In the swing...
Lori Anderson weds Keith Mason.

Updates -

Lori Anderson - Keith Mason

Harry and Doris Anderson of La Mirada, California, announce the marriage of their daughter Lori Anderson to Keith Mason, the son of Mark and Agnes Mason of Mission Viejo, California. They were married on October 1, 2005, at the El Retiro estate located in La Habra Heights, California.

Lori and Keith are both graduates of California State University, Fullerton, California, where they met. Lori is employed by the Auto Club of Southern California as an Art Assistant for Westways magazine. Keith is employed by Source One as the sales and marketing manager. The couple will reside in Irvine, California.


Steven & Doris Anderson, Keith Mason, Lori, Harry & Lisa Anderson.


UPDATE -- Wedding and Honeymoon
by Lori Anderson (yes, still Anderson)
Irvin, CA

Hello from California! As many of you know, Keith Mason and I were married on October 1. I want to thank everyone for the warm wishes that were sent our way. The day was perfect! And since the wedding and reception were outdoors, we were very happy that the sky was sunny and that the weather cooperated nicely!

The reception lasted until about 9 p.m. After the big event, Keith and I headed home, but we first stopped by the market. We were hungry for orange juice and cinnamon rolls! We got a lot of stares and congratulations from other shoppers in the store. And a total stranger paid for our groceries. I snapped this photo of us [below, right] in the orange juice aisle. We had a blast!


Keith & Lori at wedding, left; in the orange juice aisle, right.

For our honeymoon we booked a four-day cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas. We left out of the port of Los Angeles that Monday afternoon. The cruise ship stopped at three ports during our trip -- San Diego, Catalina Island, and Ensenada (Mexico). Catalina was our favorite stop. Neither of us had visited the island before and we had a great time shopping and walking around the town of Avalon. We took a walking tour of the city's historic Casino (which we learned was never actually a casino), along with a bus tour through the hills of the city.


Lori & Keith, Catalina Island, left; Casino, right.

And we owe a lot of thanks to both our families. Keith's parents hosted a delicious rehearsal dinner at the Olive Garden the night before the wedding. And on Sunday, after we returned from our trip, Mom and Dad hosted a great dinner party for us. We had lots of great cold cuts and macaroni salad to go around. It's just a shame that our vacation didn't last that long. We had to head back to work this week! :)

We hope to post more photos of the wedding and trip within the next couple of weeks at our website: www.LoriAndKeith.com. So stay tuned! :)

Lori


UPDATE -- New Job
by Chris Chap
Fargo, ND

It’s been a while since I have given an update, so I figured it was about time I write. Life has been pretty crazy, of late. After starting my new job, as a claims adjuster with Progressive back in Fargo, time has just flown by.

I officially started August 8th up here in Fargo. I had two weeks of training here and then I was off to Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix was fun, because it was a place that I had never visited before. What was really nice is that there were lots of fun shops and restaurants within walking distance of our hotel. That worked well, because we were given a per diem to eat, so I didn't have to spend a dime of my own money, and I got to eat some wonderful meals. What I didn't like about Phoenix was the weather. It was way too hot down there for me. I know that it was at least 100 degrees every day and over 110 about half of the time.

Besides the weather, training went well. The training class that I took was called Casualty One. What this class consisted of was learning the basic computer programs that Progressive uses and learning the basics on insurance policies. The class went well and I think that I finished with around a 93%. We needed to get at least 80% to pass the class, so I passed comfortably. All in all, it was a fun trip and I met a lot of fun people from the west coast.

After I got back from Phoenix, I had two weeks back in the office for training and time to unpack and get set for my next trip. My next trip was to the wonderful city of Cleveland. The class that I took in Cleveland was called Property Damage One. This class consisted of looking at cars all day and determining the damage and determining the amount that we would pay out on a claim. This class was much more interesting than my previous class. A lot more hands on learning that helped the time go by much faster. Going into the final in this class I had an 89%. The final accounted for half of our grade, so it was kind of stressful to think about. I felt that the final went quite well, but unfortunately we didn't find out our scores until we got back to our office. When I got back to my office, I learned that I had aced the final and finished with a 95% in my class.

Overall, both trips were a lot of fun. Didn't get to do as much sightseeing as I would have liked, because class took up a lot of time. However, when I was in Cleveland, I did go down to Canton to visit the National Football League Hall of fame. That was a lot of fun and it was a place that I have wanted to visit for a long time. I met some interesting people from both the east and west coasts in both of my classes and I hope to stay in touch with them. Sorry that I don't have any pictures to share to go with the letter.


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN


Jayce, Samantha, Jordan & Caity, with Yoel behind, in the pool.

Our Weekend In The Cities

We had the nicest invitation for last weekend! Shari invited Caity, Jayce and me down to help her watch Tyler and Jordan while Kristie was in her best friend's wedding. Well, actually, Jordan was too ... as one of the little flower girls. But we still were able to have her some of the time. Which was sweet, as she absolutely adores Jayce! First thing she said when she entered was either, "Where's Jayce?" or "There he is!" It was so funny.

Little Tyler is a sweetheart, too, and I felt so lucky when I could get him to chuckle ... as it's enough to make you laugh just hearing him. He's so good, too; very rarely did he fuss and if he did, it was usually a "feed me" thing -- little guy loves to eat! He would absolutely STARE at anyone that was eating food. He was so seriously studying me at one point, it made me feel guilty!

Shari put us up in style, at the Mariott Hotel, right across from the Mall of America. Their ads about having upgraded their beds, bedding, etc., are no exaggeration; they have down pillows and comforters and very luxurious feeling beds. It was very comfortable accommodations!

Donna Richards, Michael, Rachel, Yoel and Anita Oliva Wolbrink joined us for swimming Friday evening. We ordered salads and ate by the pool while the kids were swimming.

Saturday was shopping and watching the kids at the Mall of America rides. Shari provided the tickets for that, as she'd bought so many last time she was up that hadn't been used. Of course, that is always a hit! Anita, Rachel and Yoel joined us for the rides and we got some more visiting in, which is always great fun!

I watched Tyler and Jayce while the rest went to the wedding. When they got back, Shari, the kids and I did more shopping. Maybe not such a good thing to be so close to the Mall of America. I really didn't buy much, though, so more window shopping, people watching and good old walking.

One thing we all commented on was how very heavy the doors were. Jayce kept trying to open them by himself, without a whole lot of success. At one point he was holding the outside door and Shari passed by him saying, "Jayce your muscles are really getting bigger!" He glanced down at his arm and said, "Yep!"

It was a very relaxed, wonderful weekend with great friends, and the kids had fun, too. :-)


Michael, Rachel, Anita & her nephew Alex, left; Jayce & his admirer, Jordan, right.


A BIG THANK YOU

Thanks, Grandma Shari, for the neat new outfit you bought for me. I love it! Thank you for having us stay with you. I had fun shopping, swimming and playing with Sami, Jordan and Tyler. You are an awesome Grandma!

Caity (and Jayce)


Caity in her new outfit from "Grandma" Shari. >


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

Who Is This?

Let's Play a Guessing Game: Whenever it is handy to do so we will run a picture of someone of the subscribers or staff members of our e-magazine. Tell us who you think it is -- we will let you know who was the first to guess it right -- and the correct guess -- in the following week's Bulletin.
 
(Send us some to run; we will line them up in our staging area to take their turn.)


How many can you identify?

Answers to last week's mystery pictures (click here to review them):

Well, since I took the photograph, I feel safe in guessing that is my first beautiful grandson, Aiden Charles Montford, now 2 years and 3 months, on the left. Shamelessly failing to be objective, I can tell you he is the sweetest and smartest child on the face of the earth, possibly matched by his new brother, Austin.

Dan Mellon
Alta Loma, CA


I think it's those "blue eyes" in the second guess picture. I'm still guessing on the first one. Thanks, Mitzi, for recognizing the previous week's "guess" pictures.

Betty Droel
MoundsView, MN

Editor's Note: You are right; that is Sully Brown on the right -- the blue eyes are a "give away!"


LTD Storybrooke

Sale Pending
By Larry Dake

The street address of the office where I planned to apply for work took me to a second rate motel on the edge of town. I had just inquired of the gal at the desk.

"Room number 32," she said. "Right down that way. Knock on the door. He's ready to see you."

When I knocked, a man opened the door and beckoned me to come in. The motel room was smoky and dimly lit. The man had lots of dark facial hair. His shirt collar lay open, exposing a hairy chest and a gold chain. He wore a gold watch and a gold ring with a large gemstone. He had a smoker's raspy voice, with an accent -- clearly New York. I guessed him to be of Italian descent and about 40 years old. He shook my hand and pointed the way to my seat.

When he released his handshake, my hand went instinctively to my back pocket -- to see if my billfold was still there.

My "chair" was the edge of one of the two beds; he sat facing me on the edge of the other bed. His briefcase was open on the bed beside him. He didn't seem much interested in me as an applicant. He spent most of his time talking about the merits of the out-of-state company he worked for, and how this territory was wide open for new sales.

There was money to be made! He needed me to get out and start calling on potential customers -- tomorrow!

I was game. I had done some introspection since being laid off. I could no longer work in a "shop" with chemicals, and I couldn't do any amount of lifting, with my back injury.

I reasoned that I could "sell," if I found a product I believed in. I believed that the best advertising investment I had made, when I was in the shoe repair business, had been the nice sign on the front of the building.

I believed in signs; I could sell signs!

After applying at several local sign companies, without generating any job leads, I found a help wanted ad in the newspaper.

HELP WANTED -- Account Representative for reputable sign company.

There was no phone number, only the address and the date at which to apply. It was that address that brought me to this unlikely motel room on this particular day.

I came back the next day and started training with my new Sales Manager. We called on businesses in what was now "my" sales territory. It seemed like potential customers didn't trust my manager from the minute they set eyes on him. But he made up for this by being a fast talker. He seemed more suited to selling snake oil, or used cars, than he did to representing a reputable sign company.

The basics were: Call on the business. Suggest they need a new sign. Offer them the free services of our graphic arts department. Take pictures, plan and measure for the proposed sign, and submit the plan to the company for the free artwork.

When the artwork came back, it was professional and spectacular! It was a great sales tool. It also came with a price quote -- and a sales agreement. My job was to get a signature on the sales agreement -- and a check.

Each Monday I visited the district sales office, in a city about three hours away. My sales associates and I would arrive with our new proposals and our signed sales agreements. After turning in the sales agreements, and the checks, we were advanced our sales commission -- 45% of the sale!

We were encouraged at these meetings to consider every business as a potential customer.

"Even McDonald's," he said. "You never know, maybe you'll make a sale to every McDonald's franchise in the country! Think Big!"

My boss received some grief from the other sales people around the office about his untrustworthy appearance. It was an office joke, discussed openly. He had recently made a car trip into Canada, and on his return, the border patrol put him in jail for 24 hours -- reportedly because he looked "suspicious!"

He didn't help his reputation at the office by disappearing behind closed doors, for long periods of time, with his "dumb blonde" secretary.

The weeks went by and I sold a number of signs to small businesses. A chocolate shop, an auto body shop, and a flower shop, to name a few.

I also decided to call on some bigger businesses. I took measurements and pictures of a bowling alley. They were interested in lighted signs and awnings all around two sides of their large building. They liked the art work that came back. I hadn't closed the sale yet, but it looked hopeful.

The city I was working in had a mall called the Triangle Mall. It was bordered by busy streets on its three sides. The mall's signs were not great.

I called on the mall manager.

Big electronic signboards were relatively new. Our company made the big ones that had moving messages, flashing pictures, and a variety of visual effects created by a computer. I visualized how the large, three-sided sign would look mounted on a tower on top of one of the large department stores. It would have three signboards, one facing each of the three busy streets.

The mall manager was very interested.

I was allowed onto the department store roof to take the measurements and pictures for our sign installation department. They sent an installer out to take a closer look at the site. The word was that the estimate for installing the sign would come back at right around $100,000.

I didn't see how I could possibly get 45% of a sale as large as $100,000. But my sales manager insisted that, yes, my sales commission really would be $45,000, if I made the sale!

He seemed giddy over that possibility.


Tex
By Beaver

We had a fellow in our barracks from San Antonio whose name I can't recall. Let's just call him Tex. According to Tex, all Texans were superior to everybody else, and he was the cream of the crop. His constant bragging, as well as the fact that his girlfriend from San Antonio stopped out to see him once in a while, did little to win friends among us inferior airmen from the rest of the country. Any of us who even got to see a girl who wasn't marching in uniform considered himself lucky. It was almost too much to bear.

One evening we had a little free time to idle about on the lawn behind the barracks. Tex's endless bragging about his great skill as a pugilist and wrestler got the best of a fellow from Duluth, Minnesota, who had been a state champion wrestler in high school. Duluth was not a big man, but he was built like a muscular fireplug. With no apparent effort, Duluth picked Tex up by his collar and the seat of his fatigue pants and casually tossed him into a nicely trimmed, but very thorny, bush that grew by the corner of the barracks.

Tex did a perfect cannonball dive, to end up sitting in the center of the bush. His rear end broke through almost to the ground, but the branches pushed his knees up to his chin. He seemed quite reluctant to wiggle around much, seeing as how the thorns were poking some pretty tender areas of his anatomy.

Duluth joined the rest of us in a good laugh at Tex's predicament, and then ignored him while Tex tried to figure out how to lift himself up without losing any more hide to the thorns. Whenever Tex started to make a little progress, Duluth poked him in the chest with one finger and put him back in a sitting position in the middle of the bush.

This went on for a considerable length of time, until we tired of the entertainment and wandered off. I never knew how Tex got out of the bush or how he explained his injuries to his girlfriend, but we didn't hear any more bragging from Tex for the rest of basic training.


===
THE WEATHERBALL
by Betty Weiland Droel
MoundsView, MN

My dad, Henry Weiland, had a sheet metal shop on Nicollet Island in Minneapolis. He loved anything fun and unusual, and was always finding ways to entertain us kids.

The Northwestern Bank Building in downtown Minneapolis had a weatherball installed on the roof of it with the ball on top lighted up with colors to give the weather prediction to all who could see it.

My dad decided to build a miniature one, using a light bulb on the top. It resembled a windmill. He put it in the window of his shop. The streetcar went right by, and there were a lot of people that walked by. So it became quite popular.

Dad walked to the west end of the island each day to see the downtown weatherball, and then he would put the appropriate bulb in his, accordingly. He even had it blinking when it was going to rain or snow.

I worked in his office, so I could watch out the window at the traffic. It was so amusing to see them check my dad's weatherball, and the folks on the streetcar always had their heads turned.

My dad died in 1951, so that was the end of the Weatherball of Nicollet Island.

I was happy to click on weatherball on the Internet and find a picture of the very weatherball on top of the bank building. How I wish I had a picture of the one my dad made -- but I don't.


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Birthdays:
October 18---Lori Anderson
October 18---Adriana Stahlecker Brown
October 18---Diana Mellon Martin
October 18---Dan Mellon
October 20---Wade Morgan Printz
October 22---Rich Johnson (from MN)
Happy Birthday!

This Week's Anniversaries:
October 17---Troy and Marlee Morgan Freesemann (11 years)
Congratulations!

More October Birthdays:
'
October 1---Brooklynn Ann Johnson (1 year)
October 4---Wesley Sigman
October 5---Leona Anderson
October 5---Steven Miller
October 7---Steven Anderson
October 10---Hannah Aydelotte (4 years)
October 10---Cody Printz
October 12---Muriel Wold Rodriguez
October 12--- Tami Anderson Hunt
October 14---Douglas Anderson-Jordet
October 14---Verlaine Weiland

October 24---Eric Shockey
October 26---Ardis Sigman Quick
October 27---Marlene Anderson Johnson
October 27---Rich Weiland
October 28---Derrick McNeill
October 29---Sami Larson (11 years)
October 29---Tom Miller
October 30---Anne Mellon Montford

More October Anniversaries
Z
October 1---Keith Mason and Lori Anderson (next year)
October 4---Don and Patty Bratten Anderson (8 years)
October 5---Tom and Lou Miller (32 years)

October 27---Don and Gert Dake Pettit (15 years)

October Special Days
October 10---Columbus Day (observed)
October 31---Hallowe'en

Miss Hetty's Mailbox:

Dear Miss Hetty,

Thank you for the wedding e-card you sent.  We appreciate your warm wishes.

Lori & Keith


Photo by Steve Rodriguez
Lori feeds Keith a bite of wedding cake.

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

Click here to review last week's Bulletin

What a wonderful Bulletin! Kim asked me if I had read The Bulletin yet. She said, "It's a great one this week." She was right.

I also like the addition of Ginny's art work at the beginning of The Bulletin. It would give us another thing to look forward to each week.

Marlene Johnson
Long Lake, MN

Editor's Note: Keep reading ... Ginny's art work enhances the end of The Bulletin this week.


Kurt and I were visiting some family in Apache Junction, Arizona, a couple of weekends ago. My grandma made breakfast for us Sunday morning, before we hit the road back to San Diego. She had bowls full of omelet ingredients (tomatoes, cheese, mushrooms, ham, sausage, onions, peppers, etc.). She asked each person which ingredients they would like in their omelet.

I thought to myself, "Man, she's going to make each person's omelet special, with different ingredients? That's more than I'd do!"

I was surprised to see her putting the ingredients into separate zipper baggies. I wondered what she was up to. As she dropped the baggies into a big pot of boiling water, I walked away to put the milk on the table. By the time I walked the few steps over to the table, I heard a big shriek, followed by...

"Ohhh, noooo!!!!" The baggies had melted and now we had "omelet soup"! Grandma went on to explain that she had prepared individual omelets many times before in this very same manner, with great success.

It turned out that she had just run out of her usual Ziploc® freezer bags, and so she used some other baggies she had in the cupboard. Apparently, all zipper baggies are NOT created equal! So, be careful in your selection of baggies before attempting this recipe.

Jeni Larson
San Diego, CA


You do a great job on The Bulletin. Just found a non-important error but you may want to change it. On the anniversaries it should be Marlee Morgan Freesemann.

Mavis Anderson Morgan
Hope, ND

Editor's Note: Thanks! We do and we did. We also learned that Mrs. Keith Mason will continue to use her birth name, Lori Anderson, after her marriage October 1, so we adjusted that one, too.


Last Week's Bulletin Review JKL
by Betty Droel
MoundsView, MN

I knew immediately that was Suzie McCorkell on that picture on the first page. Bitzi's daughter! That was so clever. Looked like a Minnesota cup, too. Bitzi gets the most vivid interesting artistic touch and color to her work.

I did not know Melanie, but it was so interesting to get acquainted via the Family Update. I don't even want to think about Brian needing to leave for Kuwait. It seems so easy to have a welled up heart full of feelings about it all, but we have not one thing to say that will change it. We are going to be watching for updates of his days now, and how it goes for the little family at home in Howard Lake.

What an interesting happy account by Heidi Johnson Henderson. We drove through the area where she is one time ... very, very different than we Minnesotans were used to. I wish we had known just where the sculpture Hendersons had their art store, etc. I'm afraid we might have driven right by it without knowing it.

I can't even remember when I was sweet 16. Sounds like Lindsay had a wonderful day to remember that milestone by.

In the UPDATE by Dan Mellon, I was thinking of the regrets we ALL have when we look back at opportunities we didn't make use of. It takes a few years to really value our parents. Funny life is like that, isn't it? It's that way too much of the time.

It will take a few years for Brooklynn to realize what a special first birthday she had, with so many there to bring presents. That little rocking chair will be kept many years.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be as carefree and honest as the little girl that yelled, "Mommy, I did it!" after her performance? We grow out of that all too soon.

I hope Diana knows how glad we were to hear how it is going for her these days.

I loved the story about the Trip to Michigan. It sounds so typical, and so fun.

I was overcome with nostalgia again to see the picture of Duane Miller's "children," mainly because I remember Duane when he was a LOT younger than his son who looks so much like him. I was just thrilled to see that picture. Duane doesn't know that I think of him, along with his sister and brother, and our days in their home.

We loved the LTD Storybrooke again ... more suspense, and now we await another chapter in the life and travels of the Dakes.

I visited with DeLoris Anderson a bit at Eagle Bend, and she was telling me about Elaine, and now to see the picture of her and her home and Castor Beans was so interesting. I just may have to try some of those.

The Foto Funnies was really funny again. I hope Doug doesn't run out of them.

Thanks again for this great Bulletin world we have going here. We were gone to Eagle Bend, and when we got home Sunday evening, I checked my e-mail to see if The Bulletin had arrived on Saturday, and there it was. So while it was printing I finished unloading the car. Now, is that dedication, or what? I'm so glad Verlaine is included now.

Betty

CHUCKLES



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Quotation for the day: It's important the people should know what you stand for. It's equally important that they know what you won't stand for. --Mary H. Waldrip

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.