The NRHEG High School golf teams played in the recent Gopher Conference tournament, where the girls finished second and the boys fourth among five schools.

Heavily favored USC ran away with the girls’ title with 433 strokes for 18 holes. The Panthers had 463, Maple River 556. Blooming Prairie and Bethlehem Academy did not have full squads.

NRHEG scoring: Kyra Possin 112, Jessica Nafe 113, Jill Jongbloedt 118, Bayli Possin 120, Grace Logan 129, Tali Wayne 146.

Grocery bills getting too big? Is there a reason for that? What can we do about it?

Lots of questions...Remember the little "guru" who ran around in shorts and a top inspecting peoples' shopping carts? Granted, he was looking for things that people shouldn't have in their diet if they wanted to lose weight. Strange thing about the whole idea is that it sort of followed that same trend.

If you've ever sat and waited by the grocery store exit and took a good look at what is in peoples' shopping carts you would understand what I mean. Granted, I guess it is their cart, and their money that they are spending...but it is surprising how much food may be in the cart and how much of it would come under the category of "stuff." Stuff that fills the cart and drains the billfold but does nothing to improve one’s health.

Sure, you know what I am talking about — those pop bottles hanging on the side of the cart — sugar water. And of course there are all the boxes of easy make items with processed ingredients, as well as all those sweet treats, like rolls and candy, as well as bags and bags of chips. Food items that have large cost, but no real value to our body. 

Tired of running to the doctor and taking pills? And what about all those doctor and dentist bills? It may be time to do something about it. Many unnecessary trips could be stopped if we would use some common sense and live a healthy life with good food and exercise. 

We know what is good for us. We can read the labels. Granted, labels can be deceiving. Did you know there are many ways to hide sugar or sweeteners in our food? For example, sugar. That is a big one with lots of allies. Those sugar substitutes are supposed to save you calories, but actually they make us develop a desire for more sweeteners instead.

What is that saying about your eyesight..."A moment on your lips, forever on your hips. "We need to get back to the basics and start eating more of those great fruits and vegetables.

I am impressed with the amount of gardens that people are putting in this year. There is nothing better or fresher than fruits and vegetables that you grow yourself. In my grandmother’s day everybody had a garden of fresh vegetables. They even canned the surplus in glass jars so they could enjoy them all winter. 

Gardens seemed to have vanished for a few years, but I am seeing more of them again. That is progress...people are getting the message and living sensibly. Sure, it is more work, but there is something about working in a garden. You meditate whether you realize it or not; your mind can take a break...time to think.

It looks like there are some master gardeners out there. There is a fantastic looking garden just outside of Geneva to the east. It is worth the drive to Geneva to see it. It will be interesting to see all the great food that will be harvested and enjoyed out of it.

Magazines and stores have suggestions use of foods we might seldom or never eat just because it wasn't a part of our early food introduction. Fast food tastes good and is relatively inexpensive so it has a tendency to take the place of wholesome home cooked food. Home cooked food takes a little bit of time to prepare but is well worth the effort.

Speaking of gardens, our recent rains may have put a damper on the holiday and graduation celebrations, but to the fields and gardens that had been planted they were slowly growing and the rain was a blessing. Just overnight the "green" turned more "green," so I think we can be thankful for the rain that came.

It is nice to go to the gathering of friends and neighbors that don't involve the sadness of a funeral. Graduations are such happy times for the students and for their parents. Judging from the size and style of parties this year it has been fabulous. I really don't know how they do it all.

In my day and age most families served a bun with a slice of ham on it or some macaroni salad, along with a piece of cake and a glass of lemonade and a cup of coffee. My daughter, Krista, took my mother to Nick’s graduation party this past weekend. He had a "candy store" that was a delight to the kids and some parents too...jars of "penny candy" with sacks to put them in, plus a meal fit for a king or queen.   So much creativity in the decorations. Someone had even used some of the designs of Nick’s sports uniforms in he cakes. Mom said they also served the most delicious potato salad and decorated cookies your could imagine.

It is hard to believe the excitement under the tent at Jade’s graduation. but more than spectacular were all the papers, awards and pictures her mother had saved in good order to remember those early and later days. Made me a little ashamed to think I didn't do that for my own children. I could have spent a day enjoying Jade’s travels through school. Burgers off the grill never tasted so good at a fast food place, plus there were all the goodies to put on them. The macaroni salad made you want more. Decorated cupcakes if you will but those cookies with the frosting also had fresh fruit on top. Did I say creative and so delicious? The day provided so much fun for the kids too who were having a circus playing on the jungle gym outside.

The breakfast at Dillon’s on Sunday morning was wonderful....hot, flaky pancakes, fresh fruit, and out of this world, fresh cinnamon and caramel rolls. I could go on and on. It makes me hungry all over again thinking about iy, and of course I could go on about all the other great food that was served at all the other graduation parties.

I would also like to take this opportunity to wish all of our graduates the very best as they begin the next phase of their lives.

Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, May 28th: Sara Beth Carlson, her 5th; Lily Lee Olson, her 5th; Madalyn Kehne, Madison Catherine Knudson, Susan Schmidt, Marie Fowler, Rick & Jenny Loberg, Gerritt & Kathy Molenaar

• Friday, May 29th: Brent Peterson, Deb Farr, Odean Otterson, Gene Pederson, Mark Butler, Ross Lein, Colin Quimby, Rod & Sandi Serdahl, John & Susan Oolman, Lily & Jerry Neitzel

• Saturday, May 30th: Payton Allen Misgen, Daniel Larson, Molly Hanson, Chuck Crabtree, Shirley Nelson, Julie & Toby Oquist

• Sunday, May 31st: Nathan Jensen, Jerry White, Pat Draayer, Ryan Sletten, Jim Hamor, Robert DuBois, Cierra Hanson

• Monday, June 1st: Carter Anthony Martens, Randy Hagen, Brandi Hagen, John Hanson, Bert Wiersma, Phyllis Benson, Joe Wallace, Julie Dulas, Kenny Toft, Maria Misgen, Tony Sommers, Bob Flim, Glenn Gerdes, Lindsey Lembke, Denise Evenson Wilson, Jeff & Sharon Lageson, Orville & Mavis Langlie

• Tuesday, June 2nd: David Lassahn, Maia Kathleen Peterson, Brent Dobberstein, Angie Goodnature Kath, Taylor Draayer, Sue Jensen Kuckenbecker, Steve Kasper, Cindy Olson, Barry Esplan, Krystle Lonning, Donald Haberman, Ahston Hareid, Trent Hanson, Brandon McLaughlin, Tammy & Garth Gonnering, Greg & Nicole Shultz, Eric & Snow Lee, their 7th

• Wednesday, June 3rd: Isabella Grace Kohn, her 5th; Devin Matthew Haddy, his 8th; Justin Stieglbauer, David Hall, Troy Vavra, Jason Jenkins, Michael Bartness, Angie Kasper Christenson, George Kasper, Chrisopher Conley, Max Miller, Esther Van Ravenhorst, Misty (Ebnet) & Jeremy Krueger, Eric & Christine Nelson

• Thursday, June 4th: Dale Miller, Becky Nordland, Jim Borchert, Judith Severson, Warren Nelson, Jamie & Tina Hagen, Art & Doris DeNeui, Jan & Andrew Bernau, their 8th

• Friday, June 5thMarcia Vermedahl, Shawn Johnson, Paul Krull, David Reistad, Mike Rossing, Lisa Jensen Nord, Jack Butler, Greg Oswald, Michael Schmidt, Ron & Jolee Johnson, Stacy (Osmundson) & Trevor Titus, Erica (Van Kampen) & Jacob McClaskay, Elzo & Joy Peterson

• Saturday, June 6th: Steve & Kari Vanden Heuvel, Stacy & Shannon Wobschall, Dean & Roberta Lembke, Hope Kilian, Eric Sorenson, Cheryl Louks, Steve Lonning, Todd Born, Owen James Wheeler, Blake Rolland Baudoin, Isiah DuBois

May you find joy and pleasure all around you on your special day.

It was a couple of weeks ago already, but it seems like only yesterday that my Grandson Dylan and I attended the Governor’s Fishing Opener. With each opener I have attended it always seems like the weekend of events just flies by and before you know it you are sitting at home wondering where it went. This one seemed even more so to me because I had my grandson along, and also the person who was our host and fishing guide made it extra fun for us.

Dylan was impressed with all the hospitality and how friendly everyone was, but one of the highlights of his trip was rubbing elbows with a fisherman that he had seen quite often on Linder’s Angling Edge TV show and also Midwest Outdoors. The reason he recognized him was that his part of the show featured northern pike fishing, which is Dylan’s favorite.

Last week our fishing host/guide Bill Conger made the weekend go by way too fast when he shared so many interesting facts about the area while doing a great job of hunting walleye for us. He told me about the excellent things that the Lake Vermilion Sportsman’s Club does to preserve and improve the lake. The club brought attention to how the increasing number of cormorants was linked to the declining numbers of perch in the lake. The perch are a significant part of the life cycle of the lake because they are the main food source for the gamefish in the lake. The birds are protected by the migratory bird act, but limited control of these birds is allowed in Minnesota by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2013 they devised a plan to bring the number of cormorants down while increasing the perch numbers. It appears that the perch population has grown since the plan was implemented and the planned control will continue by monitoring the perch numbers each year.

I have never kept my love of Northern Minnesota a secret and spending time there seems to rejuvenate me and put a little extra spring in my step (which I can really use). Whether I am at my cabin or just sitting on an area lake I am always on the lookout for wildlife and any time I can spot a creature doing its thing in its natural habitat, it gives me a good feeling inside.

One year as I was fishing a small nearby lake with my grandson Trevor and a couple of our friends we spotted some otters playing in the lily pads. They were swimming along the shoreline rolling and jumping in the pads; they seemed like a bunch of kids playing at the pool. We also have a beaver that resides on our little lake and from time to time it will make its presence known by slapping its tail on the water. A few weeks ago my wife and I were at the cabin when she decided to walk down to the lake. She must have disturbed the beaver because it started swimming back and forth in front of her as if it was staking a claim to its territory. One night, a few years ago, I awoke to the sound of what seemed like someone throwing large rocks into the lake. Upon further investigation I discovered that it was a beaver slapping its tail on the water in the middle of the night. I have on more than one occasion been fishing on a lake when a beaver would start swimming around the boat, chattering and slapping its tail as if trying to scare me off. It’s fun to see how different animals try to protect their territory as long as you’re not talking skunk. On one occasion I happened to be fishing a lake when a loon began swimming back and forth under the boat which made us nervous enough to reel in our lines so as not to have to deal with an angry loon on the other end. I soon discovered that we were fishing a little too close to where they were nesting, so I surrendered and moved on to a different spot.

You don’t have to go far from home to witness animals protecting their young. I can usually tell when one of the neighborhood cats is in the yard because the birds will start warning the others if danger is near. There is none better at this than the common blackbird. I know that we have all heard one of them noisily chirping as if they were scolding someone; that is about the time you will see the neighborhood feral cat slinking its way back home.

Now is a good time to do a little shore fishing on some of our area lakes. It’s still early enough in the season for the fish to be shallow and, although most area lakes are usually pretty good all summer, I still believe that spring and early summer produce the most fish. Shore fishing on most area lakes is fairly easy with many lakes offering fishing piers that are there for the public to enjoy. Fountain Lake has an abundance of places to fish from shore and both Beaver and St. Olaf Lakes have nice fishing piers.

Not having a boat shouldn’t stop anyone from packing a picnic lunch, throwing in the fishing poles and going to an area lake for a day of great family fun.

Until next time, the fish should be biting so take a little time to get out and enjoy the great Minnesota outdoors.

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.

Echoes from the Loafers' Club Meeting

How was your weekend?

Well, I became two days older and got a new neighbor. His name is Neuman N. Newman.

What does the N. stand for?

Nothing.

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: If you have an Olds, it’s old. Why wasn’t one of the Doobie Brothers named Shoobie? Who would order a knuckle sandwich?

The cafe chronicles

His stomach had grown big enough that he had to name it. He admitted that he sometimes had trouble getting served in a cafe because he looked like he'd already eaten. He liked cheeseburgers, but claimed the cheeseburgers in this particular eatery were both terrible and too small. Besides, he was in a perpetual pursuit of the perfect pancake.

I leaned in and listened as he talked of his short, but illustrious baseball career. He hit a home run in his last at bat. He never played again. There was no reason to. His first marriage might have ended in a divorce, but his ex-wife said that he’d always remain her first husband. His second wife passed away a few years ago. He said that it wasn’t easy living alone. He had no one to blame for not remembering to jiggle the handle of the toilet.

They were out of the special. I ate a pancake. The waitress brought the check. There was no delivery charge.

I turned where the big, blue silo used to be

He greeted me at the front door by saying that if he seemed human, it was all an act. He said he used to get letters from Ed McMahon. He appreciated Ed because Ed cared enough to try to sell everyone overpriced insurance. He didn’t need insurance unless it was to protect him in the case of pass interference. 

His life was haunted by bad pass interference calls. His favorite teams were the Vikings and whoever was playing the Packers. This provided maximum suffering. He preferred radio over TV. He listened to the Viking games on two radios. He listened to one radio when the Vikings had the ball and to another radio when the other team possessed the football. He had an offensive radio and a defensive radio.

He was the loneliest lighthouse keeper in the prairie.

Patience

Paul Lynne of Hartland told me that he had attended the graduation ceremonies of the kindergarten class that included his grandson. The children received a certificate and were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. There were future doctors, nurses, lawyers and teachers. When Paul’s grandchild was given his opportunity to speak, he said, "I want to be a daddy."

When I graduated from kindergarten, I didn’t get a certificate. I got the chicken pox.

Character development

A friend and I were talking about all of the characters that once lived in our fair city. It was fun talking about them. It brought back pleasant memories. Most of them had shuffled off this mortal coil. The number of characters in town is down to six, quite a drop from a high of 19 in 1962. My friend asked where all the replacement characters would come from. I assumed he was one. He was sure that I was one. There will be no shortage.

Shopping for shoes

She told me that her name was Rhonda. I immediately thought of the Beach Boys song, "Help me, Rhonda."

"I'll bet people sometimes sing a bit of that song when they hear your name," I said.

She replied, "More often than you'd ever believe."

She worked in a store that sold shoes. Many kinds of shoes.

I’d quickly grown weary of looking at shoes. I’d finally found a style of footwear that I liked. I asked Rhonda if the store had it in my size. She complimented my choice, but doubted that they had any in a size big enough for me. I had chosen a woman’s shoe. I fled the store. I might be fleeing still.

Nature notes

Apples and crabapples are in the rose family, Rosaceae, in the genus Malus. Crabapples are differentiated from apples based on fruit size. If the fruit is two inches in diameter or less, it’s termed a crabapple. If the fruit is larger than two inches, it’s classified as an apple.

Meeting adjourned

Kind people are the best kind of people.

This will be another one of my hop-scotch columns (a running of the words).

Fire Boss is the name of a new airplane on floats used to fight forest fires. It cam scoop up to 820 gallons of water in 30 seconds and be on its way to the fire. I have seen the older big belly plane that can scoop up to 2,000 gallons and fly away (this was in Ontario, Canada).

What is the longest female name in the English language that can be spelled backward and forward and be the same? Try Hannah.

A sharp Lutheran church secretary in Albert Lea tried to explain the therapy program she uses when down in the dumps. She gets some U.S. currency, hops in her car and heads for the Mall of America. The medical term for this is Retail Therapy. I refer you to LeAnn for further information, either at church or her home in Geneva.

Did you know insects outnumber humans 100,000,000 to one? I guess you could say it’s a buggy world.

Something to think about. How do you know you’re old? When every relative is younger than you at your family reunion picnic.

The Sunday bulletin at a good sized church read, “Traditional sermon this morning: ‘Jesus Walks on the Water.’ Youth sermon tonight: ‘Searching for Jesus.’”

Can you name the mother and daughter who took second place in the Albert Lea Tribune Mother and Child Lookalike Contest? Hubby Randy Heideman can.

Shortly after my column on Bob Goetz, Bob Hanson and Paul Proft figuring out how to revert to the good old days of keeping six walleyes, I got an e-mail from a Dr. I.M. Fishy, chief of Minnesota DNR Enforcement. The good doctor congratulated us on how we lawfully caught six walleyes in the good old days. He said there would be a roadside checkpoint at Keliher, Minn., — just south of Red Lake — on Saturday, May 9. With the license plate number of our vehicle he would see that we weren’t detained at the checkpoint.

We knew he was baiting the older, very cagy and very gold walleye fishermen that we are. We read the 2015 Minnesota Fishing Regulations. True, the limit was one at Mille Lacs, four at Leach and two walleyes at Red Lake, per person in possession. There was a sentence that said the total possession was six walleyes per person in possession. Trouble!

We laid out one penny, four pennies and two pennies. We then counted and recounted, getting seven each time. This meant we would be one walleye too many and Dr. I.M. Fishy would nail us.

Now you know why three older, very cagy and very good walleye fishermen didn’t go walleye fishing the day of the opener, May 9, 2015, in the great state of Minnesota.

By the way, there is no possession limit on suckers that we three would have been.

P.S. These three older, very cagy, very good walleye fishermen are rethinking the days of bullhead fishing. It was real simple. Maybe it’s the current way to fish!

———

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.

Here we are again, staring at the end of another school year. It’s been another roller coaster ride, though at least we were able to avoid some of the more serious issues that plagued us in the lockdown year of 2013-2014. There were ups. There were downs. Here are a few things that stand out, especially with what occurred in my corner of the school universe.

The second year of my grading changeover has been fairly successful. My long-time readers may recall that I grade everything on a four-point scale, linking my assignments to the standards that are in place for English. It’s not easy to get an A in my class since you need to exceed the standard on a number of assignments to attain that highest of grades. Students have opportunities to redo many assignments as a way of trying to master skills and keep from making those same mistakes on future assignments.

I really like this grading style. Many of my students are adjusting well to it and have taken chances to redo work and get better at skills. I have a number of the kids who will rewrite essays and clean up some of their mistakes. In theory, they shouldn’t continue to write run-on sentences or fragments and will remember to capitalize proper nouns! Students have commented that they like the chance to try the assignment again. Sometimes they had a bad day on a vocabulary test, so a chance at redemption is welcome. Many who redo work have shown tremendous improvement overall and focus better on the initial assignment so as to not have to worry about the time to try, try again.

In education, we always figure it takes three years to truly figure out all the kinks to a new system. I hope that I can really hit a stride next year with this grading philosophy; I’ve had a few other teachers inquire about it, possibly spreading it beyond my classroom.

This year was a real change since I had my daughter in class. I had to really stop and think more about what I said for fear of being even more embarrassing than usual. It can’t be easy when your dad is in front of the class, saying something that he thinks is hilarious, but might not be even mildly funny. Even worse could be when Dad loses his temper and chews people out. It doesn’t help when your father does weird voices on the announcements or sings to people in the cafeteria, but Jayna has borne the burden well. I checked with her, and she said it hasn’t been too bad, and she looks forward to having me as an English teacher again next year!

I have a few students that deserve recognition. These are kids who have stood out in very good ways and helped to sometimes shine a light in the darkness. Brooke Wobschall, as mentioned in this space before, keeps us up-to-date on the Holiday of the Day. This is the kind of person she is, adding some nice touches to help people find a little more enjoyment. Brooke has really advanced as a writer and works hard to turn in the best quality work possible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an assignment from her that was finished just to get it done.

If we gave Most Improved awards, Olivia Christopherson and Lexie Ignaszewski would garner recognition. These two 8th graders have worked hard for me from the first day of 7th grade. However, both seemed to pick it up a notch this year and really worked hard to keep getting better all the time. Both girls figured out what it took to complete work at a higher level. It may not have always resulted in exceeding the standards work, but these ladies will continue to improve, and I’m confident they’ll achieve much in high school and beyond.

Finally, I have to make note of my best writer this year. I’ve been working on a Mount Rushmore of sorts, thinking about junior high writers I’ve had who write at such a high level that I’d feel comfortable handing their writing to Mr. Weber or Mrs. Bently to grade in a junior or senior English class. I’ve had many good writers over the years. However, I haven’t had enough incredible writers to yet fill that mountainside. But this year I added a third person. The previous two were my peer here at the paper, Jessica Lutgens, and a junior this year, Jessica Nafe. Both girls would routinely blow me away with their writing. The same happened this year with 7th grader Lexi Combs. She puts so much care into every word she crafts in a story or essay and writes so smoothly already at this young age. She is destined to use writing in a career some day!

And with that, summer is upon us. I will take a deep breath, grab my chauffer’s license for my kids, spend lots of time on ballfields, and try to trim down my reading list. Here we go!

Word of the Week: This week’s word is junkettaceous, which means frivolous or worthless, as in, “There wasn’t a single junkettaceous word in her entire ten page story.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

The scurs managed to install the Acme aftermarket AC in the Gremlin’s Weather Eye, bringing us warmer temperatures as well as some meaningful rainfall. Will they be able to maintain control or will the Weather Eye need more tweaking? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the low 80’s and lows near 60. Thursday, partly sunny becoming cloudy with a good chance of an overnight shower or thunderstorm. Highs near 80 and lows in the mid-60’s. Mostly cloudy Friday with a good chance for showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid-70’s with lows in the low 50’s. Saturday, partly sunny and cooler with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 60’s with lows in the mid-40’s. Partly sunny Sunday with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the mid-60’s with lows around 50. Monday and Tuesday, partly sunny with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 50’s. The normal high for June 1st is 75 and the normal low is 54. We are still gaining daylight but at a slower clip, about a minute per day as we approach the summer solstice. Using government logic, the scurs are thinking we should set our clocks ahead another hour to increase that rate of gain.

The Full Moon for the month falls on June 2nd and is widely known as the Full Strawberry Moon. With good reason because June is the month to consume these wonderful delectable locally grown creations, especially when there’s ice cream in the freezer. The Sioux and Ojibwe both agreed that this moon was the Strawberry Moon, although the Sioux also called it the Moon of Making Fat. At the ranch, it is also noted for that, especially as the ewes graze the abundant lush green grass. They are definitely fat and happy at both pastures. They recently decided the nettles needed to be eaten, leaving stems where the nettles used to be. Glad they’ve taken a shine to them. Whatever turns your crank I guess.

Crops made some good progress finally once the temperatures warmed up. After the cold temperatures early last week with the wind, there was much snarling and gnashing of teeth. Corn gave the appearance of being frozen, although thermometers and weather observations would indicate otherwise. Some injury to soybeans from a combination of cold weather and pre-emerge herbicides was also noted, although most fields were not affected significantly. We did dodge a bullet, no question about it, but it’s time to move on to the next crisis in whatever form that may take. That may come in the form of the sudden abundance of rainfall. At the ranch, we garnered 1.08” over the weekend and right at an inch at the Mall for Men. Sprayers were parked Monday morning after getting a good start last week.

Gardening has been slow at the ranch with little daylight hours or workable soil conditions when Mr. Cheviot was available for slave labor. Still, there was a nice harvest of radishes from the March 31st planting with the promise of more to come. The peas are about to start flowering and there are few things better than eating them while picking them. The problem is not enough of them make it to the house. The Indian corn was planted though on Sunday right before the rain. Actually planting was finished during the rain. Conditions were getting sticky, although planting with the stab-type planter allows one to get by with it. The vine crop transplants from my little fat buddy’s greenhouse look spectacular and they were procured Saturday with the hope that the rain would hold off long enough to get them planted. Alas, it did not. On the bright side, they can be put into moist soil so not to worry yet anyway. Much of the Indian corn and the vine crop will be used for fall decorating at church and for a fall wedding.

The rhubarb has been out of this planet. Since Saturday was a washout, after doing about as many clean up chores as I could stand, it was time to make a pie and some rhubarb sauce. Luckily I’d harvested some the week prior so there was no need to go outside and get soaked. It had been a while though so I was out of practice on my pie making. However, it’s not that tough to figure out how to multi-task so the process gets done in an efficient manner. That way the clean-up isn’t a major pain. I did make one rookie mistake as I discovered shortly after putting it in the oven the first time that I’d forgotten the butter! As my little sawed-off Swedish carpenter buddy once told me it’s not how good you are, it’s how well you can cover your mistakes. With some sleight of hand the butter was slipped strategically through the slits in the crust so no one was the wiser. The rhubarb sauce? That’s like riding a bicycle.

The dogs have liked being outdoors more as the weather has straightened out. Fudgie camps on the porch, not unlike she did at Mom’s place. It gives her a good view of the sheep in the pasture as well as watching neighbor David’s excavation project. Ruby just likes to tear around then wait for us to emerge from the house for chores. Her TV watching antics continue to amuse us when indoors though. Last week a cat in an ad ran across the screen which prompted her to have a barking fit. Not long afterwards, the elephant from that COPD ad was thoroughly growled at. Good thing there were no Clint Eastwood cowboy flicks on or she would’ve gone right through the TV. Just like everyone else, even with all those channels, there’s nothing on television Ruby likes.

See you next week…real good then.

“I would like an enclosed slide because they are safer.” — Alden Dobberstein, 2nd grade

“The equipment is really old and it would be fun to have new stuff.” — Mallory Schlinger, 2nd grade

“We would get to play on new stuff instead of the same stuff over and over again.” — Malonna Wilson, 3rd grade)

“I wish we could have two sandboxes.” — Tyler Kress, kindergarten

These are the wishes of NRHEG Elementary School students, and the NRHEG PTO would like to see them come true.

The outlook was downright bleak for the NRHEG High School baseball team entering tournament play.

After a strong start, the Panthers had struggled much of the season, compiling a 6-11 record and drawing the No. 7 seed in the south half of Section 2AA, earning the right to play at Gopher Conference champion and No. 2 seeded WEM. Add to that the fact NRHEG had not won a playoff game since this year’s seniors were in sixth grade.

Easy win for the Bucs, right? Wrong.

The Panthers pulled off the upset, hammering the home team 10-4 Friday, May 22 at Waterville.

The Panthers advanced to the double-elimination portion of the tournament and play Tuesday, May 26 at Waseca. Win or lose, the Panthers play Friday, May 28 at the site of the higher seeded team.