Bulletin 213, July 16, 2006

Best Wishes!

Mr. and Mrs. Shawn Ostendorf
Photomontage © Kimberly Johnson
Lori & Shawn Ostendorf.

Lori's and Shawn's Wedding

Lori Chap and Shawn Ostendorf were married Saturday, July 8th, at the Church of Saint Walburga in Rogers, Minnesota. The bride was given in marriage by her father, George Chap. Deacon Sherman Otto officiated.

Music was provided by Rachel Henderson, cousin of the bride, who played Threads of Love by Lori Line, Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel, and other music through the waiting, and accompanied Wyatt Johnson, brother of the bride, who sang Psalm 148 and This Day by Jadon Lavik.

Maid and Matron of Honor: Amy Johnson and Kristin Nordling, friends of the bride.

Best Man: Joe Brazil, friend of the groom

Bridesmaids: Candy Host, friend of the bride; Tammy Ostendorf, sister of the groom; Chassidi Ostendorf, niece of the groom; Caitlynn Chap, niece of the bride.

Groomsmen: Denis Haagen, Aron Hechtman, Derek Johnson and Mike Kangas, friends of the groom, and Christopher Chap, brother of the bride.

Flower Girl: Rylie Johnson, niece of the bride; Ring Bearer: Jayce Chap, nephew of the bride.

Ushers: Chad Voit, friend of the groom; Wyatt and Weston Johnson, brothers of the bride.

Honeymoon plans: a whole week at a sunny seaside beach resort in southern Mexico...

Photo © Patricia Johnsen
Bridegroom poses with the bridesmaids...

Photo © Patricia Johnsen
... as the bride is carried off by the groomsmen.

Updates -

UPDATE -- Coni starts new chemo regimen
by Weston Johnson
Maple Grove, MN

Coni came home from the hospital on Friday. She had been there since the Wednesday before last, and had begun a new chemo regimen last Monday, so she was very glad to get out! She decided she wanted to stay at my place rather than hers, so she will be staying here from now on. With her house on the market, it will be easier for her to stay here so she doesn't have to get up and leave every time there is a showing.

Coni's progress this week has not been as strong as we hoped. She is still feeling pretty tired and weak most of the time. It is hard to know how much of that is from the cancer and how much is side effects of the chemo and pain medication she's on.

We signed her up for hospice service, so we will have some help caring for her at home. If the chemo does the trick, we should start noticing improvement in her condition over the next couple of weeks. So at this point we will try to make her comfortable, then decide whether to try more chemo, depending on how the next couple of weeks go.

Thanks to everyone who continues to leave messages and send emails. We have been reading them to Coni and she enjoys hearing from everyone.

Weston

Please keep Coni in your thoughts and prayers again this week. You can send e-mails and e-cards to her here: c_waltzing@hotmail.com New "snail mail" address: 7600 Berkshire Way, Maple Grove, MN 55311.

Lori and Shawn exchanged their wedding vows on a very warm July 8th, with the newly installed air conditioners humming, keeping the church fairly comfortable for most everyone, other than Rachel and Wyatt. They were up in the loft, Rachel playing piano and Wyatt singing. Sounds like it was pretty hot up that high.

Words cannot do justice to their wedding day, as I can not capture the looks of love passed between the bride and the groom, the love felt in the many friends and relatives. It was a very touching day to me, seeing my firstborn so very happy! And adding another son to our family, what a thrill!

Lori was beautiful in her elegant gown, a very gorgeous bride. Shawn looked very handsome and even comfortable, which can not always be said of grooms! The wedding party was very attractive and all the locations worked out nicely. All in all, a lovely wedding.

I heard numerous compliments about everything, so I know I'm not the only one who was impressed by how well the day went. The only sad part was not having Coni able to be with us, which Shawn mentioned at the reception.

Thank you to my friends, who came to share in my joy of seeing my daughter marry. I appreciate your support! It was certainly a most memorable day for all involved. I'm sure Kim's pictures will tell the story far better than I can do.

Moments to Remember

July 8, 2006 -- a day to remember -- the one when our firstborn grandchild exchanged vows of fidelity with a fine young man -- and we gained another member to our family. Now I would like to add a statement to the new couple.

And so, dear Lori and Shawn, we do wish you a very happy married life together. We hope that your days will all be beautiful. But, because of human frailty, we know it will not always be quite as easy as it is now. Perhaps this homily from my mother could be your guide. She said: Dorothy, they tell you that married life should be 50-50 ... but I want you to know that a successful marriage sometimes requires the wife to give 100-0 and sometimes the husband will need to give to that degree ... but if you are considerate to one another it should even out to 50-50.

Thank you for sharing your day with us. Grandpa and I do hope you have the privilege of having as long a married life together as we have had! But the main thing to remember is to enjoy every day as it comes and fill it with love!

I have several special wedding scenes that I like to replay and savor....

As we were waiting in the church for pictures to be taken, there was such a sweet picture of Daddy Wyatt coaching his cute little daughter to do her part... "Just pinch a few blossoms and then toss them like this, then walk a little farther and do it again ... lots of times, till you get to the front, and then stand nicely..."

And Rylie listening carefully -- (and that was proven by the very nice job she did in the actual event).

It seemed to me there could very well be a hitch while a search was on for the ring bearer's pillow -- as it seemed to get left behind (sometimes along with the basket of petals) while the very active junior members did lots of exploring. I guess there was a last minute scramble to find that elusive pillow ... but not so I noticed.

To see the handsome ushers offer an arm to the ladies and usher them -- bride's family to the left, groom's to the right -- gave a feeling of importance to the occasion.

I loved being in the back where I could see everything -- and some of our family sat in the last row so I had company. I also liked hearing the music from the loft above our heads. I have heard Rachel play many times (and never cease to admire her interpretation) ... but I had never heard Wyatt and was thrilled by the clear, true voice that sang a blessing to the couple.

One more moment that stays in "my mind's eye" was when the bridal party arrived -- tuxedoed men and ethereal chiffon for the bridal attendants ... and then came Chris down the aisle with his niece on his arm ... he over six feet tall and she nearer four ... our Caity made a very sweet bridesmaid!

I find it hard to describe the actual ceremony; it was beautifully touching.

After the newlyweds and their wedding party left the building and made a receiving line and the usher came to us, I wheeled out and, while Don went through the line, I pulled over to the opposite side of the sidewalk and waited out of the way ... but that wouldn't do for the newlyweds ... so they came to me and received their congratulations, best wishes and hugs, and then returned to the receiving line.

After going through the line, we all drifted to the lemonade stand being tended by some of Lori's aunts and cousins. What a wonderful summer refresher! Now I began to really appreciate Lori's and Shawn's choice of theme for the wedding and reception. At the reception, the centerpiece for each table was a large vase filled with luscious looking lemons ... and tucked into each folded napkin was a keepsake "Citron et Figue" natural olive oil soap ... with "Lori and Shawn 07.08.06" printed on the label, which was decorated with lemons.

The reception gave us a chance to meet everyone ... most especially the bridal couple. I enjoyed the game they did with the kissing and tinkling that is always a part of our family's wedding receptions. After a few such episodes, it was announced that from now on, if the tinkling of glasses began, there would be a couple chosen from the audience to answer questions about Lori or Shawn. If they knew the right answer, the bridal couple must kiss; if they did not know the answer, then the other couple must kiss. I must say it did provide some pertinent information about the happy and loving couple -- and it did cut down on the interruptions of their meal!

The reception provided time to visit with other guests, too. Our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren stopped by ... and that is always fun. Really nice to spend time visiting with Eric, Leona, and Zach ... also to have a look at the baby of the family (Mason Henderson), who is growing and is totally the center of attention! Nice to meet Brian Nordling and have him remind me that I had said maybe we would meet at Lori's wedding (before that event was even planned).

I did think the day went perfectly ... the bride was gorgeous, the groom handsome, and the day one to remember. Congratulations and Best Wishes to Lori and Shawn Ostendorf.

Photo © Kimberly Johnson
Aunts and cousins manned a post ceremony lemonade stand.

Greg and Sonja Dake left Durham, North Carolina, for Shanghai, China, on January 6th and returned January 28th. It was a business trip for Greg and Sonja went along. They took extra time for sightseeing while they were there.

Photos © Greg & Sonja Dake
Lijiang "Old Town," at night.

Traveling to Yunnan Province

Back to the four-star hotel that wasn't
(posted by Sonja)

We arrived back in Lijiang on Monday afternoon, hoping we were going to be able to change to a better hotel. We weren't looking forward to two more nights without heat. But when we got back into Lijiang we were taken back to the same hotel.

We had asked our guide in Dali about changing to a better hotel, once back in Lijiang, and he had made a call and left a message with his boss about it. This obviously hadn't been relayed to the Lijiang guide, though, as she was surprised when we brought it up. We told her that we wanted to have a room where the heat worked or we wanted to change hotels. She was visibly upset by this and went inside to talk to the hotel staff. A few minutes later she came out and said the heat would be turned on in our room at 10 o'clock at night and turned back off at 7 o'clock each morning.

This did not make us any happier about the hotel. In fact it only made us furious, because it was apparent they had lied to us about the heat being broken. They just didn't want to turn it on, probably to keep their electricity costs down. We were skeptical it would be turned on and said so to the guide. She then said we would have a heater brought to our room so we would not be without heat. We told her that had been done last time but it hadn't been enough to heat the room. She made a couple more calls as we drove to Lijiang Old Town for dinner, and later told us the heat would be turned on and we would also get a heater to supplement it. We hoped this was the case.

We ate dinner in a restaurant in Lijiang Old Town the guide "highly recommended." It was soon apparent that this was a restaurant the guide had a relationship with, as the staff greeted her like they knew her. Probably she got a kickback for bringing us in, but that was not a problem for us. Our only real complaint was that the prices were higher than any other restaurant we ate at in the province.

The food was somewhat "westernized" Chinese cuisine that was not bad, but not as good as the "real" local food. They did, however, have Dali Beer in stock, which somewhat made up for it. After we ate, we walked around the Old Town a bit; the lights were being lit and the streets looked quite festive. There were a lot of New Year decorations to be seen, as well as red paper lanterns. We took a few pictures but didn't buy anything at any stores that time around.

We went back to the hotel and had the space heater delivered again, and again had to sign for it. We decided to see if we could get some more Dali Beer from room service and, yes, it was on the room service menu. So I dialed the number, only to be greeted in Chinese. It was apparent the person didn't speak English, but to be sure, I asked, "Ni hui shuo Yingyu ma?" (Do you speak English? -- although it sounds very little like the pinyin spelling. It sounds more like "Nee whey schwah Yingwen ma?") She replied, "Bu hui," that she didn't, so I said, "Xiexie ni, zijian." (Thank you, goodbye.)

I decided to go to one of the restaurants to try again. The "western" restaurant on the second floor was deserted, and the doors were shut on the one on the first floor. I went to the front desk and they called someone at the bar across the room, who brought me two bottles of it. I paid the front desk for it, but was told someone would come to our room to open them for us, as they didn't have any bottle openers. So, back to the room I went, and a few minutes later the doorman rang the room's doorbell. He opened the two bottles and left.

Luckily for us (and the guide, and the hotel, and the travel company) the heat did come on and we were much warmer than our first night there.

The next day we were headed to see Jade Dragon Snow Mountain up close.

On Wednesday, we decided to try something different and went to Whitefish Bay for a day of Lake Trout fishing. To get there, we had to cross Turtle Portage, where the Canadian Government has put a pretty neat lift cart to get boats across. It's about a 40-foot span with a light rail across it. On this rail sits a boat lift, which is connected to a cable, which wraps around a pulley, which is controlled by a 6-foot-diameter wheel that you spin manually.

Once we jockeyed the boat into place on the cart in the water, we began to turn the wheel, which began raising the cart out of the water and up the incline. This began to feel a lot more like work than leisure, but Muskie assured us it would be worth the work. After about 15 minutes, we had the boat in the water on the other side of the portage, and continued to Whitefish Bay. Whitefish Bay is very near Sioux Narrows, which I believe is where we stayed one time when going to Canada fishing with Mom and Dad.

Trout fishing is fairly different from walleye fishing. Rather than the usual 15- to 20-foot deep water we fish in for walleyes, we fish for lake trout in 100 feet or deeper! Because it's so deep, and lake trout are typically bigger than walleyes, we used downriggers. Downriggers are rods attached directly to the boat. Their reels have a tiny steel cable instead of regular fishing line. On this cable, a 30 pound ball is attached, to get the lure down far enough without having it trail hundreds of feet behind the boat.

A regular fishing pole, with regular fishing line, sits in a holder on this downrigger. The line from this rod is then attached to a pressure slip that brings the lure down to the same depth as the 30 pound ball, but will allow the line to slip out when a fish bites the lure. The lure in this case is a large daredevil, or some other kinds of large lures with treble hooks (a set of three hooks all attached together). When the regular line is attached to the steel downrigger line, you leave a good bend in the pole. When a fish bites, the slip lets go of the line and the rod tip springs up, which is how you know a fish has bitten.

Within 10 minutes of getting the downriggers set up and the lines in the water, Chip reeled in a 5.5 pound lake trout! It slowed considerably, but Muskie later reeled in a very small one. I reeled in a 4.2 pounder later in the afternoon (picture below). These were pretty nice sized fish, though "big" lake trout are in the 7 to 9 pound range. We got rained on, hard, from about 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., which forced us to have "shore lunch," which consisted of brats cooked in lake water in a pan over a small propane camp stove, in the boat. It probably wasn't the safest setup in the world, but when you're out in the middle of the lake with a cold wind blowing cold rain at you, a warm meal feels pretty good.

After a portage back across Turtle Portage, we returned to the cabin for "Beaver Chop" night (pork chops from the Beaver Johnson farm -- though they're no longer truly from the Beaver farm, it's still more fun to call them Beaver Chops). We even got some entertainment on the docks Wednesday evening, as a large houseboat was trying to take off directly into the wind. It was three kids in their early 20s, obviously not very experienced. After nearly destroying another boat attached to the dock, they retied the houseboat to the dock and decided to stay put for the night.

Although our Wednesday "shore lunch" was brats and chips in the boat, a shore lunch is usually fish. We pull into a wind protected bay and set up a single burner cook stove, which is used to fry the fish. We build a small fire to cook the beans, still in the can. We take some of the previous day's catch, which were filleted the previous day, bread them, and cook them in oil. We usually buy some of the resort's homemade bread and eat fresh walleye sandwiches on fresh resort bread.

All of this is on a huge glacier carved rock, with pine trees and water as far as the eye can see, with eagles, pelicans, gulls, and many other birds gallivanting in the distance. If it gets much better than that, I'm not sure how. It's truly one of the most peaceful places I've ever seen.

Thursday, we returned to walleye fishing, again returning to "My Place" before trying some new spots. Fishing was pretty slow and we got rained on again. Later in the afternoon, we found a spot with a nice reef where the walleyes were practically jumping into the boat. We were throwing back those "nice eaters," and eventually caught our limit, with many nice 16- to 18-inchers to bring home.

Again there was entertainment at the docks, as a floatplane took off shortly after we returned. It seated eight guys and had a big plasma television inside to keep its poor occupants entertained.

Steak night made up for all those lost calories all week, and we wrote about our week in the cabin's logbook before packing stuff up for the trip home the next morning.

Over the course of four days of fishing, the three of us went through around 2-3 dozen lures, due to getting them snagged on the bottom. We finished off 10-12 dozen minnows, well over 100 liters (silly Canadians) of boat gas, a couple pounds of steak, a couple pounds of pork chops, a couple pounds of hamburger, a couple pounds of chicken drummies, and countless other things. Those four walleyes I brought home are some of the most expensive meat in the world, but I wouldn't trade that time with friends and the beautiful lake for anything.

Wyatt

William E. Dake was drafted in May of 1943. His basic training was at Camp Barkeley in Texas. Dad wanted to be in the medics, but when the Army realized he had a mechanical background, they put him in the motor pool area instead. I guess you could say that Dad was trained to be a medic, but in fact spent most of the time doctoring on vehicles!

Dad served almost three years in the European Theatre during World War II -- landing on Omaha Beach, France, in the D-Day invasion.

His decorations and citations included the Good Conduct Medal, the Bronze Arrowhead Medal, the American Theatre Medal, the European, African-Middle Eastern Service Medal.

Motor Sergeant William Dake was discharged in 1946. (As for the rank of Motor Sergeant, it is a good title for the era, but nowadays, in the military, the rank of Sergeant is simply that and nothing more.)

Mom and Dad met when Dad was in basic in Texas. Grandpa Gandy would bring the professing boys to Sunday meetings at their house. Apparently there were so many boys that Grandpa would use his car and a two-wheel trailer to haul them all to the farm.

Several years ago, a bunch of the professing boys who went through the camp got ahold of Mom and treated her to a reunion where they all got together and gave her a plaque and an artist's picture of the old farm house where Grandpa Gandy brought them for Sundays.

Mom, Lois Elaine Gandy, and Dad were married May 1, 1943, shortly before he was shipped overseas.

This Week's Birthdays
July 18---Callie Printz (5 years)
July 19---Patricia Dake Myer
July 19---Marlee Morgan Freesemann
July 19---Devon S. Stewart (12 years)
July 20---Michael Miller
July 20---Susie Miller Smith
Happy Birthday!

This Week's Anniversaries
July 19---Dan and Nancy Mellon (37 years)
Congratulations!

More July Birthdays
'
July 1---Suzanne McCorkell
July 1---Zachary Elliot Smith (2 years)
July 3---Vonnie Dake
July 5---LeRoy Dake
July 5---Jennifer Dake Horne
July 6---James Miller
July 7---Kimberly Johnson
July 8---Trenton Loredo Roberson (3 years)
July 13---Zach Bratten
July 15---Tom Morgan
July 15---William Earl Dake
July 15---Sherry Dake

July 24---Jeni Larson
July 26---Tytus Joshua Myron (11 years)
July 27---Wyatt Timothy Mellon (9 years)
July 29---Heather Henderson
July 29---Colleen Mellon Scott
July 30---Justin Printz
July 31---Tim Myron

More July Anniversaries
Z
July 8---Shawn and Lori Ostendorf (next year)

July 27---Larry and Sherry Dake (28 years)
July 29---Charles and Ardis Sigman Quick (34 years)

July Special Days
O
July 4---Independence Day

Miss Hetty's Mailbox:

Dear Miss Hetty,

A WONDERFUL punch idea!

Barb Dewey
Ashby, MN

Photo © Barb Dewey
Whitney Johnson, the bride's cousin, serves lemonade after the wedding ceremony. Behind Whitney, l to r: cousin Rachel Henderson (music); aunt Patty Henderson (who set up the lemonade stand) partly hidden behind Whitney; uncle Donnie Anderson; nephew Jayce Chap (ring bearer); aunt Patty Anderson; Donna Johnson, mother of the bride, and aunt Marlene Johnson. Gina Henderson (not pictured) also served lemonade.

Here are our pictures from Lori's and Shawn's wedding this weekend. As you'll see, fun was had by all. The pictures are a little heavy on the Rylie, light on the "anyone else," but she was so CUTE! How could you blame us?

Wyatt Johnson
Moorhead, MN

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

I received a Bulletin yesterday, and just dearly loved the article about Rolly and Marcella. I learned a few facts that I had never known, so it was a true delight.

Chemo is going pretty well. Last week was a bad session, as I was apparently dehydrated, and they had a terrible time drawing blood for blood tests, so by the time I got home, I was done for, but ... I had the best weekend, following chemo, that I've had so far, so it all is a trade off, it seems.

I pray for Coni everyday, and pray for her new treatment to be successful. That young lady is such an inspiration!

Love to all ... and, thank you, again, for sending The Bulletin. It helps me stay connected to all of you!

Diana Mellon Martin
Coon Rapids, MN

Thanks so much for another great Bulletin. It is amazing how The Bulletin has brought our extended family together to share their lives with each other. When we can't see family members very often we can follow their lives through The Bulletin. I do believe it is a most wonderful thing!

A big thank-you to all who contribute and edit it.

Mavis Anderson Morgan
Hope, ND

Louie Droel, Roy's middle brother, passed away Friday morning at 7:00 in their home at Northfield, Minnesota.

His wife, Joyce, was getting him ready to go for an appointment and he died in her arms. He has had a heart condition for many years, but it is always a shock when it happens.

Their one daughter and son-in-law, Donna and Rod Magsam, were there with Joyce when she called us.

The funeral will be held in Northfield on a day to be determined.

Roy and Betty Droel
MoundsView, MN

Joyce & Louie Droel, left; Louie & Roy Droel, right.

Another great Bulletin. Actually, the biggest one yet -- 30 pages on my computer. I loved the first picture of the lilies and daisies ... makes me think of Roy's perennial garden, which is about all we can manage these days.

Oh my -- our hearts go out to Weston and Coni. They will be needing our support more as time goes on here, and they do have it. Invisible support in the background! Wasn't that the cutest and most appropriate picture of the bear and duck? Even to the hat. I can just imagine that was Bitzi's work, and it was excellent, depicting their deep love.

I had called Diana to see how she was feeling, but her daughter said she just had a treatment that day and was sleeping, so I will try again.

Knowing the family in that Alaska picture, I brought out the magnifying glass, and the imagination of them being up there in the wild far north country. I was searching for some likeness to the Johnsons in Kyra, but it wasn't close enough to really see her. I loved seeing Kathy and Arg. They are part of some of my most treasured memories.

I missed the Foto-funnies this time. I did see the Chuckles, though -- can't miss the McCorkell red hair.

I always like to see the "to be continued" on the Travelogue. That took a lot of dedication to get all the details recorded for us like that. But, we are enjoying them!

The bear and salmon pictures were REAL -- that's for sure. How many of us would ever be able to capture a picture like that? How interesting!

What a most precious picture of Don and Dorothy in 1950! They, too, have a love that has taken them through some very serious ups and downs in life.

Thank you for this, another most interesting Bulletin, and thank you for including the Droels.

Betty

Quotation for the day: I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. --Roy Croft