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Sunday, August 1, 2004
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Updates -

FAMILY UPDATE
by Melanie Lehtola

Brian was on security duty for Governor and Mrs. Pawlenty during their visit to Kosovo this past weekend, July 23-25. The little girl is a student at the Ramadan Elementary School, near Camp Bondsteel Kosovo. The Governor and his wife made a visit to the school while they were in Kosovo to visit the troops. Brian didn't remember the little girl's name (men!) but she sure is a cutie.

Brian is scheduled to leave Kosovo on August 28th. He will go to Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin, for 5 - 7 days of debriefing. We are expecting him home by the end of the first week of September. It has been a long year and we are excited to have him coming home soon.

On a down note, the Unit has been notified that they are on the 2006 rotation for Iraq. But that is a ways off and much can happen before that time. We will take life one day at a time because each day does indeed have enough trouble of its own!

Beau (my son) is currently at boot camp in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. He joined the Minnesota Army National Guard in June of this year and will be attending ROTC school to become an officer. Mom (Gert), Lorayne (the girlfriend), Shea (my daughter) and I will be driving to Oklahoma to attend his graduation from Basic Training on August 26.

He will also be completing his last two years of college at Augsburg in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is Resident at his dorm, which gets him a free room and a small monthly salary and he tutors on the side. He will also have to squeeze in one weekend a month at the TACC (fancy name for what we used to call the Armory) in Stillwater. I believe he is going to be one busy young man!

It will be quite a shock to see him in August because he left Minnesota with his full head of "Shirley Temple" curls intact. I'm sure the barber who got him under the buzzer had a great time :o) I will be sure to take pictures at graduation and send one to you for The Bulletin.

Melanie


Brian Lehtola with a little girl at the school
(where Brian was on bodyguard detail for Governor Pawlenty and his wife)


UPDATE
by Kristi Indermark

Hi everyone... Hope everyone's summer has been as wonderful as mine! Jim and I have been so busy this summer with weddings, birthday parties, friends and family visiting from out of town, etc.... We are now planning our trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin in August. Jordan turns 1 on August 19th.(I can't believe it has almost been a year already!) We are having a birthday party for Jordan at Dad's house (George Larson) on Saturday, August 14th; if anyone would like to come you can e-mail me for directions.

Jordan is growing so quickly. She is starting to take a few steps, but her big thing is climbing. She climbs on everything. I attached a picture below where she climbed into one of her toys while we had our backs turned. She is into everything. I am loving every minute of it. I wish I could be home with her every day!

Speaking of staying at home with Jordan every day, I am opening my own in-home day care. I don't know if it is a great idea or if I am plain crazy! Either way, it will be very interesting! I only have one class left to take and I will be all certified. I am hoping to open the middle of September. Jim and I are now converting our downstairs into a giant play room. It has been a lot of fun trying to fill all the requirements set by Florida law and to still make our house look like grown ups live in it. We are both very excited and hope everything goes well.

I think that is all the news from our way.

Kristi


Jordan celebrates climb into one of her toys


UPDATE
by Chris Chap

I figured that I should write, because it has been a while. Work has been quite busy as of late, because the boss was out of town for about a week and we were kind of short handed. I don't really mind being busy though, as it helps pass the time by.

I also thought that I would write and let you know that I purchased a new vehicle this weekend. I wasn't really planning on buying a new car at the time, but I have been looking lately. I went to the dealership with a friend of mine and I saw a car that I liked, a 2004 Chrysler Sebring Touring, and I decided that I didn't want to have to worry anymore about my old car. It's kind of nice having a dependable car now, even though now I have to make car payments.

Chris


A New Chrysler For Chris


UPDATE
by Elaine (Wold)

Today was the day for my follow up appointment with the doctor. I was fortunate that they ruled out heart and stroke problems. I have a problem with the inner ear. There are a number of diseases that affect the balance in the middle ear. Mine is most like Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV).

Vertigo results from a problem with the nerves in the inner ear that sense movement. In the labyrinth are hairlike sensors that monitor the rotation of the head. Nearby is the auricle which contains tiny particles of calcium that are attached to sensors. Sometimes these loosen and float and irritate the nerve endings, causing the vertigo. He likened it to a slough with reeds standing in it, and if one throws a stone at the reeds, it causes them to move and makes ripples in the water.

There is no remedy or cure for it, episodes will likely recur, so I have meds for nausea when an attack occurs. It occurs very suddenly, and is caused by natural aging, or maybe a head injury or virus. During an episode one has to stay in bed so as not to have a fall, and sleep it off. (Bathroom needed here, though!!!) Usually lasts 24 to 36 hours, with weakness lasting longer. I am to walk with a cane until comfortable walking without it. Balance should improve in time.


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae


Riverside Garden Offers A Restful Getaway

A Lovely Day At Munsinger Gardens

Donna Richards and I had a lovely day on Saturday. Barb had mentioned we should check out Munsinger Gardens in St. Cloud, located right next to the river. I'd not heard of the place before she mentioned it to me, so was glad she told us. The gardens were absolutely beautiful, the river views relaxing and the day couldn't have been any nicer, with gorgeous 74 degree temperatures and an occasional light cloud in the sky. We stopped to admire a little chipmunk eating among some flowers and enjoyed the swings available and the nice walking paths, giving access to check out the beautiful plantings and read the various memory markers. The only bad point ... the day went by too quickly!


Bright Flowers Rim A Sun Dappled Pool


Travelogue t

Queen Mary 2 visits the Netherlands

by Ary Ommert, Jr.

On Wednesday, July 21, the world's biggest and most expensive ocean liner visited the Netherlands. Around 5 a.m. the ship arrived in Rotterdam. Many people left their beds and saw the ship coming from the North Sea and entering the river Nieuwe Waterweg. I didn't get up early to see that because I had to work that day. During the day the passengers could visit Rotterdam and see something from the biggest port of the world. Even the river had to be made deeper on some parts to let the ship pass. And only on high tide it was possible for the ship to sail to Rotterdam and back to the North Sea.

The departure from Rotterdam was at 6 p.m. and the ship was expected to be in Hoek van Holland around 8 p.m. The place where I work is located close to Hoek van Holland and when I left the shop at 6 p.m. the traffic was very busy from all the people who wanted to see the ship sail into the North Sea. I decided to take a different route home; otherwise I wasn't able to see the ship coming from Rotterdam and pass my town. Was home at 6:30 p.m. and prepared dinner. Saw the Queen Mary 2 coming and the ship became bigger when it came closer. By that time thousands of people were on the banks of the river and in Hoek van Holland it has never been so busy as on that evening.


From my balcony you can see the Queen Mary 2 pass my town, Maassluis



Kim , Heidi, and Whitney dip their feet in the ocean

California, Here We Come! K

The Johnson Family Reunion, Day 2

by Kim Johnson

Wednesday: When Wednesday came, we all packed up and piled in the van for the last leg of the trip north. It was tough getting back into the van; I think we all would have liked to be transported. When we got out of town a little way, there was a place to get out and dip our feet in the ocean. It was chilly ... but fun to actually be in the Pacific. After about 10-15 minutes of that we decided that it would be best to get on our way.

Dad was getting pretty good at these winding roads by this time and decided that he can try to keep up with other people now. But he outgrew that idea pretty quickly and started passing people. So, when we caught up to a Hummer Dad started to get real anxious. He couldn't wait to see this guy in the dust of a mini-van! We followed him closely and finally the Hummer surrendered!

Quite a way north, we saw a sign for the famous "Drive through the Redwood" excursion. We remembered that we had some insurance on the van, so it wouldn't cost us anything if it wouldn't fit. The van fit ... mirrors and all, so it was all good! Mark was pretty worried we would miss Wednesday night Bible study, so we all crammed into the wagon once more.

We got to Oak Bar at about 7:45 p.m., which meant we did miss meeting. Oak Bar is the Crawford lodge, way in the Boonies ... so we held down the fort while waiting for the rest of the relatives. The cat soon found us, and Ryan got it to sleep. It was a very odd cat! I got it to sleep totally upside down with its head hanging off my lap.

The rest of the crew arrived, and we said our hellos. After some visiting it was pretty late ... so we found our beds and decided to call it a day.


Heidi and Ryan kitty sit

Photo Editor's Note: Miss Kitty said, "Why that sleepy little kitty looks like a Blue Cream (tortoiseshell dilute) -- just like me! She appears to be a very secure and very trusting kitten."


       In the summer of my eleventh year someone talked my older cousin into taking me on a canoe trip down the St. Croix River. My cousin was tall and lean and reminded me of a bespectacled cowboy, if there ever really has been such a thing. He was knowledgeable and efficient in the ways of the outdoors, in equal and opposite proportion to my ignorance and ineptitude concerning such things, which is precisely why I suspect that there was coercion involved.
       My brother dropped us off upstream and said goodbye with a "good luck, you're going to need it" look on his face. We started out with unabashed vigor and worked our way downstream like a couple of four-eyed voyageurs with imaginary fur hats and a Divine Mission. That is how I felt, at least; I can only imagine what was going through my cousin's mind. A childless marriage, perhaps, but in my mind he was wearing imaginary beaver pelts, the same as me.
       I had never been in a canoe before that day and I did my very best to conceal this information from my cousin. Somehow I think he suspected, but I maintained my ruse with religious dedication. I was Jacques Lacroix, voyageur, man of the forest, tamer of the turbulent St. Croix.
       As an avid comic book reader, I was startled by the sheer brute force of a real river. All the two-dimensional ink and pencil lines had not prepared me for their three-dimensional counterpart: an actual raging river, relentless and unforgiving. I was at once thrilled and scared for my life, which is a feeling that can be therapeutic to adolescents and adults as well. I stabbed at the swirling white water as if I had been born in a canoe and had perhaps even been in the room when the sport was invented.
       Trees and riverbanks whipped by at a remarkable speed. We passed various farms and homesteads, along with the odd abandoned car or grazing cow. A hawk screeched overhead. Dragonflies lit on the river surface like perfect miniature helicopter replicas. I had never imagined that such things existed.
        My cousin trailed his fingers in the water and leaned back to survey the cloudless summer sky. Much to my surprise, he began to sing:

She's a broken lady
Waiting to be mended
Like a potter would mend a broken vase
And have what's left of the pieces
Put back in place

       His voice was strong and clear and resonated off the water like the peal of an eighteenth century school bell. I had never known my cousin to inadvertently break forth with song and I was so taken back I almost dropped my paddle. I guess there is something about the solitude of the Great North Woods that melts inhibitions and returns men to their primal, unadulterated selves. I was genuinely moved and could not help wondering where this enigmatic passage had come from and what it meant to him, if anything at all. Perhaps I will never know -- what it meant to him, at least -- but there are some seemingly insignificant and random memories that stay with you for the duration of your life, and this will be one of mine. I have never heard my cousin sing since, a fact that I have always regretted.
       We drifted downstream like a leaf in a rain gutter, brushing against rocks and banks but never stopping. The incessant hum of internal dialogue was finally squelched and in its place was a flawless, magical silence. Something like happiness replaced my predictable adolescent self absorption, if only for a moment. It was a perfect August afternoon and I was floating down a magnificent river and I realized that everything was simply meant to be that way. Everything made sense and I was an important part of it all: a swarthy voyageur, more than an awkward, post-adolescent comic book fiend.
       Then we hit the rapids.
       I have never enjoyed carnival rides. I am not a thrill junkie in search of a fix. I am a bookish, dreamy underachiever, and always have been. I do not excel at sports or win my coquettish girlfriend teddy bears at the ball toss in some Norman Rockwell Americana gone horribly wrong illustration of a county fair that never existed. Considering this, it is safe to say that I was not prepared for the reality of white water rapids and all of the self realization they bring. I swayed from side to side like a luge rider, switching paddle positions with growing confidence and dexterity. The river baptized me with its fishy sacraments as I loosed a nervous, manic laughter. A thousand watery whirlpools pulled at our boat, trying to suck us down into whatever the river equivalent of Davy Jones's locker may be. My cousin never dropped a beat; his arms flashed around him like a Kung Fu expert I might have read of in one of my martial arts magazines. I felt like a National Geographic photograph or a Jack London novel come to life.
       As we pressed on, we passed a smoky power plant that glowed like a uranium breathing dragon against the fluorescent setting sun. I suppose the real voyageurs never beheld such a sight, I thought to myself. The absurd monstrosity was as awe-inspiring as all of the natural wonders I had observed that day, but in a very different way. I imagined it was an extraterrestrial spacecraft and I was very quiet as we passed, to avoid possible detection and the inevitable compromising examinations that would bring. The gargantuan aluminum ducts and flashing lights seemed to be in perfect juxtaposition with the natural beauty that surrounded them, like a cockroach in a box of sugar donuts. This monstrous power plant on the slow waters of the St. Croix River is another image that will stay with me until I die, although I really have no idea why.
       Night finally fell and we reached my cousin's parked car where we had left it, marking the end of our journey. I felt as if we had paddled and portaged across all of Canada, singing French folk songs and plucking beaver from their dams as we went. I had met the mighty St. Croix on its own terms and lived to tell the tale. My comic books would never be the same again.

Photo Editor's Note: for more short stories written by Douglas Anderson and illustrated by Brianna Jordet, collected from past editions of The Bulletin, click here:

http://www.jlowther.com/Bulletin/Doug/index.html


Observations
By Don Anderson

Recently, we drove out to North Dakota to attend a 50th anniversary for long time friends.

It was enjoyable to see folks I have not seen in 50 years. I wondered at the time ... maybe people age faster in North Dakota! I will give that more thought.

I noticed some of them didn't quite know who I was, probably because I looked younger then my years! Some said, "Anderson?" I admitted it was.

The name Anderson is a household name in North Dakota. There are many Andersons there. If fact I heard there were more Andersons in North Dakota than there were people!

We both enjoyed the drive. We both admitted there is beauty right here in this north country. Beautiful lakes, rolling hills, natural beauties wherever you look. If it wasn't for out of staters coming in, I think us natives could walk into an eating place and get fast service.

I believe in "keep Minnesota green, bring money!" That motto has been around a long time and still holds true today. So don't let me discourage you from visiting.

I "enjoyed" thinking back 50 years, to the work of harvesting. To see the modern methods in use today causes me to think I was born too soon. Then I thought of how today's farm folks have problems I never encountered. My first new tractor in 1950 cost me a whopping $2,200. That would not even pay part of the tax on a new model today!

The little outing out to North Dakota, 110 miles, brought back many memories. I will admit I was very tired when we arrived home. I am still tired. But on the other hand, we had a good time. We have curtailed our getting too far away from home. We are glad we did a lot of moving around in our younger years.

When we get around the 70 mark we have to use our common sense, so as to not go beyond our strength.

Our long departed friend Hannah Carlson once said, at becoming 70, "I will not drive anymore; I will use my God given sense." So she sold her 1940 Chevrolet to our Dad.

I thought of her words as I was struggling to get a Minnesota driver's license. I should probably have taken that advice.

Let's just say, live a day at a time! We never know what will be on the morrow.

Maybe we will win the state lottery! Who knows!


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Week's Birthdays:

August 7---Weston Johnson
August 7---Melanie Lehtola

Happy Birthday!

This Week's Anniversaries:

August 5---Mitzi and Sheldon Swenson (27 years)

Congratulations!

More August Birthdays:

August 11---Mitchell Miller
August 16---Jason Ouick
August 19---Chris Chap
August 19---Jordan Nicole Indermark (1 year old)
August 24---Becky Chap
August 26---Donna Richards
August 30---Jessica Myron
August 30---Ethan Horne (2 years old)
August 31---Devan Alexander Seaman (2 years old)

More August Anniversaries:
Z
August 15---Diana and Russ Martin (28 years)
August 15---Dorothy and Don Anderson (54 years)
August 19---Vonnie and LeRoy Dake (56 years)
August 28---Merna and Ken Hellevang (22 years)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miss Hetty Says

Thanks to Kristi Indermark for adding several birthdays to our calendar, including her daughter, Jordan Nicole, and a nephew, Devan Alexander Seaman (her sister Kelly's son), this month.

Keep Us Posted!

Please drop Miss Hetty a line and tell us who, and what, we've missed. And how about a report (photos welcome) of YOUR special celebration?

'Many Thankse
Everyone!

Miss Hetty


+ LETTERS TO THE EDITORS?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What a great Bulletin! I'm so glad that you decided to start this. Think of how it began and what it's grown into.

I didn't write last week to say how much I enjoyed Doug's piece as well as Brianna's art work. Now we need some more recipes of his to try.

Nice to hear from another new friend from the Netherlands and Jerrianne did a wonderful job on the pictures from Frans. Fun to see them. The pictures sure have added to The Bulletin, haven't they?

Marlene


The Bulletin was an excellent read. I especially like when Don submits his thoughts.

I liked reading about your trip to Europe. I've been there a few times and know how strong those memories are. It's a time in my life I'll never forget.

It's a beautiful day and the fish are biting! Tell Don he should come fishing with us sometime!

Have a wonderful day,

Brianna


What a surprise this Bulletin, like the article about pancakes. I will write a comment on it for publishing in The Bulletin. Now there is an article coming from the visit of the Queen Mary 2 with a picture for The Bulletin.

Greetings from the Netherlands,

Ary

Editor's Note: When we were in the Netherlands we stayed with a friend of the family as they had more room for us. It was in an apartment about as high as Ary's is now and we could watch the shipping going by on the way to Rotterdam. I loved watching them unload big box cars off the boats onto the dock, to be hauled away on railroads -- and some trucks. I am waiting to see how that picture will look in the paper and I am waiting to see what he will write about pancakes! -- DMA


CHUCKLES

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR

A man went into a jewelry store to purchase a ring for his bride-to be. He looked at several different rings that seemed too expensive.

"Have you got some less expensive rings to show me?" he asked.

"I want to see something cheap, cheap, cheap!" the man exclaimed.

The clerk said, "Just a minute." And she returned with a mirror!

LOST & FOUND DEPT.

Lost, a three year old Scottie dog. Desperately needs medication.
Blind in one eye, has part of foot missing.
Very hard of hearing. If found call 123-456-7890.
Answers to the name of Lucky.

To search a name in Who's Who: use CONTROL F on a PC or COMMAND F on a Mac. To search for a second occurrence of the name, use CONTROL G on a PC or COMMAND G on a Mac. (This works on ANY web page with text, unless the text is converted to an image. Chances are, it works in your e-mail, too. I know it does in mine.) HINT: Search by first name only, as most entries list the family name once but do not repeat the last name for each family member.


QUOTATION FOR THE DAY: To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success. --Henry John Heinz

EDITOR'S POLICY: If you wish to subscribe to The Bulletin, simply send me a statement of that fact. If you wish to keep receiving it I hope you will contribute to one of the columns that are running in this family epistle (at least occasionally!). My e-mail address is dma49261@juno.com


This Bulletin is copyright Dorothy M. Anderson; the contents are also copyrighted by the authors and photographers and used with their permission, and the contents are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the explicit consent of the creators.