Who is Frosty?

Identify Frosty and win some cash! Frosty is a Waseca County resident chosen to be an ambassador for the Waseca Sleigh & Cutter Festival. Follow the clues and guess Frosty’s name.

No one identified Frosty through the first four weeks of clues, so a fifth and final clue has been added.

Panthers 4-0 after topping USC

By TROY THOMPSON

Sportswriter

The NRHEG wrestlers had their stamina tested last week as they faced six squads in three days. The Panthers split the stretch, going 3-3 as a team overall.

The Panthers dominated Maple River 43-16 on Thursday, Jan. 30 in what NRHEG coach Shawn Larson called their best match of the year.

“Of all of the matches this year, I feel like our team was on their best tonight,” said Larson. “Even in the matches we lost tonight, we were mixing it up well. I would have liked to have had a chance for them to have their best lineup tonight, but because of injuries they were a few weight classes short. We can feel good of how we performed and try to build on that as the tournaments are closing in on us quickly.”

By TROY THOMPSON

Sportswriter

The NRHEG boys’ basketball team’s nine-game winning streak came to an end Tuesday, Jan. 27 when the Panthers came up short, 85-74, against Gopher Conference nemesis Maple River.

A rebound win on Friday, Jan. 30, against Medford pushed the Panthers’ record to 16-3.

Maple River 85, NRHEG 74

Maple River senior guard Jonah Breiter led the Eagles past NRHEG with some key three-point shooting and clutch free-throws down the stretch.

With the Panthers clogging the paint, the Eagles utilized a patient perimeter offense and hit from the outside to jump out to an early lead. With a boisterous crowd in their favor, the Eagles rode the home-court energy to an 11-point halftime lead at 41-30.

By TROY THOMPSON

Sportswriter

The Lady Panthers improved their win streak to five games last week behind a balanced scoring attack and continued strong play from their sophomores.

NRHEG downed Gopher Conference foes Maple River and Medford to improve to 7-2 in conference play. With the victories, the Panthers improved to 10-7 overall on the season.

NRHEG 69, Maple River 53

Sophomores Marnie Wagner, Rachel Collins and Maddie Wagner combined for 54 points in a 69-53 home-court win against the Eagles on Tuesday, Jan. 27.

Avis Marie Anderson, age 79, of New Richland, MN, died Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at the New Richland Care Center. A Funeral Service will be held Saturday, February 7, 2015 at 11 a.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church in New Richland, MN.  Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Friday, February 6 at the Bruss-Heitner Funeral Home in Wells, and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Interment will be at the Freeborn Cemetery, and Pastor Paul Andree will officiate. Bruss-Heitner Funeral Home of Wells is in charge of arrangements. Please see www.brussheitner.com to leave online condolences.  

Please join the NRHEG Band for the annual Soup & Pie Supper! Come for good food and great company from 4:30-7 p.m. in the NRHEG High School Cafeteria on Friday, February 13th. Tickets are $6 advanced sale or $7 at the door, pre-school and under free. Please contact Sam Boerboom This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

There will be a pancake breakfast at NRHEG Elementary in Ellendale on Sunday, March 22. They will be serving breakfast from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. with a free will offering. The menu will be pancakes, French toast, eggs, sausage, juice, and coffee. This is also a benefit for Dana Standke. Dana is 11 years old and currently a 5th grader at NRHEG Elementary. She was involved in a farm accident on November 9, 2014, in which she lost her right hand. Dana is the daughter of Shelly Standke and Dan Enzenauer of rural Ellendale.

Other events include a bake sale, silent auction, and a live auction starting at 1 p.m. Monetary donations and items for the live and silent auction would be greatly appreciated. Please bring items for donation to either the First National Bank locations in Ellendale or Hope. For more information, contact Cindi Bartness at 507-456-6280.

“One of the greatest gifts a person can give another, is support.” ~Anonymous 

When I was a teenager with a new driver’s license, cruising Broadway in New Ulm, I was introduced to the game of Padiddle. A padiddle is a car with one headlight burned out. If you saw one, you shouted, “Padiddle!” and slapped the ceiling of the car. It was imperative you do both; just calling it out did not qualify you for the point.

While in high school, it was just a fun thing to keep track of while we cruised back and forth. If you misidentified one (a motorcycle, for example), you lost a point. When I reached Winona for my college education, I found it was not just a New Ulm thing. I was also told that some people played it with their date, earning a kiss for every padiddle called out appropriately. Others said the guy would earn a kiss, while the girl could slug the guy in the arm.

And that led to a game I had never heard of until I reached my post-secondary years: Slug Bugs. Maybe it was because of a dearth of VW Bugs in New Ulm, but it was only when my buddy Big Bad Brad Burright (6’ 5”, 315 pounds) almost knocked me on my can while shouting, “Light blue slug bug, no returns!” that I discovered this game. Needless to say, after my bruise healed, I kept an eye out for those vehicles, especially when I was near my formidable friend.

One of the things that is bemoaned in today’s society, especially with our youth, is how few games they play that have nothing to do with electronics. We have a closet full of card and board games at home, but it’s sometimes like pulling teeth to suggest a rousing game of Sorry or Trouble with the kids.

It’s the 80th anniversary of Monopoly this year, a game I have loved for many years (not all 80, despite my students’ notions of my age). In fact, I used to play the game by myself, representing four different players. (Okay, that might qualify me for questionable looks and worries about a social life.) Some of my roommates and I, while at Winona, would play Speed Monopoly. You had to call out what you were owed before the next person rolled the dice, which meant you had to be on your toes at all times. We had one game last over the course of two days before a winner was declared!

I grew up watching my parents play card games with their Card Club every month. Sheephead, 500, and other games were learned by observation. When I made it to New Richland, I fell in with my teaching friends and learned Hearts and Euchre. We spent many evenings and anticipated late starts due to snow playing cards for hours on end. As I’ve written about previously, I’ve grown to love playing Texas Hold ‘Em poker as well.

In one of my math classes in high school, our teacher taught us how to play Cribbage and Backgammon. I was hooked, especially to Cribbage. When I discovered that Michelle enjoyed it as well, we spent many hours playing each other, good-naturedly ribbing each other about winning and losing. I was also able to introduce her to the card game Hand and Foot, though it’s been too many years since we played, and I’d have to look up the rules again. We also discovered Phase 10 while at my sister’s place and find that a great card game to play.

When Jayna was young, she wanted to learn how to play checkers, so we worked through the rules. She then asked to play chess too. I told her she had to beat me at checkers first (I’m not the type to just let my kids win, shockingly), and she then did so within a few more times. I set up the chess board, figuring it would be some time before she grasped the rules and complexities of the game. She beat me on her first try. Ouch.

I fear these games are fading away. You can find an electronic version of just about any game, and they become addicting. Just try playing Solitaire with real cards after spending some time playing on the computer!

Still, some of the classics still live on and are hard to replicate on a computer. Maybe as winter continues, we can find more time together as families and play some games. At the very least, I’m currently ahead of Michelle in Padiddle by 738…

One more thing this week: By the time you read next week’s column, I’ll have another double-digit midget in the house! Happy birthday to my little buddy, Anton!

Word of the Week: This week’s word is mythomane, which means having a tendency to exaggerate or lie, as in, “The wife questioned the husband’s mythomane statement about the current point totals of the game.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

O.K., I admit it. I'm a pure failure at this "scaling back" idea.

Since announcing my intensions publicly in the Star Eagle a few weeks ago, many things have changed. That's not including some comments made in last week's Star Gazing, as have been mentioned around the office, but hopefully we'll clarify a few of those as this column progresses.

First, though, the first issue. I am not very successful at scaling back my working hours by shaving 20 hours per week off my previous schedule, as hoped and planned for. I get a D, if that - or, if Mr. D was feeling generous - maybe even a D+. But he's an English teacher. What good would that do? Let's just say that I'm a complete and utter failure at this scaling back stuff and leave it at that. But it does not mean I don't hold hope for improvement.

If anything, I have taken on even more since returning to the Star Eagle full time a couple weeks ago. For this, I apologize to my sweetie in Albert Lea and anyone else who may have been negatively affected. But, given current circumstances, I didn't think there was much choice. I still don't. I have to do what's best for the business and if that means I have to be here more than 40 hours a week, so be it. I can't "scale back" yet. Part of that, I'm certain, is because of habit. I have a history of putting in a lot of hours, thinking this may somehow equate to happiness, and seem to have an inbred talent for going to extremes. Or so it has been said. I'm always looking for the happy medium, attempting to walk that fine line, trying to keep everybody happy, trying to avoid conflict at all costs. And where does it get me? It gets me in trouble. Trying to keep everyone happy is a recipe for disaster.

Unfortunately, it's a recipe I have played with far too often at the Star Eagle. I have a feeling my mom probably tried to cook it up a few times herself. That's probably where I get it from.

Speaking of cooking, another area in which I have dropped the ball: meals. I have not, as mentioned last week, prepared three nutritious meals per day in my household. I apologize to anyone who may have been misled by this statement.

Let's see. I'm a failure at scaling back the hours and not very successful at cooking. Check. Check.

The other thing mentioned last week was that ESPN was on our television 24 hours a day at home. It's simply not true. That has been trimmed to less than an hour a day, including Eli's morning and night time. He has many other favorite shows.

So, to be perfectly honest here, there's no way I have shaved 20 hours per week from my previous work schedule, there's no way I have time to cook three nutritious meals per day and, no, ESPN is not on our TV 24 hours a day. I'm too busy working.

The reason these items were included in last week's column is because it was written two weeks earlier.

One thing that was true in last week's column? The cleanliness of our house. I'm proud of the way it's looking at this time and intend to keep it that way.

As mentioned earlier, there is hope for improvement in the scaling back idea. There has to be. Many years ago, as a much younger man, I played doubles tennis with a partner named Lester Hanson from Waseca. As he told me after a double fault one day, "That's O.K." I answered, "It has to be."

There just has to be hope on scaling back my hours. There has to be.

The scurs were thinking the Weather Eye had lied about the modest chance of snow over the weekend. Maybe they’d best put a little more trust in it as there is still a chunk of winter left. Starting Wednesday, partly sunny with a slight chance of snow. Highs near 15 and lows near – 10. Thursday, sunny with highs in the mid-teens and lows around 10. Partly sunny and warmer on Friday with highs around 30 and lows near 20. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with a modest chance of snow, again. Highs in the mid-20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Sunday, mostly cloudy with a slight chance of lingering snow. Highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the mid-teens. Partly sunny for Monday with highs in the mid-20’s and lows near 20. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with a modest chance of snow. Highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. As we continue to gain nearly 3 minutes of daylight per day,  we’ll see over 10 hours of daylight on February 4th, something that hasn’t happened since November 6th. The sun will set after 5:30 on February 6th. The scurs suspect it may be a tad early to put their lawn furniture out just yet.

The Saturday evening snowstorm turned out to be more than first advertised. At the ranch we measured roughly 4” of snow fell although as in many building sites around the area, it seemed like most of it was in large drifts in unusual places. It was fine snow too and with the wind made for some hard drifts. One individual had left for the weekend and when he came back, made a run through one into the garage. He wound up shoveling a large portion of it back out. At the ranch it was tough to move it efficiently. Large pieces of drift were constantly breaking off leaving pieces strewn around the driveway. The good thing about it though was the layer of snow stuck to the ice so one doesn’t go for a digger anymore.

As discussed with Vista’s noted Swedish astronomer, clear, cold nights lately have made for better stargazing. In the evening sky, Venus continues to climb farther off the horizon in the west at sundown. Conversely, Jupiter is getting a little higher each night at chore time in the east, rising around sundown. So where is the Big Dipper right now? In the northern US we are fortunate to be able to see the Big Dipper year round above the horizon. Looking at 9 p.m., Monday night, the Big Dipper is high in the northeast sky and is standing on the end of its handle during the winter months. It is also part of the constellation Ursa Major or the Big Bear, where the handle of the dipper makes up the tail of the bear and the dipper itself part of the hindquarters. The star on the front bottom of the dipper (Merak) and the one on the top leading edge of the dipper (Dubhe) form a line that points nearly directly to the North Star or Polaris. Polaris is the star on the end of the handle on the Little Dipper. It in turn in part of the constellation Ursa Minor or the Little Bear. Generally we have pretty good stargazing at the ranch although it’s best to get away from the yard lights in order to see the Little Dipper. Tough to do much about the nearly full moon though especially when there are high clouds. 

More snow must mean more cardinals. Another male has joined the original male and female. Activity in general at the feeders increased with the colder temps and snow. It was a surprise over the weekend to see how much corn was being plucked off the cobs by the birds as opposed to the squirrels. Several blue jays and a red-bellied woodpecker consumed almost as much as the rodents did.  And one of the squirrels seems to be dominant or at least takes exception to the attempts of the others to procure any corn while he’s occupying the feeder. That typically results in the squirrels doing a high speed chase and one little red and white Border Collie getting all wound up while watching from the sliding glass door.

Another Super Bowl is in the books. Actually it was another pretty good game. When I first came in from moving snow, Mrs. Cheviot was bemoaning the fact it was a low scoring affair and the Seahawks really hadn’t done much. That changed about the time I sat down to warm up. From that point on it was interesting right up until the last play. The entire weekend provided some good sports activity with Gophers and other teams competing. The live-streaming alternative while not perfect does allow us to watch programming we wouldn’t normally see. It helps keep us off the streets on cold winter evenings anyway.

The former mayor of Waldorf was in recently to see if I’d grabbed the screenings out of his shed and dropped off a current magazine with some interesting tractor trivia. Luckily I had already pulled the screening wagon home through metropolitan Matawan on Saturday. The magazine he left was chock full of tidbits I hadn’t realized. Did you know the first commercially available PTO on a tractor was on the International Harvester 8-16? John Deere replaced the Waterloo Boy with the Model D which remained in production through 1953? It took until 1954 for the number of tractors on US farms to surpass the number of horses and mules? One I knew was the 1st production true live PTO was on a 1946 Cockshutt 30. We had the American version, a Co-op E3 growing up. Pull the lever to engage the PTO. Push in the clutch and the PTO kept running. What will they think of next? 

See you next week…real good then.