Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting

This soup is terrible.

That's not soup. It's oatmeal.

Oh, then it's delicious.

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: I saw bicyclists and motorcyclists wearing helmets. A bicyclist ran a stop sign in front of my car. Maybe I should have been wearing a helmet, too? The best way to forgive someone is to ask for forgiveness in return. The first thing to get for a family project is a mop. In a perfect world, mosquitoes would suck fat instead of blood.

The cafe chronicles

The coffee was so strong it even woke up the people who didn't drink it. I don’t drink coffee, but apparently it doesn’t need to be that good early in the morning. It just needs to be coffee. I like good tea. There's a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln that says, "If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee."

As I said, I drink tea. A fellow loafer told me that anyone who wakes up in the morning and doesn't crave a cup of coffee, probably isn't worth waking up.

Those thrilling days of yesteryear

I plopped down in an easy chair. It was comfy, bad springs and all, and the perfect perch for me to enjoy reading a Steinbeck book I’d checked out of the library. Something made a sound as I sat down. It was the sound of something breaking. Just then, my mother walked into the room.

"You're not wearing your new glasses," she said. "You haven’t misplaced them? I hope you know where they are."

I did. I knew exactly where they were.

An account of a cruise

I was a tour leader on a delightful cruise. It was a give-and-take- journey. I was given food or had my photo taken each time I turned around. People go on cruises to see what puts on more pounds — waists or suitcases. It's where a seasick individual sends postcards reading, "Having a time. Wish I were there."

I asked the captain how many miles per hour the ship was traveling. He said, "Knots to you."

Don’t ask

I admit it. I’m hard to live with. I'm terrible to be around in the morning. I wake up cheerful. When I set my alarm, I awake before it has a chance to go off. I'm not aware of a term that describes the ability to wake up just before an alarm sounds. My cousin Roger Batt of Algona asked if there's a name for asking a question that you already know the answer to. Parents find this an effective method of uncovering deceit. "Where have you been?" "What have you been doing?" are often asked when the parent knows where and what. Children learn to answer questions with questions, such as "What do you mean?" "Who told you that?" and "Why do you want to know?"

Asking a question that we already know the answer to isn’t really a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is one in which no answer is expected or required.

I've been told that a great lawyer knows the answer before he asks any question. A teacher’s job is to ask questions she knows the answers to.

A term I was taught was a "known-answer question." It's rather unwieldy, but descriptive.

Saying "goodbye," but hoping it isn’t

Life is a balancing act. We each are one of the Flying Wallendas. We do and say what we need to get by.

Some people find it hard to say, "Goodbye." My cousin Harold "Mike" Batt of Cedar Falls was a small boy when he accompanied his brother Dick, on the day Dick left for the army. Mike said "goodbye" and never saw his older brother again. Dick was killed in action.

My brother Donald found it difficult to say "goodbye." When he was in the service, he said goodbye to a good friend. That friend was killed that day in battle. Goodbye had a frightening finality to it.

Donald said "goodbye" in other ways. "I’ll see you," "I’d better get" or "Well, I suppose."

Meeting adjourned

"Two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give." — Edwin Arlington Robinson

As we celebrated the Fourth of July this past weekend, I found cause to muse on the past and how it influences our present and future, if we allow it.

I coached 7th grade baseball for 13 years, beginning in 1997. Every day, I walked out of the Ellendale school and past a dilapidated old building on my way to the baseball field. I remember thinking often that someone should just tear that eyesore down; it might be a good place to expand parking for the ballfield and the school.

A few years ago, I learned about the history of that building, which turned out to be the famous Gus’ Station. Ah, now things changed. This was apparently an iconic location in Ellendale for many years. My thoughts turned away from tearing down and moved to wondering why it fell into disrepair if it was so loved.

I wasn’t the only one who wondered that. The Ellendale Area Heritage Society, along with the Steele County Historical Society, worked diligently to find ways to restore the once-proud building and show off an important part of Ellendale’s history. The building was moved a couple years ago to the Village of Yesteryear at the Steele County Fairgrounds in Owatonna. My family and I visited it during the fair and were amazed at not only the restoration, but the passion of the people who were acting as “tour guides.”

But the job’s not done yet. I had the chance to stop out at Steve Fredrickson’s shop, where he was working on some vintage gas pumps that will be added. One came from Iowa and the other from Florida. There is also some hope to build a three-stall garage and have some older tools that have been donated displayed there, as well as some classic cars.

Those gas pumps were a true marvel. These days, when you go to the gas station, you often swipe your card and set the nozzle to dispense the gasoline until your tank is full. This is quite a departure from the full-service days. Nobody cleans your windshield or checks your oil for you anymore, and many people never enter the station itself either, unless they need something to eat or drink.

Steve was able to fill in some gaps in my knowledge of Gus’ Station. Though it was opened in 1931, Gus and Hilda Jacobson took over in 1946, which is where the name comes from. However, there was a brief time where it wasn’t a gas station since there was a gas shortage during World War II; a family rented it for housing!

The biggest thing I didn’t know was that Highway 30 used to come right by Gus’ Station, where it was located on what is now 8th Avenue. The road then turned past the school and connected to the main street, which put a little more curve in the state highway. That was one of those interesting tidbits that I started to picture in my head and saw how it made sense. Otherwise, why would a gas station be located off the main drag? It wasn’t – that was the main drag!

Location is everything and not just for gas customers. Being that close to the school must have been a huge money maker. I can picture kids running down to Gus’ Station after school and adding some sugar to their diets. I’m sure One Stop has the same status today, except many kids drive there, and many probably stop prior to school for coffee or soda.

We often bemoan what we’ve lost from our past, but thanks to the EAHS and the SCHS, that past is available in vibrant color. We can learn so much from our past, even those of us who are transplants. Gus’ Station was a landmark in Ellendale, and I’m grateful these groups of people have done so much to take that old building I used to hope would be torn down and turned it into something to show off with pride.

Unabashed plug: With all the work left to do, there is a fundraiser coming up on July 18 at the Village of Yesteryear. They’re having a pancake breakfast from 8:30-1, along with a car show featuring a cruise at 1:15. You can even take your vehicle’s picture by Gus’ Station, which might be a real treat for those with classic cars! I’m thankful I was able to explore some of this history and that we can see a future with these important parts of our past still alive.

Word of the Week: This week’s word is fardel, which means a bundle, as in, “The EAHS wanted to find a place for the fardel of old tools in Gus’ Station.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

The scurs consulted the Weather Eye for drier, kinder, gentler weather and it delivered. Will it succeed in keeping the rainclouds away from Farm and City Days or will it be wet and wild? Starting Wednesday, mostly sunny with highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. Partly sunny Thursday with a slight chance of an evening shower. Highs in the mid-70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Friday, mostly sunny with a good chance of an evening shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Partly sunny Saturday with a moderate chance of forenoon showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the upper 60’s. Sunday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Partly sunny Monday with a moderate chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Tuesday, partly sunny with highs in the upper 70’s with lows around 60. The normal high for July 11th is 83 and the normal low is 62. Having already lost 13 minutes of daylight since the summer solstice, the scurs will be reading under the covers with their flashlight again.

Corn continues to move along and we should start to see the first tassels hopefully by the time this reaches your mailbox. Despite the wet soil conditions earlier, the crop continues to look very good, with most fields exhibiting very little in the way of N deficiency with the exceptions of the areas surrounding some of the drowned out spots. Soybeans too look better than they have in several years with most being a full R2 (full bloom). Soybean aphids have been found locally, although they are nowhere near economic levels. Some small weeds continue to appear between rows. Here again, what people are willing to tolerate depends on personal preferences. Generally speaking these are not yield limiting infestations. Drier conditions this past week allowed weed control measures to wrap up with some even resorting to cultivation in the soybeans. Some of the well washed second cutting hay that had been down for over a week was finally able to be baled. It was nice clean hay though.

The Canadian forest fires are causing some concern that we may see some cooler temperatures for crop production than we may like. Indeed, the haze has helped make it noticeably cooler than one might expect for the calendar date. It has also caused concern for those with respiratory issues. In fact a recent report was claiming that the air quality in the Twin Cities was worse than Beijing. Some of course are quick to jump on climate change as the culprit due to warmer, drier winters in the west. One can’t help but wonder though if conditions become colder and wetter than normal there, what will they blame that on? Not saying that the climate change isn’t happening, but to many folks, it has become another convenient excuse for any occurrence out of the “normal” in this day and age, whatever normal is supposed to be. When in doubt, blame global climate change.

Lawn mowing has certainly been high on everyone’s chore list this summer. Contending with the mosquitoes has been part of the challenge as well. The back of my neck is pebbled about like a basketball, having been bitten so many times. Howard and Whitey have been up to the task so far. Weekly mowing and trimming when I get around to it is about all I can muster these days though, especially when one knows it’ll be a bloodletting.

Don’t recall ever seeing as many orchard orioles as we’ve had this summer. There are at least a couple chocolate colored males, some young green males with the black bib and oodles of green females. They are eating jelly at a frenetic pace with some help from the squirrels and the Baltimore orioles. Oddly enough the hummingbirds have dropped off the radar screen. Not sure why, but suspect they are nesting. The first hatch of barn swallows is on the wing and not a minute too soon. With all the mosquitoes and flies to eat they should do very well.

With Mrs. Cheviot still on the loose, it has taken more time to get the putz projects done. However, after taking one look in the garage at the filth, a good floor sweeping was in order. After all it was becoming nearly impossible to get in the Silver Hawk without getting the once clean floor mats dirty. Driving it in less than pristine condition isn’t part of the deal. Getting rid of the cardboard that was soaked up with oil dripped from Howard and Whitey was the first order of business along with dog hair and what seemed like a dump truck load of sand. Should sell it back to the county. 

After taking the Studebaker out for a spin it’s interesting once parked how many times I’ve been asked what happened to the car company. When did they quit making them? Why? Did someone buy them out? The short answers: The decision to cease automobile operations was made by the board in March of 1966. It had been coming for quite some time as the automobile division had been losing money since at least 1953 with the exception of 1959 when the Lark was introduced. The direction the company had been going focused more on developing into a conglomerate rather than automobile production. Studebaker had been buying up other interests in order to diversify. Studebaker owned companies such as Gravely, Onan, Clarke Floor Machines and STP. STP stood for “Scientifically Treated Petroleum” although Studebaker had used a “Studebaker Tested Products” moniker to tie it to some of its own advertising after purchasing it in 1961. In 1967, a year after automobile production ended, Studebaker merged with Wagner Electric and Worthington Industries. The resulting company became known as Studebaker-Worthington. Eventually it was acquired by McGraw-Edison in the late 1970s, which in turn was absorbed by Cooper Industries in 1985. When that happened, the Studebaker name quietly disappeared from the American corporate landscape.

See you next week…real good then.

Judy Kay Valentine of Clearfield, UT formerly of Blooming Prairie, MN, passed peacefully in her sleep due to complications from pulmonary edema on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at Rocky Mountain Care Center in Utah. Judy was born February 25, 1946 in Owatonna MN to Arthur and Alice Lassahn. She grew up in the small farming town of Blooming Prairie, MN. Judy graduated from Blooming Prairie High School in 1964 and went on to Mankato State University.

Judy began working for the Department of Defense in 1968, a career that would take her to various parts of the country. Judy entered the Air Force Reserves while working as a civilian for the 508 Tactical Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base UT, becoming an Air Reserve Technician and serving our country until 1982. She held many positions at Hill AFB, retiring as a Program Analyst after 34 years of faithful service.

She met and married Bill Valentine and together they had a beautiful son, Stephen, in 1983. She often said that becoming a mother was one of the greatest joys of her life.

James Thomas Farr, age 77, passed away July 8, 2015 at his home in Geneva, MN. James was born on April 1, 1938 in Albert Lea, MN. He has been a lifelong resident of Geneva.

James was a meticulous, hard worker, diligently working long hours every day. He worked many years with heavy equipment and owned his own road maintenance business. James was always involved with and interested in activities involving heavy machinery and equipment; he admired the tractors at various county fairs every summer.

One of his favorite activities was stopping in at Al’s body shop for coffee, gossip, and the joke of the day. He was a proud father of his children and grandchildren.

By REED WALLER

Staff Writer

In a special meeting of the NRHEG school board on Thursday, July 2, board chair Rick Schultz named Dr. Dale Carlson as the committee’s recommendation for interim superintendent to replace Dr. Dennis Goodwin, who resigned as of June 30.

The committee was appointed at the June 15 board meeting and immediately advertised for a replacement.

“We received seven applications in response to our advertisement. We reviewed all the applications and interviewed who we felt were the top two candidates.”

Carlson comes with 30 years of education experience (the last 20 in administration), most recently seven years as superintendent of schools at Holmen, WI, where he also served on the board of the Holmen Area Foundation.

Museum grand opening July 11

By KATHY PAULSEN

Staff Writer

Dreams do come true if you are patient and willing to put some equity into them. It helps to believe and say a few prayers.

The Clarks Grove Area Heritage Society began about 20 years ago with just a few people thinking ahead and interested in preserving the artifacts, pictures and stories that made Clarks Grove the great town it is.

From that humble beginning, loyal citizens kept meeting and discussing how nice it would be if there was a place in town that could be established to preserve the pictures and memorabilia that people might want to donate. Phyllis Hanson and Kathy Jensen talked often about a museum and the topic of finding a place was brought up at nearly every heritage society meeting. Several members of the society started checking out possible sites that might be available. 

The old creamery was thought ideal, being the first cooperative creamery in Minnesota, but there were too many drawbacks. The condition and layout of the building made it inadequate and too difficult to accommodate the elderly and handicapped.

The New Richland Jazz American Legion baseball team snapped a four-game skid by sweeping a doubleheader at Hayfield Saturday, June 27. The locals were coming off a 10-0, five-inning shutout loss at Rochester Lourdes. The Jazz improved its record to 3-4.

Rochester Lourdes 10, Jazz 0

The Jazz could not contain a Lourdes team that reached the state high school semifinals this spring.

John Hubly and Eli Lutgens had the lone hits for Post 75.

Dempsey Tucker started on the mound and took the loss. Lutgens and Sam Prigge pitched in relief. The Jazz had three errors.

NRHEG High School Principal David Bunn has announced the names of students selected to the Honor Roll for 4th Quarter 2014-15

“A” Honor Roll

Grade 12 — Dylan Arnold, Brady Beenken, Brittany Blaschko, Lydia Culver, Alyssa Esplan, Karina Gaona, Colton Hagen, Ryann Hagen, Kaylee Hanson, Jade Hill, Kevin Kalis, Logan Knutson, Bianca Kohnert, Jake Langlie, Melissa Malakowsky, Anita Maloney, Sandra Quezada, Sarah Riecke, Cassidy Sletten, Anna Stork, Aurora Strom, Spencer Tollefson, Trevor Tracy, Jet Wayne

Grade 11 — Anna Bailey, Abby Christopherson, Nicole Edon, Jorey Fischer, Lizzy Hagen, Cole Ignaszewski, Katharine Lewer, Anna Lundberg, Whittney McCamish, Marissa Mortenson, Jessica Nafe, Clayton Nelson, Luke Overgaard, Corrie Powell, Tyler Schlaak, Hailey Schuller, Torrie Stencel

Grade 10 — Chad Agrimson, Oakley Baker, Rachel Collins, Grace Johns, Maurya Johnson, Jennifer McKay, Lacey Nelson, Samuel Prigge, Nora Retallick, Jack Schultz, Maci Surat, Marnie Wagner

Everybody enjoys celebrating the 4th of July. July 4th of 1776 was the day our country claimed our independence from Britain and democracy was born. 

In the pre-revolutionary years, colonists held annual celebrations of the king's birthday, which traditionally included the ringing of bells, bonfires, processions, and speech making. During the summer of 1776 some of the colonists celebrated the birth of our country’s independence by holding mock funerals for King George III. The mock funerals symbolized the end of the monarchy's hold on America and the triumph of liberty. The event included parades, concerts, bonfires and the firing of cannons and muskets. The day accompanied the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence after it was adopted. Philadelphia held the first annual commemoration of our Independence on July 4th, 1777, while congress was still occupied with the ongoing war. In 1778, George Washington issued double rations of rum to all his soldiers to mark the anniversary of our country’s independence.

Massachusetts became the first state to make July 4th an official state holiday, which was several months before the key American victory at Yorktown in 1781. The tradition of this patriotic celebration became even more widespread after the War of 1812. John Adams felt the celebration should include pomp and parade, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other.

In 1870, the United States Congress made the 4th of July a federal holiday. Then in 1941, this provision was expanded to grant a paid holiday to all federal employees. Sadly, over the years, the political importance of the 4th of July holiday declined, but Independence Day remains an important national holiday and a symbol of our patriotism.

Today, thousands of people leave their homeland and come to America, "The land of the free and the home of the brave," so they can begin their American dream.

This wonderful country of ours is truly a diverse nation made up of dynamic people and each year on the 4th of July, Americans continue to celebrate their freedom and independence.

The 4th of July falls in the middle of the summer, and has become a major focus of leisure activities and a common occasion for family get-togethers. Many people look forward to barbecues and picnics with their family and friends, as well as all the fireworks. I do understand that we are celebrating our country’s birthday, but I can't help think that shooting off fireworks is hyporcritical in a way. It is hard for me to justify spending untold amounts of money on tremendous blasts of explosives, more or less mimicking the wars our patriots have fought and died in.

Couldn't that money be spent in much better ways? We want to celebrate and we do, but I think our major focus should be to remember why we do.

Maybe those who have served in our country’s armed forces don't agree, but to me I would believe these servicemen and women would have had more than enough explosives, guns shooting, etc. during their tour of duty so that it would be a given reminder of those wars.

I think of a friend of mine who used to write from Vietnam about how the night could be so quiet. Stars were shining brightly in the dark, but then an explosion would break out in a blast of "fireworks," the real stuff. It wasn't enjoyable!

I also think of my cousin, Jim Hanson, and his buddies who went to Normandy to visit the place where Sgt. York fought a battle all his own. Still today, much of the farm and in that area still lays idle as people are still dying from unexploded ammo that had been found on the farmland.

Incidents like these is why it still bothers me to see fireworks blasting in the sky. I think of all the people who hid in storm cellars, scared for their lives, as well as about the many whose lives were taken. Yes, fireworks are beautiful, but I believe the glory of the 4th of July is the man who raised our American flag up on that first 4th of July.

Then there is the safety angle. Before there were restrictions on who could legally light fireworks, my mother and her brother were taught to be especially careful when this holiday arrived each year. Sometimes firecrackers didn't go off as they were supposed to, so they would then split the firecrackers in two and light them, which would provide a "sizzler." And of course, that alternative was not a very good thing to do as one of those sizzlers almost put someone's eye out before they decided their idea was not a very good one.

There is also a funny story my mother remembers, but not for laughing, as we often say, that I would like to share. At one time there was an outdoor "biffy" at the Sportsman's Club at Beaver Lake. One lady went in to use it. A trickster in the bunch she was with put a firecracker in a tin can and lit it behind the outdoor toilet. Of course when the firecracker went off in the tin can the sound was much more explosive. And as a result, the lady said she had had enough and made her man take her home for a change of clothes; enough said.

I hope that if people in our area plan to set off any fireworks during this years' holiday that they will be extremely careful. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently reported that more than 11,000 people across our great country were treated for fireworks related injuries in 2013. Most of the injuries involved the face, eyes, and ears, and of that total 40% of those injured were children under 15. We don't want people we know ending up in emergency rooms suffering from fireworks related injuries. I hope that we can all remember the reason we celebrate this special day!

— — —

Birthdays and anniversaries:

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

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

• Saturday, July 4th: Happy 4th of July!  Bethany Miller, Carlie Sevcik, Pam Nelson, Trina Churchill, Ellie Rose Meiners, Brent Meiners, Brian Meiners, Denise & Scott McGowan

• Sunday, July 5th: Emma Harold, Brenlee Anne Knudsen, Emma Harold, Abby Harold, Jessica Wayne, Brad Tufte, Burt Scripture, Chad Sommer, Russell Thostenson, Rhonda Grunwald, Issac Paulson, Danny Burns

• Monday, July 6th: Kylie Titus, Brenlee Knudsen, Austin Nord, Linda Aronson, Scott Briggs, Gary Grosland, Wendy Kamerer, Travis Hanson, Paul Richards, Darrin Stadheim, James Van Riper, Kyle & Bethany Miller

• Tuesday, July 7th: Collin Christensen, Elizabeth Eder, Cheryl Boverhuis, Casey Johnson, Chad Quam, Scott Reese, Jon Spatenka, Anna Jacobson, David Anderson, DeAnn Skroch    

• Wednesday, July 8th: Zaine Augustine Briedenbach, Parker John & Payton Lorraine Bunn, Barb Hagen, Al Lee, Adam Arends, Jacob Terry Phillips, Deacon Thomas Lang, Summer Paulson, Deb Jacobs, Marlene Jensen

• Thursday, July 9th: Larry Otto, Corey Pence, Mavis Knudtson, Joni Calderon, Lisa Worke, Dale Peterson, Jenny Bunn, Julie & Dean Hunt, Jennifer & David Lageson

• Friday, July 10th:  Kalene Larson, Ethan Green, Brett Dunlap, Sally Hanson Sadden, Suzanne Skroch Larkin, Carley Ray Talamantes, Holly Swearingen, Anna Uetcsh, Todd Borchert, Kym Cameron, Paulette Nelson, Ryan & Amy Crabtree their 8th, Dustin & Jenna Quimby

Hope you have a day filled with things that make you smile!