. Army? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who married Sylvia Tukua on June 5, 1943 in Santa Ana, California? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who, with wife Sylvia and family, came back to New Richland after being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who, with wife Sylvia’s permission, shuffled the sleeping arrangements so that Robert Tollefson, Carol Tollefson, and Robert Hanson could stay at their house one spring in the early 50’s when the New Richland High School bus couldn’t get through the frost-boiled muddy roads? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who helped (in person, on the phone, and via the mail) Robert Hanson (me) get into Naval Intelligence (spying on Russia)? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who worked at, and later became owner of, the Our Own Hardware store in New Richland, receiving many awards along the way? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who was proud to serve New Richland in any way he could? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who was a faithful servant to God, both in his church and outside his church? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who was the person whose life on Earth revolved around God, family, and community? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who was the person who always spoke to me and gave me his great infectious chuckle when he saw me volunteering at the Albert Lea Medical Center? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who, in a wheelchair this May, with wife and daughter, stopped while I was on my hands and knees at the Gift Shop in the Albert Lea Medical Center, and said “Goodbye?” Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who was honored to have his great-grandchildren sing “Jesus Loves Me” at his funeral service? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

Who is now dwelling in a place prepared for him? Gene Dodge, that’s who.

———

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.