Camerer blasts home run in 9-2 victory

Most local folks were expecting a tough go of it as the NRHEG softball team hosted Blooming Prairie last Tuesday in search of coach Wendy Schultz’s 200th career win.

It was tough. For the visitors.

Kayley Camerer hit one over the fence and the Panthers played near-errorless defense while blasting the Blossoms 9-2 at Legion Field.

“It was a great team win,” said Schultz.

Kamerer’s home run came at a fortuitous time — with two runners on base — as the Panthers totaled 12 hits and capitalized on six errors and five walks.

Last Thursday was a beautiful day to compete, and the NRHEG girls’ track and field team made the most of it.

The Panther girls finished first among four squads in the NRHEG Invitational in New Richland, winning with 110 points. Medford was a distant second with 59, Blooming Prairie had 53, Maple River 44.

NRHEG dominated, winning nine events and taking second in eight more.

Firsts: Hailey Schuller, 100 hurdles, 17.2 and 300 hurdles, 53.2; Caitlin Goette, 400, 1:10.5; Kelly Harden, 800, 14:56; Maddie Wagner, long jump, 14-0; Sophia Fischer, shot put, 32-2.75; Emily Eder, discus, 94-1; 4x200 relay, 1:56.3 (Schuller, Goette, Maddie Wagner, Marnie Wagner).

The NRHEG boys’ track and field team finished second among four squads in the NRHEG Invitational in New Richland Thursday, April 14.

Maple River took first with 103 points, followed by the Panthers with 77, Blooming Prairie 53 and Medford 39.

The Panther boys captured five firsts: Josh Fleming, 400, 55.9; Brady Agrimson, 300 hurdles, 44.1; Agro Gushwa, high jump, 5-8; 4x400 relay, 3:47.6 (Tyler Schlak, John Cole, Gushwa, Fleming); 4x800, 8:56.8 (Schlaak, Cole, Nate Krause, Fleming).

Seconds were by Schlaak, 800, 2:15.7; Cole, 3200, 11:19.2; Agrimson, 110 hurdles, 17.4 and high jump, 5-6; Zeke Erickson, shot put, 41-1 and discus, 117-11; 4x200, 1:47.0 (Aaron Seath, Gushwa, Jarret Utpadel, Lucas Hermann.

NRHEG baseball team battles Big Nine foe to the wire in 7-6 setback

In less than a week, the NRHEG baseball team made about a month’s worth of improvement.

After a 15-5, five-inning loss at WEM on Monday and getting shut out 6-0 at Maple River Thursday, the Panthers gave a Big Nine foe all it could handle Friday before falling 7-6 on a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the seventh inning at Albert Lea’s Hayek Field.

“I thought we played a lot better baseball tonight as compared to our two earlier games in the week,” said NRHEG coach Drew Paukert, whose team fell to 0-4.

The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the first when Cole Staloch and John Hubly singled, scoring on a base hit by Trai Wicks and a Dempsey Tucker sacrifice fly.

Albert Lea responded with two in the home half of the first.

The NRHEG High School golf teams opened competition for the 2016 season last week.

The girls traveled to Blooming Prairie Monday, April 11, finishing first with 260 strokes for nine holes to runner-up Maple River’s 275. USC and Blooming Prairie did not have full squads.

For the Panthers: Jessica Nafe, 62; Kyra Possin, 63; Tali Wayne, 67; Bayle Possin, 68; Grace Logan, 81.

Taylor Christianson of Blooming Prairie was the medalist with a 54.

The boys traveled to Maple River Tuesday and finished fifth among five squads with a nine-hole total of 211. Blooming Prairie won with 165, followed by Maple River with 174, USC 175 and Bethlehem Academy 205.

NRHEG scores: Adam Oquist, 48; Rob Jewett, 51; Nick Shultz, 54; Chris Stenzel, 58; Ross Lenort, 73; Ethan Thompson, 76.

The medalist was Nick Neubauer of USC with a 37.

Echoes From the Loafers’ Club Meeting

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. Our 50th.

Congratulations.

For our 25th, I took my wife to Alaska.

What are you going to do for your 50th?

I’m going back to Alaska to get her.

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: A good listener is one who is still listening after hearing someone say, "When I was your age." The three-second rule becomes a five-minute rule when we drop someone else's food. Why can't we parallel park without turning down the volume on the radio?

The cafe chronicles

The waitress answered our questions before we asked them, "The reason the sugar-free cookies are so good is that they have sugar in them. Just scrape off the part of any food that tastes funny. If you want instant coffee, you'll have to wait. The special is a little tough. I don’t recommend that anyone with under 25 teeth order it."

A Loafer was one of those guys when asked, "How are you?" thinks it's a real question. He’d sat where a chair wasn’t and had trouble sitting anywhere now. He wasn’t one to spread good cheer. "You don't need a reservation to eat here," he grumbled, "but you’ll have reservations about eating here again."

First grade was first class

If Lewis Carroll, author of "Through the Looking-Glass," had been there, he’d have said, "'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—Of cabbages—and kings—And why the sea is boiling hot—

And whether pigs have wings.'"

I could have said that, instead, I asked the first-grader, "What did you do today?"

"I had fun," came the reply.

"What was the most fun part of your day?" I said.

"All of it," was his answer.

I’m here. It seems as if I were just there, but I think I want to be a first-grader again.

The news from Hartland

Buck and Penny celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The couple has always gotten along well, even though he likes money more than she does.

Reverend Dale E. Bread is capable of giving a long prayer or a short prayer. It depends on how long it takes the food to cool enough to be eaten.

Afterwords

A friend regularly became agitated while watching local basketball games. In an attempt to quiet his verbal assaults on the officials, the school authorities made him the official timekeeper. That worked well until one game when he found the officiating so horrendous that he could no longer remain silent. The referee asked, "I thought you were supposed to be the timekeeper."

He responded, "And I thought you were supposed to be a referee."

My mother had just had cataract surgery. She was anxious to resume driving. The cataracts had been dimming her eyesight for years. She made light of that fact. As she rode home with the family after the operation, she commented, "When did they start putting those lines on the highway?"

My zipper broke. I didn’t notice it until I was in the middle of a number of appointments. I had no duct tape, safety pin or stapler to repair that bit of my trousers. I tried a paper clip, but it wasn’t much help. When such things happen to you, do you tell people about it or hope they won’t notice? I solved the problem by walking backwards.

A traveling man

On a visit to England, I found the residents extremely nice and polite. They reminded me of a bad joke. "How do you get a Brit to apologize?" You step on his foot.

I caught a taxi to the airport. It was a spiffy car with a pleasant driver. The fare seemed high, but the cabbie went the extra mile.

Nature notes

"What can I do for an injured bird?" If it’s a raptor or a vulture, contact the Raptor Center located at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul at 612-624-4745. For other injured or orphaned birds and mammals, call the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Roseville at 651-486-9453.

Nature on the radio

Please join me as I share some of nature’s stories every Tuesday morning after the 10 o’clock news on KMSU, 89.7 or 91.3 on the FM dial. Look to www.KTOE.com and Talk of the Town with Pete Steiner to find archived podcasts of the shows on KTOE.

Meeting adjourned

"We rise by lifting others." — Robert Ingersoll. Be kind.

It is time for another “running of the words” column. (Remember, you decide whether the column is “fact or fiction.”)

If you want to hobnob with some of the Albert Lea area’s best bowlers, Central Freeborn Lutheran Church is the place to do so. Levi and dad Reverend Matt Griggs were the winners of the Youth-Parent Winter Bumper League team McDoubles. John and James Amorosa were winners of the McDonald’s Friday Youth Bowling League. Bev Indrelie is constantly a winner of the weekly high games or high series for women. Jim Larson is constantly a winner of the weekly high games or high series for men. (Yes, these great bowlers are all members of Central Freeborn Lutheran Church.)

The pair of bald eagles has returned from the South and once again taken up nesting residence at their St. John’s seasonal home in Albert Lea.

Hey, moms: Do you want the good news first, or the bad news first? The good news is if you’re a resident Minnesota mom, you can go fishing in Minnesota for free May 7-8, 2016. The bad news is if you want to keep a walleye, you must wait until after you have purchased a Minnesota 2016 fishing license, which allows you to keep a walleye beginning Mother’s Day weekend, May 14. (Keeping a walleye is illegal at Mille Lacs Lake.)

If you don’t like the causing of the death of any kind of fish yet you like to fish, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has created a fishery for you. You must use artificial bait and release any walleye caught in Mille Lacs Lake.

Speaking of Mother’s Day, living or deceased, tell Mom “thanks.” Just remember – she was one of the great reasons for your being in this world.

A sure way of knowing you’re eligible for all senior discounts is when your youngest is in their fifties. Happy birthday, Dan.

The guess of when all the snow would be gone on the west side of the parking lot plus adjacent ground at Central Freeborn Lutheran Church was Kris Amorosa with the date of April 4. Rumor has it that Kris had a padlock on the freezer (she had the only key) to be sure she got her fair share of the DQ ice cream cake that was the winning prize.

Genie and I cried as we dropped two envelopes in the mailbox Monday, April 18. At least we had extra days to pay this year. By the way, cats or dogs do not qualify for dependents. (I checked, as the instructions didn’t specify humans only.)

In doing research on Yogi Bera and his sayings, I found many great Yogi-isms. When he was asked what he attributed all his success to, he replied, “The surroundings make the man.”

Visit the office of dentist George R. Lundstrom, look at all those pretty female surroundings and you will understand the Yogi-ism, “The surroundings make the man.”

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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.

The scurs had the Weather Eye set on high last week and it showed. Spring had truly sprung. Can we expect to continue wearing shorts or will it be back to reality? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with a good chance of showers and thunderstorms.  Highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the low 50’s. Thursday, cloudy with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly sunny Friday with highs in the mid-60’s and lows in the mid-40’s. Saturday, partly sunny with a modest chance for showers. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny Sunday with a modest chance of evening showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the low 40’s. Monday, mostly cloudy and slightly cooler with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-50’s with lows in the low 40’s. Mostly cloudy skies for Tuesday with a continued modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 50’s with lows in the low 40’s. The normal high for April 21st is 60 and the normal low is 38. The scurs will try next to hook the headlights up to the Weather Eye in order to get more sun and less clouds. Being a mushroom is overrated.

We’ve come to yet another Full Moon on April 21st. It is commonly called the Full Pink Moon due to the wildflowers that bloom by that name. It also goes by The Full Sprouting Grass Moon and The Full Egg Moon. The Ojibwe called it the Broken Snowshoe Moon and the Sioux called it The Moon of Greening Grass. Indeed many, including those of us at the ranch, can agree with the Sioux as we call it The Moon of the 1st Lawn Mowing.

Tremendous progress was made in the fields last week as corn planters rolled under sunny skies and warm temperatures. Soil conditions were ideal for planting and despite the early calendar date most at least started and in some cases wrapped up their corn planting. There are some soybeans in the ground and although the replant portion of the crop insurance doesn’t kick in until April 21st, the crop is otherwise still covered. Corn has germinated planted Wednesday the 13th and has a radicle about ¾” long on it. Some concern has been expressed that it is too dry. Careful what you wish for.

We had much the same scenario in March with scant precipitation falling the first half of the month. Precipitation actually ended up being above normal for the month in the southern half of the county thanks to abundant rain and snowfall. It also cooled off and temperatures went back to normal to below normal for the last half of March. There is plenty of soil moisture below the top couple inches. The profile was full down to the 5’ level at the SROC in Waseca as of April 1st. Yes it has dried out on top but we needed it to. We also needed it to warm up. As recently as the 13th, the low air temperature recorded was in the upper teens and soil temperatures at 2” average 40 degrees. While some still remain obsessed with knowing the average soil temperature this time of year, it really isn’t that critical. The calendar and soil conditions tell you it’s time to put corn in the ground if you haven’t already.

The local fauna serves as a reminder that spring is on the move. New arrivals included the tree swallows last Friday and a brown thrasher. Chipping, Harris’s, white-throated and song sparrows all made appearances under the feeders along with a lone female purple finch. It shouldn’t be too long before the first orioles and hummingbirds arrive. The jelly feeder was dusted off and put in place in anticipation. The bluebird houses were readied quickly and a check on the wood duck houses revealed that they were already occupied. Luckily the houses had been looked over last fall and cleaned out pretty well. The wood ducks took it upon themselves to evict the deer mice that had squatted in the nesting boxes over winter so all was well. There were six eggs in one box and seven in another. 

The chorus frogs with the recent warm nights have made themselves heard and loudly. Heading out to feed the bottle lambs into the open or grilling on the patio, the noise is almost deafening. Was wondering if the recent low temperatures in the teens had perhaps thinned their ranks. We were still breaking ice out of water buckets yet last week. If the racket emanating from the wetland was any indication would have to say the answer is “no”.

At the ranch it’s been time to do some odd jobs, although the garden hasn’t moved to the top of the list just yet. Cleaning up the plethora of small sticks in the backyard so they don’t make Swiss cheese out of the vinyl siding when the mower hits them was higher priority. We got all the lambs docked, vaccinated and tagged so they were moved to the main barn Saturday. Small pens slow everything down at chore time. They were happy to have more room and displayed their pleasure by running and hopping. That makes everyone happy. It was tempting to remove the tree wrap on all the trees although in the past, doing that on the small whips has yielded disappointing results. A small bunny just outside the front door served as a reminder as to why. Not superstitious but also haven’t taken the chains off the tractor yet. In the past, removing them much before about May 1st has meant a surprise snowstorm of a major magnitude. And some years, even that’s too soon.

See you next week…real good then.

A couple of years ago, I wrote about my Grandma Ann Hacker. She’s always been a special lady, and she’s on the cusp of a very special event – her 90th birthday!

Just stop and think about that – 90 years old! I’m nearly halfway there, but I’d consider it a minor miracle if I made it that long. Grandma is just incredible though. The summer after I wrote my column, she moved from her house to a senior community. She’s still able to do everything for herself and has been talking about buying a new car. It’ll be very exciting to see all her family and friends celebrate her special day this weekend.

So what does it mean to become a nonagenarian? Grandma was born in 1926, a year that might not stick out in our history books, but one that was chock full of interesting events. For example, Winnie-the-Pooh was first published. That’s right, the lovable bear of Christopher Robin made his debut the same year as my grandma! Even cooler to me, Harper Lee was born the day before my grandma! Lee, who recently died, was the author of the greatest novel of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird. Other famous people born in 1926 included Hugh Hefner, famous playboy; Marilyn Monroe, famous heartthrob; and Fidel Castro, famous dictator of Cuba. On the other end of the spectrum, famous escape artist Harry Houdini died in 1926.

The first demonstration of a television set was performed early in 1926. Wow – Grandma’s been around as long as TV! Just like our kids can say the Internet has always been around, Grandma can claim television and her were always tuned in.

It was a big year for automobiles. Route 66 was created, running from Chicago to Los Angeles. Pontiac cars were first produced. The Kelly Blue Book was first published with car values. And Henry Ford first started the 40-hour work week for his employees. It was just a year later, in 1927, that the final Model T car rolled off the assembly line and Ford really started to diversify. But I guess we have Ford to thank for what our typical working time looks like 90 years later.

A few other important occurrences happened the year my grandma was born. Hirohito was crowned emperor of Japan. Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel. Robert Goddard fired off the first liquid fuel rocket, leading to all the space exploration we have today. Just think about that: As long as the first steps of flying into space have been happening, Grandma was taking her first steps in the world as well.

My readers all know how much I despise standardized testing. Well, it all started back in 1926 when the first SAT test was administered to students in the United States. I don’t think President Calvin Coolidge or the rest of the government was responsible for it though. I’m pretty sure Grandma never took the SAT, but her intelligence is unsurpassed. Who needs a test to be smart?

The population of the United States in 1926 was 115 million people, compared to about 323 million people 90 years later. In other words, our country’s population has nearly tripled in the past 90 years. What might it be like 90 years from now? And think about that: there are babies being born right now who might live that long and look back at 2016 and what was happening. What will we have left them?

I know one thing that won’t be the same: the work ethic that Grandma and others of her generation have. These are hard-working folks who had to battle for everything they got growing up. It wasn’t too long into Grandma’s illustrious career as a person that the Great Depression hit. How many of us in our padded lifestyles would have lasted long back then? Not many, I’d wager.

An incredible woman, an incredible life. I have so much respect for Grandma. I know she’s lived her life to its fullest and is someone to look up to and emulate. If I’m lucky enough to live as long, it will be in no small part due to her influence. But I’m not satisfied. I keep telling Grandma I expect to be there to celebrate when she becomes a centenarian! And if you still see my face in this paper in ten years, you’d best believe I’ll have something to say about Grandma Ann again! Happy birthday, Grandma! I love you and can’t wait to celebrate with you now and for many years to come!

Word of the Week: This week’s word is petrichor, which means the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell, as in, “The petrichor in the air was welcome in April, just in time for Grandma’s birthday.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

Babies quickly have to learn that they will be buckled into a special carrier for traveling and then placed in the back seat. They don't ask questions; they just know it is the correct thing to do. The car seats are handy and they help provide safe travels. Surprisingly, babies seem to like them, but they lack that warm feeling you get from "holding" those dear little ones close to our heart.

Just as, or more important, is the need to sanitize your hands as you leave the supermarket as it was to sanitize them when you first came in. Think of all the exposure to bacteria you touched as you made your way around the store and filled your shopping cart. It only takes a few minutes of your time, but it does help keep you healthy.

Speaking of washing, it always seems silly to wash new clothing and bedding, etc. before using them because they look and feel so clean when you bring them home from the store. But “new” has the potential of picking up germs that may have come on the fabric as it was handled. Think of the number of people who sewed and handled the items before you purchased them.

Washing soda is a good way to brighten T-shirts, and other items, to get rid of the yellow coloring often there because of perspiration.

I have found cinnamon to be a very good alternative from using sugar on oatmeal or cooked cereal. My nephew, Kade, as a cook tends to use cinnamon and pepper in quantity as opposed to sugar and salt and I have found I like it too!

Known fact. The “fat” in an avocado is good fat. They are considered Mother Nature’s miracle food. The avocado tree is strong and requires no spraying with poisonous chemicals. The avocado helps provide a perfect balance of life giving nutrients: potassium, folic acid, fiber, B6, protein and more. Its unsaturated fat helps lower LDL or “bad” cholesterol.

Cast-iron cookware is recommended as opposed to Teflon pans that have a type of coating on them that makes them usable without shortening. We know if they get too hot and are often used, the pans have a tendency to change that special coating. What happens to it? Do we eat it?

The “computer doctor,” as I call him, was opposed to eating anything that had been in the microwave, except maybe water. He maintained it ruined the value of food and it was dangerous to eat foods that had been in the microwave. I believe him, but it is still hard to give up the convenience of microwave use.

My grandmother Hanson would never let us give her a microwave and she wouldn’t use one. I don’t know why, but she stuck by it. The microwave always seems to be a great way to reheat a few leftovers without leaving half of them in the pan because they stuck. I guess my grandmother knew what she was doing. She lived to be 99!

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Some of our Star Eagle readers have commented that 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 to 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.

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Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, April 21st: Helen Pierce, Michael Foster, Veronica Graif, Adrian Kilian, Marilyn Reistad, Elmer Vanden Heuvel,   Mariette Sommers Ruppe have a son who was born on this date

• Friday, April 22nd: Noah Lowell Swearingen, his 11th; Rollie Johnson, David Purdy, Gregory Swearingen, Stacy Thostenson Harold, James Van Riper, Marilyne Dodge, Mike & Sarah Collins, Rodger & Sue Hill

• Saturday, April 23rd: Dan McElfresh, Jayne Miller, Buffy Bergland, Alan Edwardson, Jackie Johnson Miller

• Sunday, April 24th: Keralyn & Bill Powers, Madison Kae Wagner, Marnie Ray Wagner, Dak Sorenson, Gladys Burr, Marilyn Cuden, Audrey Paulson, Lowell Wichmann, Scott Brandt, Kara Vangen

• Monday, April 25th: Ed Deml, Nicole Langlie La Tourneau, Nicole Nielson, Evie Toft, Christine Davidson, Jeff Kunkel, Janice Morreim, Stan Reichl

• Tuesday, April 26th: Jim Arends, Lester Casterton, Teresa Deml Sisler, Beverly Harpel, Jean Larson, Pat Motl, Ashley Bangert, Mary Peterson, Pat Pichner, Steve & Judy Christensen, Bob & Gerry Flim, Allan & Darline Jensen

• Wednesday, April 27th: Brian Schember, Norma Robertson, Heidi & Christopher Olson

• Thursday, April 28th: Martin Rossing, Rodney Peterson, Mildred Flugum, Jamie Cameron, Jean & Chuck Groth

• Friday, April 29th: Derek Anthony Kubicek, his 8th; Jane Brocker, Roberta Dettman, Angie Hall, Mitchell Jensen, Pat & Linda Goodnature, Jennifer & Steve Schultz

• Saturday, April 30th: Nancy Williams, Jeff Misgen, Paul Moen, Dawn Cooper, Kevin Cooper, Jonathon Lein, Karey Dufresne, Judah Ashton, Jonathon Lein, Rick & Melonie Miller

• Sunday, May 1st: Carter Levi Titus, Jim Hanson, Shirley Pichner Helgeson, Christopher "Critter" Johnson, his 13th; Luke Dobberstein, Gene Budach, Sandi Otto Glenn, Richard Helmers, Sue Kasper Anderson, Tim Kasper, Norma Long, Cari Jensen, Thomas Van Riper, Veronica & Jim Graif, Heidi & Ryan Baldwin

Birthdays and anniversarys are for reflecting...dreaming...enjoying.  Wishing you a wonderful day!