Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting

Duane has the itis.

I don’t think there is such a thing as the itis.

I know that. There’s more to it, but I can’t remember what it is.

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: Aging is the only way to get older.

The news from Hartland

Local psychiatrist is Jung at heart.

Novel Idea Bookstore says that its number one best seller is a book about the history of urinals.

It wasn’t the Spanish Inquisition

As a writer, I ask many questions.

I was far from home when, in an effort to make small talk, I asked a fellow if he knew where Hartland was.

He replied, "Why, is it missing?"

People ask questions in return. That’s nice.

"How did you ever get out of the second grade?" One of the kids I started school with became my teacher and she let me go.

I watched two of my granddaughters shoot baskets. You don’t have to make them to shoot them. The Pulitzer Prize winner is in the first grade and the surgeon is in the second. They are filled with vim and vigor. I'm surprised kids aren't too tired to grow up.

The varsity basketball game began with players fist bumping the referees and the opposing coach, and ended with the two teams lining up, touching hands and telling one another, "Good game." The commingled voices sounded like an ancient chant.

It might be a suitable way to end a workday.

"Good work, good work, good work..."

Tom Benson of Hartland asked me, "What is it exactly that you do?" He was being funny, but I do get that question often. I’m a writer. That means that it looks like I’m doing nothing most of the time.

I was driving. I do that routinely. I bought a different car recently. The miles were overpowering my old one. Someone asked if my new vehicle had heated seats. It does, but I have to heat them with my rear end.

As I motored down the road, it was 15 degrees and freezing rain was falling. Windshield wipers struggled to clear the glass. It doesn’t seem fair to receive rain at that temperature, but life is unfair.

The atmosphere is layered. Most precipitation starts in the cloud as snow. If it falls through a layer of air that has a temperature -greater than 32 degrees Fahrenheit, it melts into rain. If the temperature at ground level is below freezing, the water may refreeze in the air and become sleet. If the layer of sub-freezing air at ground level is thin, the precipitation falls as rain and freezes upon touching a freezing object. For it to snow, all layers of air that the snow falls through must be sub-freezing.

I understand, but it still seems unjust.

Someone else asked if San Andreas Fault is in Minnesota. My wife assures me that everything here is Al’s fault.

Here and there

Scott Batt of Newton, Iowa, sent a text that he meant to finish with, "Call in a while." Thanks to autocorrect, it arrived as, "Call of the wild."

I was at a fundraising auction in Green Isle. The lady seated next to me snagged some dandy homemade dishtowels. She was happy to get them. Her husband asked what they were for. I’ll bet he found out.

Customer comments on euphemisms for death

Marcel Stratton of Rollag wrote, "There is an old one of French origin: 'Chewing dandelions by the roots.' My French grandmother used this expression.

Lona Falenczykowski of Mankato offered this, "Gnawing at the roots of daisies."

Ethel Olson of Hartland died at age 92. Her son Darwyn said that his mother was still mowing the lawn when she was 90. Perhaps a new euphemism could be, "She’s stopped mowing the lawn."

Nature notes

"Do goldfinches migrate?" The American goldfinch is a short distance migrant. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology found that goldfinches move south in the winter to areas where the minimum January temperature is no colder than 0 degrees Fahrenheit on average. Goldfinches tend to be nomadic. Those who feed birds notice their sporadic visits.

Talking with the Holstein

The Holstein is a retired dairy cow, so she has time to talk. I mentioned something that made me feel like a kid again.

The Holstein chewed her cud thoughtfully before saying, "If I want to feel like a calf again, I get some bubble wrap."

Meeting adjourned

There is no opportunity bigger than the opportunity to be kind.

Let me begin with the obvious: academic advancement for our students is the first and foremost objective of the NRHEG School District. The commitment to a free education for every child is elemental to our nation’s founding principles of equality and opportunity.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, however, that many students do not appreciate the “gift” of an education which seems to be so much work to acquire. For some, connecting to the concept of being educated takes more than the traditional classroom setting has to offer.

“Connection,” in my opinion, is the most important reason to sustain a wide array of co-curricular opportunities; researchers have found that students who take part in activities have a more positive approach to their academic goals, will feel more integrated into school culture, and are more likely to graduate. The studies also mention “social capital.” Collected data indicates that increased interaction among students, parents, community members and school staff builds communication and synergy which might otherwise not occur. Research also indicates that this “social capital” effect is especially beneficial for lower-income families.

For me, though, the philosophy of co-curricular activities rests in the ideals of shared commitment and personal growth. I believe we are all familiar with at least one person whose horizons were broadened by the challenges and demands of a new activity. As for me, my heart swells each time I see our students pouring their bodies and spirits into a training exercise, practice, or game. If the seeds of lifelong learning and personal growth need a place to take root, I can’t think of a better place than as part of a team.

I am pleased to report that, based on a recent survey of our students, the vast majority have participated in at least a few activities outside the school day. Around 350 responses from secondary students were tabulated: these indicated that only about 30 had never joined a co-curricular program.

Students indicated a wide array of reasons for taking part. The form allowed survey takers to indicate more than one reason: The most frequent response is that the respective activities are fun (274); close behind is that participants believe they have a skill in the related area (238). Respondents also commonly said they were looking for a challenge (216). Among those who had considered joining a program but then did not, the largest reason cited was that they did not have time.

Especially for being a relatively small school, NRHEG offers an impressive range of activities, from the big attention getters like football, basketball (boys’ and girls’), volleyball, wrestling, and track, to cheerleading, trapshooting, soccer, golf, cross country, and gymnastics; from big theater productions like Bye Bye Birdie and Willy Wonka to one-act play, drama club, the speech team, and readers’ theater performances; marching band, concert band, choir, Panthera Vox, jazz band, pep band, and color guard; from yearbook to the school newspaper; from ambassadors to PALS to class officer to National Honor Society to various service projects.

I know the people of our communities enjoy coming—not only to see an exciting game or an enjoyable production, but to see the children our NRHEG “village” is raising, and what they are capable of. I would suggest the “social capital” we gain from our activities is the sense of community: All of us feel connected. The adults are given an opportunity to observe and appreciate the efforts of the young; the students acquire a richer understanding of what it means to be a citizen of the NRHEG Panther Nation.

For all these reasons, my policy as an administrator is to find ways to encourage and increase student participation in co-curricular activities. I say the more dedication, personal growth, and determination, the better. I also say there will never be enough opportunities to help our youth feel connected and valued, so I look forward to any input or suggestions you might have. I look forward to the exciting additions the future will bring to the NRHEG co-curricular program.

My wife has basically called St. Aidan’s Catholic Church in Ellendale her home parish all her life. She went to college in Mankato, and we attended All Saints in New Richland for the short time we lived there. Otherwise, St. Aidan’s is what she’s known. But not for much longer.

As many of you know, the Diocese of Winona recently announced the closing of 21 churches across Southern Minnesota. The churches will still remain available for weddings, funerals, etc. but will not host regular weekly masses or vigil masses. St. Aidan’s, as well as St. Mary’s outside Geneva, are two of these parishes, the ones that impact my readers the most.

This was some time coming. I’ve written before about declining enrollment and how it seemed only a matter of time before this happened. No official date has been set yet, but I would guess sometime by the summer of 2016. In addition to declining attendance playing a role, the smaller number of priests also is part of this. There are a number retiring in the next few years, without that many to replace them.

This is difficult for many people. I started thinking about the older members of our church, the ones who have been here for 70-80 years, the ones who only have to travel a few blocks or a mile to get to church on Sunday. This will be especially hard for them. While St. Aidan’s will officially be merged with All Saints in New Richland, I can see some people going to Blooming Prairie or Litomysl instead.

We’ll plan on making the drive west every week. It makes the most sense with our kids in religious education yet to have them learn with other kids they know. Honestly, it might be a difficult choice otherwise. The other two churches I mentioned are about the same distance away, and Michelle has family that attends each.

As a parish council member at St. Aidan’s, I know we have a monumental task ahead of us now. There will be many logistics to deal with, the most important being how we maintain the facility. The building will still need to be heated and cooled and have other routine maintenance done, and that costs money. The coffers aren’t exactly bursting right now, so it’ll be interesting to see how long we can keep things up without a regular Sunday collection.

I’m not very bitter about this since, as I said, it didn’t take a fortune teller to see this day coming. Plus, this isn’t my hometown. What continues to vex me is how the Catholic Church continues to ignore the two overarching problems and how to begin to solve them.

I’ve written before that we should allow women to be priests, so I won’t bludgeon that topic again. But it’s also time to let priests marry. If you do that, your priest shortage problem begins to turn around in a decade. Who knows how many high school students would consider this vocation, but are turned away by the idea of never having a family. I might have even considered it at that age, but never getting married? No, thank you.

It’s somewhat laughable when priests offer marital advice. That’s pretty tough to do when you haven’t lived through the natural ups and downs which occur in even the most stable marriages. I remember a number of times while Michelle and I were preparing to marry that we rolled our eyes at “advice” from our priest about things he clearly knew nothing about. This would ground priests better, and let’s be honest: the scandals that have rocked the church would mostly disappear.

The Church also admits that declining enrollment is a problem everywhere. According to the diocese, “Our population is aging and our youth and young adult membership is in decline.” There’s a simple reason for this: the Church refuses to adjust to the times. We don’t have to have rock bands playing and throw wild parties, but there has to be some change from the staid old traditions that the church stubbornly sticks to in the 21st century.

I listen to students from other religions talk enthusiastically about the messages they hear from their ministers and pastors. There are efforts to gear things to this young generation so they don’t just disappear after being confirmed. From what I’ve seen and experienced, the Catholic Church continues to pound away at what sinners we all are instead of focusing on messages of hope. I struggled as a teenager with this and nearly left the church behind entirely while in college. It was really my wife’s faith that brought me back. What is the church doing to stop this? Telling its members to go out and bring those people back? Try changing some things that drove them away first.

I realize, once again, I’m stirring the pot religiously. But I know how tough these closures will be on many people. Until change occurs, this won’t be the last round I’ll see in my lifetime. It’s time to wake up and care about the people of God. Otherwise, I’ll be changing my Sunday visit again, I’m sure.

Word of the Week: This week’s word is oratory, which means a church which no longer holds regular worship services, as in, “St. Aidan’s became an oratory, only hosting the occasional funeral and wedding.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

The scurs had the Weather Eye dialed in to perfection last week. Will that accuracy continue into mid-month? Starting Wednesday, cloudy with highs in the mid-20’s and lows just below 0. Cold sunshine for Thursday with highs near 10 and lows again around 5. Friday, partly sunny and warmer. Highs in the low 20’s with lows around 0. Partly sunny and much colder for Saturday. Highs in the mid-single digits above 0 with lows around 5 below. Sunday, mostly cloudy with temperatures rebounding and a slight chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Cloudy and warmer on Monday with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Partly sunny on Tuesday and cooler. Highs in the mid-teens with lows around 5. The normal high for Valentine’s Day is 27 and the normal low is 9. We’ll see over 10 hours and 30 minutes of daylight for the first time since October 25th on February 16th. The scurs can’t wait for their Valentine’s candy to show up after rationing the last of their fruitcake. They’ll have to find something else to chock the wheels on the ‘74 Gremlin now.

Last week brought about more of the roller coaster ride for temperatures. It’s tough to complain very loudly however as this winter has been a breeze compared to last year’s model. Tales of frozen pipes and hauling water buckets through deep snow much of last winter proved that enough was too much. This winter we’ve seen frost depth at the SROC at only 18” as measured most recently on February 9th. On the 5th we also experienced one of the coldest overnight lows of the season at -5 in Waseca and about -14 at the ranch. Only November 28th and January 6th were colder. Still, despite the temperature roller coaster ride, the cold snaps haven’t been prolonged and many days the temps have been well above normal. The snow as a result continues to do its disappearing act. It’s doubtful if anyone will gripe if it decides to leave entirely and take the ice in the dooryards away while it’s at it.

Lambing season officially started off on Thursday of last week at the ranch after a cold overnight. All the ewes came out to eat in the morning, but by afternoon when Mrs. Cheviot arrived home, the black yearling ewe we’d been suspecting would go first had lambed. She had the lamb by herself and in spite of the fact she wasn’t shorn, she lambed inside. More than once we’ve had lambs born outside given that scenario. Frequently that means lambs with tails and ears frozen off. With those erect Cheviot ears though, apparently the windy conditions that day persuaded the ewe to seek shelter. The lamb was smart and had nursed by the time Mrs. Cheviot put them in a pen and checked the ewe for milk. On Sunday already we moved ewe and lamb to the main barn to a large pen. Of course Fudgie and Ruby were at the ready, keeping the ewe on track. The little lamb bounced around in celebration of her new found spacious accommodations.

We’ve fed some “odd” things to the sheep over the years including pumpkins, bread, cereal, carrots and squash. With a relative lack of acreage to grow much grain, we’ve focused on trying to improve the pasture and grow some hay where we can. However, it’s simply not a good idea to try to get by on forages alone especially with gestating ewes. We’ve typically fed corn screenings although this year has found us feeding some hard red spring wheat, harvested where it was underseeded with some hay. How has feeding wheat worked out? Actually quite well so far. Compared to corn, both the dry matter and TDN are very similar. While it is lower in fat, wheat is higher in protein, calcium, phosphorus and almost all the essential amino acids. Best of all, it doesn’t need to be ground or processed when fed to adult sheep. They tend to do their own processing by chewing the grain more completely than cattle do.

Bird watching continues to occupy much of the time we’re around the ranch after work and chores during the limited daylight hours. Upon taking some vegetable peelings out to toss over the fence to the sheep, 8 – 10 hen pheasants erupted from the garden area in the windbreak. The sweet corn leftovers seem to meet with their approval. Earlier in the day, a couple roosters were spotted on the way to Owatonna. It was good to see all of them especially the hens. The open winter has been a plus for pheasants. If we can get through the next six weeks or so without an ice storm, it looks optimistic for the pheasant population locally.

Last Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. It meant it was time to shovel off the patio and fire up the Weber again. Checking the grill out beforehand, it appeared the last time it had been used was at Christmas. The drip pan was still in the middle of the grill. After nearly giving up Auntie Mar Mar for dead, she and Unky Gregory made the pilgrimage to the ranch for an evening of fine dining. Lamb chops were grilled and Mrs. Cheviot had everything else covered including homegrown carrots and a delectable cherry pie for dessert. Mar Mar brought healthful cookies and fresh-baked homemade bread so there was no excuse for anyone to go hungry. Wine flowed, laughter ensued and a good time was had by all. Ruby regaled the guests with her disdain for the TV remote and astonished them with a sampling of her wide vocabulary. Next time they come up, we’ll showcase her talents at playing organized games. Only if we can get Ruby to stop messing around with her ball or on the computer long enough of course. Short attention span, that dog.

See you next week…real good then.

MINNEAPOLIS – University of Minnesota rookie guard Carlie Wagner was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week by the Big Ten Conference office after averaging 22.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game against Illinois and Michigan State last week.

It is the first conference weekly honor for Wagner and the first freshman accolade for the Gophers this season. 

Overall, the rookie shot an impressive .485 (16-33) from the field, which included a .421 (8-19) percentage from three-point range, in 72 minutes of work.

Wagner opened the week by posting a then career-high 19 points against the Fighting Illini on Thursday night, before setting new career-highs with 25 points and five three-point field goals in the win over the Spartans Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena. She was 5-for-10 from beyond the arc and 8-for-14 overall against Michigan State and added three steals and a perfect performance from the free- throw line. 


The rookie ranks third on the team with an 11.6 points-per-game average and is second on the team with 39 three-point field goals on the year. In Big Ten play, Wagner is averaging 14.1 points per game, has 26 three-pointers and has scored in double figures in each of Minnesota’s last seven games.

The 2015 Minnesota American Legion Calendar remains available to any who want one. This year’s monthly pictures are the result of a contest open to all Minnesota Legion members.

According to the state Legionnaire newspaper, more than 120 veterans entered. Each could submit two photographs. The pictures are those taken or collected by veterans during their time in service.

The 12 months for 2015 are represented by these winners: Harold Brau of Chaska, Allie Kronberg of Wayzata, Kevin Rofidal of Chanhassen, Mike Walsh of Eyota, Jerry Fisher of Faribault, Rodney Hatle of Owatonna, Douglas Mathwig of Stewartville, Daniel Beckius of Albany, Richard Lindsey of Red Wing, Ron G. Helm of Kelliher, Arthur Spronki of Edgerton, and Don Orttel of Minneapolis.

“The calendar is a fundraiser for the Department,” according to a report in the Minnesota Legionnaire. “Those who wish to get one can do so for free. Donations are accepted.”

The number to call is 651-291-1800.

Funeral services for Eunice T. Hanson, age 95, of Clarks Grove, will be held on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church, Clarks Grove. Pastor Jamie Cameron will officiate. Burial will be at the Clarks Grove Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home and one hour prior to the services at the church. Online condolences are welcome at:  www.bayviewfuneral.com.

Eunice died on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 at the Good Samaritan Center.

Registration deadline February 25 for 21st Annual Horticulture Day

Looking forward to the arrival of spring? Plan to attend the 21st Annual Horticulture Day on Saturday, March 7 at Southern Research and Outreach Center (SROC) in Waseca. Pre-registration is required by Wednesday, February 25. There will be a program packed with great speakers. Get your registration in early, room is limited. Please feel free to share this information to anyone that may be interested in attending; this event is open to the public.

Funeral services for Leslie M. Olson, age 85, of Hartland will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday February 11, 2015 at the Hartland Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Rev. Shawn Stafford will officiate. Interment will be in the Hartland Cemetery, with military honors accorded by members of the American Legion and VFW Honor Guard. Visitation will be from 5-7:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at the Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home, and one hour prior to the service at the church on Wednesday. Online Condolences are welcome at www.bayviewfuneral.com.

Leslie died at his home, surrounded by his family on Saturday, February 7, 2015.

Leslie Miller Olson was born in Hartland on August 31, 1929, the son of Gilford and Virginia (Miller) Olson.

Remembering the life of Ethel A. Olson

Funeral Services for Ethel Annabelle Olson, of Albert Lea, formerly of Hartland, were held at 11 a.m. on Monday, February 9, 2015 at Cross of Glory Lutheran Church in Hartland. The Rev. Dr. Mark Hillmer officiated.Interment was in Hartland Cemetery, Hartland, MN. Visitation was from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sunday at Bonnerup Funeral Service, Albert Lea, and one hour before the service at the church.

Ethel died on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at Prairie Senior Cottages in Albert Lea. She was 92.

She was born on October 3, 1922, in Albert Lea, the daughter of A.J. (Jim) and Evelyn “Eva” (Montanye) Pirkl. She grew up in the Geneva community and attended country school. She graduated from Ellendale High School with the class of 1941 and then attended business school in Minneapolis.