Updates -

Genelle and David Mogck
Spencer, Genelle & David Mogck

FAMILY UPDATE -- Introductory Sketch
by Genelle (Sigman) Mogck
Plymouth, MN

Genelle (Sigman) and David Mogck

I am the daughter of Gertrude Pettit and the Matriarch is my aunt. My husband, David, and I live in Plymouth, Minnesota, with our 3 year old Shetland Sheepdog, Spencer, and our two cats, Sis, and her brother, Oliver, who will be 15 years old this year.

Shortly after we were married in 1998, it was necessary for David to take a medical leave from his job as a flight attendant with Northwest Airlines. He was diagnosed in 1994 with a heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy. His heart is enlarged and is not able to pump strongly. A normal heart should pump about 50 to 60 percent of its volume of blood with each beat -- called an ejection fraction rate (EF). In 1998 his EF was at about 30 percent and today it is at 15. In 2000 his cardiologist placed his name on the heart transplant list because of the steady decline of his condition -- at the rate he was declining, the thought was he wouldn't be able to live many more years.

In 2001 we received the call to come to the hospital -- a donor heart was available. We arrived at the hospital at about three o'clock in the morning where David was prepped and ready to go into the operation room. Because the ideal time to transplant the heart is within two hours of harvesting, timing is everything. So as David was being prepared, the doctors, who we later learned were in Duluth, were removing the heart from the donor. Not until the heart arrived safely at the hospital would they begin to perform surgery on David.

Around six o’clock that morning a call came from the transplant surgeons: upon removing the donor heart, the final examination showed the beginning of arterial disease (plaque buildup in the veins of the heart). The donor heart was deemed unsuitable for a transplant. David was discharged and sent home.

Since that time, David's condition has stabilized -- much to everyone's surprise. His EF remains at 15 percent, which is enough to keep him going -- with some physical limitations. In 2002 his status was changed to "inactive" on the transplant list. In 2003 his name was taken off the transplant list and his status at NWA changed from medical leave to officially retired. If his heart ever begins to fail again, transplant is still an option. Thanks to the prayers of family and friends, and good medical care, David is enjoying life -- only at a little slower pace.

I am an assistant to a wonderful older woman and work out of her home in Long Lake. She manages her family foundation and is a volunteer in the community. Currently she serves on the Boards of several organizations such as the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches, Big Brother and Big Sisters, College of St. Benedict, and the Animal Humane Society, to name a few. My days, and some nights, are spent helping her with whatever project she is currently involved with.

I travel with her on occasion, and help her with her hobby of showing dogs -- Gordon Setters. Though we’ve slowed down in the past two years, we've worked as a team for the past 20 years grooming, training and showing her dogs. Oh yes, and I am the official resident "midwife" and have whelped near a dozen litters of puppies for her. Needless to say, we've become close friends over the years and I have been blessed beyond measure by her friendship and generosity.

David and I are both homebodies, so we live a pretty quiet life. Most of our activities revolve around church, family and friends. In his early days, David was a professional actor in theatre, so we do enjoy season tickets to the Guthrie. During the summer months we like to browse the art fairs, visit the art museums and take walks around Lake Harriet or the neighborhood.

This summer we bought bicycles -- our friends were enjoying theirs so much we thought we would give it a try. David did better than I thought -- he could go for about an hour if the terrain was fairly level and he didn't peddle very fast. The down side was that at his rate it wasn't much exercise for me and I was beset with guilt for leaving the dog at home while we were out "playing."

To remedy my problem, I came up with a solution -- and after a little online research, I found a nifty dog cart to tow with my bike (looks just like the covered carts for kids). In the end, I got a better workout towing 40 pounds, and Spencer was happy to tag along.


UPDATE -- Tsunami Disaster Relief Mission ... oops!
by Shari (Miller) Schweiger
Bradenton, FL

Kurt Larson's ship left San Diego without Kurt on board.

It seems that, due to the rapid change in his orders, someone failed to notice that Kurt had not had an exit exam from the doctor on his old ship. And of course, he can't board the new ship without a release from the old ship. The doctor that needed to give his exam was booked up 30 days out, so for the last couple of weeks, Kurt's assignment was to report to the doctor's waiting room and wait all day, in case there was a "no show," which did finally happen last week. He is now officially released to the USS Bonhomme Richard for duty.

Of course, the ship is out at sea, first headed for Iraq, and now headed for Thailand to help with the tsunami rescue. He is now on 24 hour notice, which means they are waiting for an airplane with an open seat headed to some port the ship is scheduled to stop at, probably the Philippines.

He is happy to be home with Jeni, but is also frustrated to not be on the mission he is trained for, particularly in light of all the rescue help that is needed in Thailand. For the duration, he is assigned to a base for transient Navy personnel. They are doing some remodeling projects, which, to quote Kurt, are "boring."


UPDATE -- Baptism
by Wyatt Johnson
Moorhead, MN

Weston, Lori, Brook Brooklynn Ann Johnson
Brooklynn's baptism day, with sponsors Weston Johnson and Lori Chap

The baptismal gown was originally worn by Jolene's aunt Mary O'Meara, her mother's oldest sister. It was worn by all seven O'Meara children for their baptisms, including Jolene's mother, Cathe. To the best of Jolene's knowledge, it then skipped a generation, next used by Vincent Finkelson. Shortly after Vince's baptism, it was worn by Rylie, and most recently, by Brooklynn.


FAMILY UPDATE
by Linda (Blackstone) Knutson
Ashby, MN

Anthony Tyler
Linda's grandsons: Anthony, 7, and Tyler, 3 days old.

My name is Linda Knutson. I am Gert (Dake) Pettit's stepdaughter. I just returned from visiting my daughter Carrie who lives in Warrior, Alabama. She is the mother of my two grandbabies.

Anthony is 7 and in the first grade. He has asthma, so he does a lot of inside games to keep him busy. He's a very talkative, outgoing little guy.

He has recently welcomed home a new baby brother, Tyler Wayne. Tyler, who is two months old now, has had a very tough time with his little tummy so far. They've done many formula changes and are working on finding out what works the best for him. So, he's kept his mother very busy. His daddy, Shannon, does help Mommy Carrie out on weekends with taking his turn. (Gotta love this new generation of daddies!)

Shannon does custom painting detailing on vehicles and also installs sound systems, with his goal being to have his own shop at home.

Carrie previously finished an accounting course, but would like to expand her education to a different area, so she starts back to school for medical secretary January 10th, leaving Tyler in the care of Shannon's grandmother. Their family resides with Shannon's grandmother, for now.


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN

Caity, Cecilia Jayce
Out With The Old
Caity and Cecilia pulling wallpaper down; Jayce loved helping.

Ashby Farm House's Dinette Gets A Makover

If I'd have known what a job this would prove to be, I might have thought twice about just leaving the old blue, sagging wallpaper alone! But, thanks to many helpers with peeling the old wallpaper -- Dave, Becky, Caity, Jayce and several of my little daycare "helpers," we finally accomplished that tedious task!

The next part was a trip to Menard's and finding a new paper that would work. With help from Linda, and after another opinion by Lori, we picked out a light yellow with a rather cream textured paper. Worked great to lighten up the room. However, it wasn't great to work with...

Peggy came over for the daunting job of hanging the paper, paper we found out, that tore very easily! (Not the "sale" paper either!) Without her help, I would have crumbled into pieces! The corners and all the math figuring would have done me in, no doubt about that, so THANK YOU, Peggy, for all your hard work. We spent an entire day working on it ... with daycare kids around at the time, so made it even more interesting. :-) 10 hours later, ta-dah, a job well done.

I figure it was a success, as all who've seen it have commented on how nice it looks. I'd also painted the old woodwork white. (That freaks some people out -- but it was not an old or good wood; it was put in for a later remodel.) That really lightened up the room, too, so was worth the extra effort. Had to hire a guy to put down the new trim and new pantry doors, which still need to be painted, but will have to wait for spring!

This whole wallpapering thing started with putting down the new flooring, so be careful when you go to change anything; it can get you into a mess of continued work!

Peggy Finished Dinette
In With The New Look For A New Year

Peggy hard at work with wallpapering. We were finally on the home stretch, with just one more corner to make. Yeah! This is how the finished room looks. Some of you may recognize the tables in the pictures. The large dining room table and chairs are from Don; it had been his and Kristin's. The side table was Grandma Dake's and I think it looks very nice in the newly refinished dinette.


Beaver Cooking Steaks
Cooking Beef Steaks, Beaver's Birthday Tradition

Cooking in the fireplace for Christmas eve, which is also Beaver's birthday, is a family tradition at the Ashby farm. This is a tradition continued on from Beaver's childhood. I think he said they used to cook hamburgers and hotdogs. We do delicious home raised steaks -- and are they wonderful!

While Beaver is working on the steaks, we enjoy shrimp that Lori, Weston and Chris bring. Half of them are done as shrimp cocktail, the other half sauteed with garlic and butter, by Chris. For dessert we eat what has become another tradition: Dairy Queen ice cream cake, brought by Wyatt. Quite a birthday spread for Beaver ... even though he has to work for part of the meal!

Photo editor's note: I remember Beaver's (and Mitzi's) birthday parties around the fireplace ... Miss Kitty and I also celebrate Beaver's birthday with a fire in our fireplace in Anchorage ... sometimes with steaks, and always with roasted marshmallows.


The Matriarch Speaks W
by Dorothy (Dake) Anderson
Alexandria, MN

Starting with Bulletin 124, I planned to run biographical sketches of the members of our staff. Now that this has been done, I want to run sketches and pictures of the readers and subscribers who have not already done introductions. Please tell us about yourself. What is your work and what else do you do with your time? How are you related or what friend introduced you into the family? I am hoping that you can share family photos and background sketches. Send all manuscripts and pictures to me at dma49261@juno.com

Getting To Know The Younger Generation

I have had so much enjoyment of late getting acquainted with some of my grown up relatives. I have had nice response from my request for Introductory Sketches. Notice this week's introduction to Genelle and David. If you haven't done one yet, you must get busy!

And something else very nice has happened ... we have begun to get so many nice pictures of the children, from babies and up -- so I have decided to share a few recent ones in my column.

Birkholz, Lehtola kids Brianna, Brandon
Brian and Melanie Lehtola's children, Christmas 2004

Left to right, bottom row: Brandon Lehtola (2 yrs.) and Brianna Lehtola (3 yrs.); left to right, top row: Cameron Birkholz (17 yrs.) Shea Birkholz (13 yrs.) and Beau Birkholz (21 yrs.). Right: Remember when your kids had this much fun after opening Christmas presents? Brianna and Brandon Lehtola play with the boxes ... in a photo from their Aunty Ardis Quick.

Caity, Wishes Caity bride
And here is Caity Chap with two special gifts...

Left: Caity with Lori's dog, Jake, and her little toy puppy dog, "Wishes," that she got from Shari and Ray Schweiger's daughter and son-in-law, Wendi and her husband, Josh. Caity named the toy puppy Wishes, because they were sending their best wishes and the W is for Wendi and the SH for Josh. Wishes even makes little puppy noises -- it's very cute!

Right: Shari gave Caity this little dress to play dress up; she'd gotten it for her own granddaughter, Sami, who told her grandmother she no longer was interested in dresses or dressing up. Caity wore it for her Queen of the Lakes win and is still playing with it and enjoying Shari's generosity!

Playroom
New Year's at The Farm

Who says the playroom is just for the youngest set? Lori Chap brought two of her friends from The Cities for New Year's at the farm. They both enjoyed coming for the visit and meeting some of Lori's other friends ... that she'd met through Weston Johnson (right) and Chris Chap on other visits... Lori and her friend Emily (in front) are entertaining the rest, singing with her karaoke!


LTD Storybrooke

"I'm Passing. . . . Out. . . ."
By Larry Dake

"I found the can of glue thinner sitting open on the workbench. . . . I feel funny. . . ."

It was my wife, Sherry, speaking into the phone on the other end of the line. She was alone at our shoe repair shop in Morris, Minnesota, and I was at home with our new baby.

She said, "I think. . . . I. . . . I'm Passing. . . . Out. . . . "

The phone hit the floor with a smack and banged in my ear -- then there was silence.

I had learned several years prior, while manning a crisis hotline, to try to keep people who were losing consciousness engaged by shouting at them.

I shouted into the receiver, "SHERRY!"

No answer.

"SHERRY!!!"

Silence.

"Sherry?"

Nothing.

It was seven miles to the shop where Sherry was. I was at home with our baby, after coming home from "my day shift" at the shoe repair shop, and Sherry had taken our car back to town to work "her evening shift." She had been patching and sewing shoes, boots, and purses. The shop was closed for business in the evening.

On my workbench, close to where she had been sewing, was the open gallon can of solvent. I had inadvertently forgotten to put the cover on the can after pouring solvent into the glue pot to soak it overnight. Without the ventilation hood running over my bench, the volatile vapors had begun to build up in the closed shop.

"Sherry needs help..." I thought, "...fast!"

I hung up the phone, and immediately picked it up again to call Emergency 911. But there was no dial tone! I tried again and again, but I could not make a call go through.

The phone was dead!

And I was without a vehicle. It was midwinter, with a cold, howling wind outside. I was sitting by the stove holding our baby, Sarah. Our closest neighbor, a widowed lady, was a half mile away.

"I have to use her phone!"

I lay Sarah in her bassinet, covered the bassinet with an overturned laundry basket -- to keep the cat out -- pulled on my salmon colored, down parka, and sprinted the half-mile down the gravel road to knock on the neighbor lady's door. Heart pounding in my chest, I explained that I had an emergency.

And, "Could I use your phone?"

I dialed 911 and an ambulance was dispatched to the shoe repair shop. In the meantime, the neighbor lady gave me a ride back to our house, and I found our baby Sarah -- fussing -- but safe. I picked her up and comforted her, while wondering how the emergency responders would break the door down to get to Sherry in our locked shop.

When the ambulance arrived there, they found Sherry sitting outside on the step, taking fresh air. She was feeling ill, but insisted she'd be okay. She refused to go to the hospital in the ambulance.

After she got herself and the shop aired out, I got the long awaited phone call.

"Hello?"

She said, "Hi."

"Where are you?" I asked.

"At the shop."

"Did the ambulance come?"

"Yeah," she said, "Why'd you call them?"

(Sherry had accidently dropped the phone in her rush to get outside for some fresh air. With her phone off the hook, I couldn't make an outgoing call. She had not actually passed out.)


Travelogue t

The Bolivian Beat
By Kjirsten Swenson

Editor's Note: Kjirsten has returned to Bolivia for a second year of independent study in Morochata, prior to enrollment in medical school at Baylor University in Houston, in 2005. She spent several weeks trekking around Bolivia before returning to the hospital in Morochata. She is trekking in Argentina with her parents, Sheldon and Mitzi (Johnson) Swenson, this week. The episode below occurred a few weeks ago; this way, we have Kjirsten's photos to illlustrate it. As it turns out, these photos would have been more appropriate last week, and this week the better choice would have been the mummy photo we ran last week ... as you can see in Bulletin 133.

Flamingos, Laguna Colorado
Flamingos at Laguna Colorado, colored red with algae.

Last week, Saturday, I crossed the border early, after having bussed from Tarija, Bolivia, during the night. Both of the ATMs on the Argentine side were out of cash, so I had to re-cross back into Bolivia and change travelers' checks in order not to be stranded! The delay made me miss my bus. Argh. But by early afternoon I made it to Humahuaca, the first of several small towns I visited along the gorge.

La Quebrada de Humahuaca is a long gorge lined with beautifully colored desert hills. The orange, red, purple, green, and pink colors that dominate the gorge are so vibrant in some places the landscapes seem artificial. I hiked every morning and spent hot afternoons reading in shady plazas.

I remember the massive culture shock we felt when we flew from Bolivia to Buenos Aires last year and appreciate the gentler transition of Northern Argentina. Some of the towns closest to the border could almost pass for Bolivian, except the people speak with an accent that is distinctly Argentine. Nearly all the women in the first town I visited wore bright Bolivian blankets, almost knee-length skirts, not quite knee-high socks, and Adidas running shoes ... an interesting ensemble!

Yesterday afternoon I arrived to Salta. Salta is a city I love already! It's green, full of parks and pretty plazas, with sidewalk cafés and gelaterias on every block. This morning I visited a fascinating archaeology museum, probably the best I've been to. After so many sad archaeology museums that are just rooms and rooms of pottery in cases, it was refreshing to visit this one. It's devoted solely to three 500-year-old frozen mummies, recently found most of the way up a 22,000 ft. volcano in northwestern Argentina. Everything was so well-presented and insightful. I'm still excited about it.

This afternoon I had a tasty Italian lunch and a three-hour siesta. I should probably sleep now. My bus to Cachi leaves tomorrow, actually today, six hours from now, and I need to be awake to appreciate scenery. I'll be visiting a high valley and looping back to Salta by around Tuesday.

Kjirsten

Geyser Laguna Verde
Geyser, left; Laguna Verde's greenish waters, right.

More of Kjirsten's photos may be seen in her Webshots album here:

http://community.webshots.com/user/kjswenson


Fort Amsterdam
Fort Amsterdam, circa 1650

How Frans Helped Me Uncover My "Dutch" Roots
By Jerrianne (Johnson) Lowther
Anchorage, Alaska

It began with the Poffertjes... and all because Frans DeBeen sent to The Bulletin 132 a recipe for buttery, sweet little pancake balls to usher in the New Year! I fully agree with Frans's assessment that "Poffertjes are like pancakes, but smaller and thicker; they taste sweeter and ... better!" But never did I dream they would inspire a serendipitous adventure, unraveling a mystery that has intrigued me for years. Who'd guess puffy little Dutch pancakes could help me uncover French Huguenot and Dutch roots?

Frans said we would need a Poffertjes pan (also known as a "monk's pan") and I didn't have one, but I realized that my Danish Aebleskiver pan is very similar -- close enough that it could be used. And as I made and ate the delicious morsels for breakfast on New Year's Day, it occurred to me that this was a way to honor both my Dutch and Danish ancestry at the same time.

When we were growing up, our mother always claimed she was half English and half Danish ... with maybe a little bit of French mixed in. Later, my aunt showed me some research that explained the "little bit of French," and our "English" grandmother's Dutch surname, Rappleye (or Rapalje).

According to the story, French Huguenots (Protestants facing religious persecution in their native France, in the 16th and 17th centuries) took refuge in The Netherlands ... and were assimilated by the Dutch. Huguenot and Walloon settlers came to "New Amsterdam" (now New York) with the Dutch West India Company in 1624. The company was a strictly commercial enterprise, in the business of trading wampum (strings of mussel shell beads) and other trinkets to Indian trappers for beaver pelts -- for export to Europe to make waterproof felt hats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam

The story that caught my attention was that Peter Minuit, the Dutch colony's director general, having "bought" Manhattan Island for 60 guilders ($24)* in 1626, asked Joris (George) Janssen Rapalje, to come and help him develop it ... and so he had established the first hotel on Manhattan Island that year and grew food for his guests in his garden. Wouldn't it be neat, I said at the time, if we knew the exact location ... and wouldn't it be fun if we could see what's there now?

http://pages.prodigy.net/reed_wurts/heraldry/rapalje.htm

I didn't think for a minute that it would really be possible to discover the site of this hotel / inn / pub/ tavern nearly 400 years later ... but right after breakfast on New Year's Day, I initiated some Internet inquiries via Google.com ... and, to my surprise, I was able to locate it! The hotel, "on the north side of Pearl Street," butted up against Fort Amsterdam's wall, facing the East River. And his Long Island farm, in Breuckelen (now Brooklyn), at Waele Bocht or "Walloon Bay," (Wallabout) was established where the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the U.S. Marine Hospital are now! (The whole New Netherlands Project web site below is amazing -- go exploring!)

http://www.nnp.org/newvtour/regions/Manhattan/fort-amsterdam.html

Although historic Fort Amsterdam no longer exists, excellent records of it do. It was situated at the very bottom of Manhattan Island, at the junction of the Hudson and East Rivers. Later, the old U.S. Customs House, which still stands, was built on the site. "Customs" moved to the World Trade Towers in 1970; this building now houses the New York branch of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=visitor&second=ny&third=hours

There really was a wall at Wall Street -- a palisade built of logs 12 feet high and 18 inches thick -- across the northern reaches of the town. The wall stretched from the East River straight across to the North (or Hudson) River. There was a gate at de Heere Straat (now Broadway). The fortification was to protect New Amsterdam from invasion by British armed forces. On the other side of the wall was wilderness ... wild pasture for cattle transplanted by the Dutch, long before it marked New York City's financial district. Wall Street was just a street along the wall until the summer of 1791, when semi-official brokers began trading shares of stock beneath a sycamore tree on it.

http://www.nnp.org/newvtour/regions/Manhattan/wall-street.html

Fort Amsterdam was built at the very tip of the island in 1626; Battery Park, built on landfill, separates it from the rivers now. It is filled with historic sites and monuments and other bits of history. From there you can see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in the distance ... and buy tickets on the ferries to visit these historic landmarks. On the map (angled upside down, south on top), note the gray boundary of the original shoreline in 1625.

http://www.thebattery.org/battmap.htm

Oh, yes, there is more, though not all the accounts agree -- not even close. This assimilated "Dutch" burgher has been reported as born in Valenciennes, France, and christened on April 28, 1604 ... some 400 years ago. But there are varying accounts of Joris Janssen Rapalje's ancestry, be it French Huguenot, Flemish and/or Walloon. His wife, Catalyntie Trico, of French descent, was born about 1605 in what is now Belgium. They sailed to New Netherland (New York) with the first Dutch agricultural colonists in 1624 ... as illiterate teenage newlyweds, with "nothing to lose," in one version. Another version says, "It is a tradition of the family that Joris brought from Holland 1,500 guilders in money, no trifling sum in those days."

http://www.nortvoods.net/blavant.html

They lived at Fort Orange (now Albany, New York) two or three years, then moved to Fort Amsterdam to establish an inn. The first of their 11 children, Sarah (born June 9, 1625), was said to be the first daughter of Europeans born in New Netherland. They sold their hotel in 1654 and moved to their farm on Long Island. Joris Rapalje, a Brooklyn magistrate, died there, age 59, on February 23, 1663; his wife lived to age 84 and died September 11, 1689.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wallis/rappleye/

Many New Netherland colony records, meticulously kept by the Dutch colony's secretary, were handed over intact to the English secretary when Fort Amsterdam was surrendered to the British and renamed Fort James. Those records were again preserved when England ceded New York to the United States at the end of the American Revolution. They are now in the New York state library in Albany; they are being translated into English and published for further study.

http://www.nnp.org/newvtour/index.html

From the first time I heard about our ancestor's hotel and wondered where it was, a question in the back of my mind was always, "What would that tiny piece of undeveloped, marshy wilderness be worth today?" After looking through all these interlocking web sites, I think I know. Battery Park has recently added extensive waterfront Gardens of Remembrance, designed by Dutch garden master Piet Oudolf. They are in memory of all who perished in the World Trade Towers massacre, just a few blocks away, on September 11, 2001. I think the answer to this question is: priceless!

Now I'm looking into their plantation in Brooklyn... and before accepting any of the foregoing assertions as facts, I am checking out additional "sources," none of which fully agree, to wit:

http://www.nortvoods.net/raplee.html

Who says history is boring?

*"The value of $24 is misleading, as it represents the conversion rate of ƒ60 when the document containing the figure was first translated in the nineteenth century. The trade goods would have amounted to a considerable sum, considering that most of the items were probably metal, a material the natives were unable to produce, and the natives at this time assumed that the gifts were given for rights to use the land, not perpetual ownership." (I always wondered about that $24.)


This and That
6
by Elaine Wold
Wahpeton, ND

It is noted that the number one resolution made by many is to lose weight. This poem was in The Fargo Forum yesterday; some may have read it, but for those who don't get the Forum, they may enjoy it also!

The Week After Christmas
(Author Unknown)

'Twas the week after Christmas and all through the house,
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales, there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store, (less a walk than a lumber),
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese,
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you , please!"
As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to battle with dirt,
I said to myself, as I only can
"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"
So....away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruitcake, every cracker and chip,
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
"Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie--not even a lick,
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry..
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome and life is a bore,
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot,
Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet!


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Birthdays:
January 11---Brandon Harvey Lehtola (2 years old)
January 15---Shea Ashley Birkholz
Happy Birthday!

More January Birthdays:
'
January 3---Brandon Hellevang
January 3---Virginia (Dake) McCorkell
January 4---Nathan Hill
January 4---Harry "Junior" Anderson
January 5---Jayce Michael Chap (6 years old)

January 20---Lois Dake
January 22---Timothy Mellon
January 30---Whitney Johnson

January Anniversaries
Z
January 24---David "Beaver" and Donna (Anderson) Johnson (11 Years)

January Holidays
January 1---New Year's Day
January 17---Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Observed)
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miss Hetty Says

Thanks to Donna, I finally got a photo for my column this week before The Boss got it. Sure looks like Beaver had fun on his birthday. See the "beaver" gifts he got from his little sister, Mitzi!

Beaver gifts
Beaver gets a book, a bobblehead & shorts.

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?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, December 31, 2004, Buenos Aires, Argentina...

We got our passports mostly without incident after arguing with the Bismarck post office lady because I didn't have an ID. Actually I did -- in the car -- but after standing in a pretty long line I was not willing to go and get it. Our flight into Washington, D.C., was late, so we ran to the gate.

A taxi here brought us to our hotel where we had time to shower before Kjirsten came back. We walked miles yesterday and ate well, of course.

Mitzi (Johnson) Swenson
Dickinson, ND


I want to thank all of you who helped make Dave and Becky's wedding special. It was greatly appreciated! Thank you so much to Kim, for doing such an awesome job on the write up and pictures! Like the kids say ... you ROCK!  The Bulletin was another gem to savor, thanks to everyone!
 
Happy New Year to ALL!
Donna Johnson
Ashby, MN


ANOTHER wedding! Congrats to Becky and Dave; they look very happy.

I was pleased to find Miss Kitty with pen in paw once again. She always turns a phrase so purr-fectly ... sorry.

Did Dad really go skating? Too bad you didn't have your camera yet. Wow, what a photo op that would have been!

Thanks for being the life in my inbox!

Doug Anderson-Jordet
St. Cloud, MN


Donna has been periodically forwarding me issues of The Bulletin. I've so enjoyed the articles, and keeping up with family news. It seems it would make sense for me to subscribe. Could you please add my home e-mail address to the list? Thanks, it's dgmogck@comcast.net

Genelle and David Mogck
Plymouth, MN


Don and Dorothy, I laughed so loud over your skating ordeal. You painted a beautiful picture. Did you really try, or was it a good story???? It sounds true to me.*

I haven't been on skates for a long time, either; haven't had good weather to do so. The rinks around here melt the next day, so now one of our doctors that is from Minnesota is getting one for the indoors. Don't know if it's ready or not, or how much building has to be done yet. "Good ol' Minnesota boy," who grew up on skates. Had to tell him we were glad someone took the big project on and is doing it. Now they will get some hockey games for the kids around here.

Anita Weiland (Jim Miller's niece)
Yankton, SD

* Editor's comment: Oh, it's true -- as far as it goes!


Letter from the Photo Editor ...

Last week Dorothy asked whether I had read the article on coffee in the new National Geographic magazine. I hadn't, so I opened it up and began paging through it. An unnumbered page on seven special foods for New Year's in the Geographica section caught my eye -- and right in the middle of the picture was a plateful of Oliebollen from The Netherlands. Well, we read all about Oliebollen first in Bulletin 131 ... and got the recipe ... thanks to Frans DeBeen.

Jerrianne Lowther
Anchorage, AK


CHUCKLES

BOAT FOR SALE
Sent to us by my teacher friend John Edmunds

Sven was going for his morning walk one day when he walked past Ole's house and saw a sign that said Boat For Sale. This confused Sven because he knew that Ole didn't own a boat, so he finally decided to go in and ask Ole about it.

"Hey, Ole," said Sven, "I noticed da sign in your yard dat says Boat For Sale, but ya don't even have a boat. All ya have is your old John Deere tractor and combine."

Ole replied, "Yup, and dey're boat for sale."

Click here to find out Who's Where in The Bulletin l

To search a name in Who's Who or Who's Where: click on the link to open the page, then 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.) 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. In Who's Where you can search on state or city names, too.

Click here for past editions of The Bulletin in the web archive

Home About Archive Recipes Stories Galleries Who's Who Where


THE STAFF OF THE BULLETIN

&

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY: The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. --William Arthur Ward

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.