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Sunday, August 17, 2008
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Photo illustration © Virginia McCorkell; photo by Tim Holman
Just ducky -- young mallard duck goes for a swim.

Updates -


Photos © Lori Ostendorf
It wouldn't be a 30th birthday party without gag gifts: a princess balloon, a party hat & a fake moustache (to make me look older).

Update -- Weston celebrates 30th birthday
by Weston Johnson
Maple Grove, MN

Last Thursday was the big day. I had to work but left a little early and was joined for dinner by my mom, my stepdad John, Wyatt, Jolene and their girls. We had a nice meal at Champps in Maple Grove. I got a balloon and a free dessert because it was my birthday. Rylie and Brooklynn got balloons and a bite of my dessert for being cute and asking nicely. After dinner, we returned to my house and spent some visiting on the deck and enjoying a beautiful evening.

I had to work on Friday, and my mom and stepdad had to head back home (but not until after Mom washed my windows and cleaned up the house -- thanks, Mom!). That night, I drove out to Lori and Shawn's house. I should say Lori and Shawn's FULL house. I was joined by Lori, Shawn, McKenna, Wyatt, Jolene, Rylie, Brooklynn, Camryn, my dad, Donna, Caity, Jayce, Ben, Ashley, Eric, Leona and three of Eric and Leona's friends. I think I remembered everyone! We ordered pizza and spent most of the evening flipping channels between the Vikings pre-season game, the Twins game and the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

On Saturday, Ben, Ashley, Wyatt, Dad and I met at my house to do some last minute cleaning in preparation for the main event of the weekend: the kickball party. When Lori and I lived together in St. Louis Park, the kickball party was an annual event. We continued the tradition our first year in Maple Grove but had not thrown the party since. I figured if I have to turn 30, I might as well resurrect the kickball party tradition, returning to my childhood, if only for an afternoon. We had a good turnout and great weather, although the sun got a little hot for us old-timers! We played a couple of games of kickball and enjoyed some great food prepared and organized by Lori and a cake baked by Donna. It was great not having to worry about the food details, so thanks to Lori and everyone else who helped with the food!


Photos © Lori Ostendorf
The kickball action was fast and furious, but in the end, good sportsmanship prevailed.

The party was over after Saturday night, but the weekend continued on Sunday morning. Ben and Ashley, who had stayed at my house on Saturday night, helped clean up after the party. Once the house was back to respectability, we left for brunch at Maynard's in Rogers on Sunday morning. Lori, Shawn, McKenna, Dad, Donna, Ben, Ashley, Caity, Jayce and I squeezed into a large corner booth and enjoyed the spread, which consisted of a wide variety of breakfast and lunch food, all of it delicious!


Photo © Donna Johnson
Weston, Ashley & Ben at birthday brunch.

After brunch, I returned home for a quiet afternoon and evening at home, cleaning up after the party and watching the Olympics. I had to get to bed early, as I had a flight to Evansville, Indiana, at 6:40 on Monday morning. Nothing like a 4:15 wake-up call after a long weekend of fun!

I had a meeting in Evansville on Monday afternoon, gave a presentation on Tuesday morning, then flew back to Minnesota on Tuesday afternoon. I worked a normal day on Wednesday, then played two playoff games in my outdoor volleyball league. As I write this on Wednesday night, I'm winding down from volleyball and getting ready to head for bed!

-Weston



Photo © Mavis Morgan
Yum! Angelique Freesemann cleans up the pot after Grandma Mavis Morgan made Fluffy Tapioca Pudding. If you have a hankering to try it yourself, here's the recipe.

FLUFFY TAPIOCA CREAM
1 egg white
6 Tbsp. sugar, divided
3 Tbsp. Kraft Minute Tapioca
2 cups milk
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla

BEAT egg white in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Gradually add 3 Tbsp. sugar, beating until soft peaks form.

MIX tapioca, remaining 3 Tbsp. sugar, milk and egg yolk in medium saucepan. Let stand 5 minutes.

COOK on medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to FULL boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred).

Remove from heat. Quickly stir in egg white mixture until well blended. Stir in vanilla.

COOL 20 minutes, stir. Serve warm or chilled. Makes 6 servings.


Update -- New York, New York, it's a wonderful town...
by Wyatt Johnson
Moorhead, MN

About a year ago, Weston, Shawn, and I talked about how much fun it would be to go see the Twins play baseball in Yankee Stadium before next year, when the new Yankee Stadium opens and the old one is demolished. When this spring rolled around, we hadn't gone any further with our plans (and by plans I mean we hadn't talked about it since).

Weston's friend Sindy, the one who set up a benefit for ACC (Adrenal Cortex Carcinoma) last year, contacted him again, wondering if he wanted to do another benefit this year. He did, and they agreed on a date of Friday, July 18th. Coincidentally (or completely on purpose), the Twins happened to play the Yankees in Yankee Stadium the following Monday, July 21st.

Since June 6, 2008, was our 10 year anniversary, Jolene and I had been talking about taking a trip this summer. When Weston resurrected the Twins game discussion, we bit right away and asked who else wanted to go. Shawn decided he wanted in, so we decided the four of us, Weston, Shawn, Jolene, and I, would go to New York July 18-22. We'd go to the benefit Friday night, the Twins game Monday night, and do whatever we felt like doing to fill in the middle.

Jolene and I left Moorhead Thursday, July 17, and dropped the girls off at Grandpa Jack's and Grandma Donna's house in Millerville. We then re-entered the van to an eerie silence, neither of us even saying anything for about a minute, before I suggested, "Let's just drive around and enjoy the quiet for the next five days." I could tell Jolene wanted to agree, but in the end, we continued down to Lori and Shawn's house to spend the night.

Our flight left Minneapolis at 7 a.m. on Friday, so we were up at the crack of dawn, with Lori bringing us down to the airport and the other Grandma Donna there to stay with McKenna to make things a little easier for Lori. Our flight went flawlessly and we were at JFK airport around 11 a.m., Eastern Time. We boarded the Air Train (a light rail connecting the airport to the subway system) for Jamaica Station, ready to hit New York!

We had decided ahead of time that we were going to rely on the subways for most of our transportation for the week. I had studied up, printing out a couple of maps and some directions for which lines to use to get to and from some of the places we were going. The cheapskate in me appreciated that we were each able to buy a $30 subway card when we got there, which took care of our Air Train and subway transportation for the entire week! I'd read online reviews for the hotel where we were staying that said cab rides from the airport had cost $50-$100!


Photo © Wyatt Johnson
Shawn, Jolene & Weston in the subway.

The subway took us to Penn Station, in the middle of Manhattan, very near Times Square. It was a short one block walk to our hotel, the Wingate by Wyndham Manhattan Midtown. Its price of $289 per night seems like a fortune to a Minnesotan accustomed to paying $75 per night for a room, but was a steal for a great hotel in a great location. It was very close to multiple major subway stations, and within walking distance of Times Square. It's preferably not really within walking distance of Central Park or the Museum of Natural History, but as you'll hear later, it technically is within walking distance to both.


Photo © Wyatt Johnson
Wyatt in front of the hotel.

We were hungry by this time, so we decided to check one of the first things off our list -- eat at a real New York pizzeria. Just around the corner from our hotel, we found Bellizzi's. They had HUGE slices of pizza out on display. When you picked the one you wanted, they put it on a big slab and slid it in the oven to heat it up. It was everything we'd hoped for! I think Jolene started to wonder what she'd gotten herself into as Shawn and I gushed over how good the pizza was.


Photo © Wyatt Johnson
All four of us at Bellizzi's Pizzeria & deli.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Times Square, before going back to the hotel to rest and clean ourselves up for the benefit. The benefit was at The River Room, which was in Harlem, right on the Hudson River. The view was incredible; we could see the George Washington bridge connecting New York and New Jersey as we ate and conversed. We had a blast talking with Sindy and her friends and won a few things on the silent auction. After the benefit, walking through Harlem in the dark on the way to the subway, my first night in New York, I'm going to fully admit that I was a little scared. But we made the short walk to the subway and made it back to our hotel easily.

To be continued...


Update -- Miller family vacations in Great Smokies
by Steve Miller
Coral Springs, FL

Our family did our vacation this year. We had a wonderful time in the mountains. Every two or three years we get all four of our kids, along with spouses and -- most important -- grandkids, together for a week of food, games, food, conversation, food, pictures, food, memories, and more food!

The Smokies is a great place for that type of gathering: lots of activities, both natural and man made.

Each time, I try to do something a little special for the kids. Last time I had an artist paint a picture of our old house in Grove City where the kids grew up and then wrote a little history of it: when it was built, mortgage rate, taxes, etc. Now that they have homes of their own, they can appreciate that type of stuff.

This year I made a family tree and history for each of the kids. I contacted the spouses' parents for the information on their side and thanks to Ardis, Aunt Gert and Aunt Dorothy, I had excellent information on the Dake side.

Then, thanks to Glenda Baker, Cheryl (Uncle Tom's daughter) and some research years ago by Aunt Lenore (Dad and Uncle Tom's sister) I had plenty of information on the Miller side.

Marian's sister, Carol Turner, is kind of the family historian on the Skoglund side of the family. The longest traced ancestor line I found came from Carol. Someone has traced through Marian's maternal grandmother back 15 generations (from my grandchildren) to William the Cordweiner in England. Does anybody know what a "cordweiner" is? It was an interesting exercise for me.



Photo illustration © Virginia McCorkell; photo by Sarah Steinhauer
Obama the Llama, with Larry Dake, meets Levi Steinhauer.

Update -- Obama the Llama hits the campaign trail
by Ginny McCorkell
Blaine, MN

Last spring, when LTD headed to the auction barn, his plan was to come home with some lambs ... and he did ... I forget how many but that doesn't matter. I do know that he also brought home Obama the Llama.

"What was I thinking?" was the sentiment that went out ... again and again ... thereafter. What LTD didn't know about Obama the Llama was that he was on the campaign trail and Storybrooke Farm was his new campaign headquarters!

Now most llamas will bond with their little flock of sheep and provide some protection from predators. But Obama the Llama had greater ambitions. Soon the calls started coming in and going out from Storybrooke Farm. Obama the Llama was on the campaign trail ... his ambition was to visit every farm place in the country before election day. LTD found himself following the campaigning ... though he didn't necessarily agree with Obama the Llama's political views.

The day came that Obama the Llama was ready to move on so he headed down the road once again ... but LTD coaxed him to come back to Storybrooke Farm for breakfast and a nice cold shower at the end of a garden hose ... before riding in style back to the auction barn. I have no doubt that he has established new campaign headquarters and is still out making appearances at the farms in another county.

If Obama the Llama wins the election this year, the folks at Storybrooke Farm can lay claim to having known Obama the Llama ... personally!

Ginny

Disclaimer: This is not meant to be a political statement on the part of the author or parties involved in the tale that is told ... or the editors of The Bulletin.


Photo illustration © Virginia McCorkell; photo by Larry Dake
Obama the Llama, back on the campaign trail.


Update -- teacher returns to classroom)
by Angela Roberson
Hico, TX

This year I am teaching at a tiny public school in Cranfills Gap, Texas. Cranfills Gap is around 27 miles from here and is nestled in some rolling hills and pasture land. The school only has around 75 kids, total, in pre-K through 12th grade. It is so small that they play six-man football.

I will be teaching all of the sciences in grades 6-12. However, they don't have a 9th grade IPC class this year (which would have been Physical Science class, back in our day), so I will be teaching 1/2 year of Health and 1/2 year of Speech in that time slot. So, as far as science goes, I will have the basic 6, 7, and 8 grade sciences (which are a mixture of things), Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.

I feel a little out of touch with the whole teaching thing, as I have been at home now for four years. However, I did enjoy working on my room today. And, although I'll have a lot of lessons to do, I won't have very many students overall.



Photo © Lori Ostendorf
McKenna & Grandpa Ostendorf, left; with Jayce & Caity, right.

Update -- McKenna visits Noonan Park in Alexandria
by McKenna Ostendorf
Rogers, MN

I went to a really fun park with Mommy, Daddy and Grandpa Ostendorf. We got to see a lot of ducks, geese and pretty flowers. I especially loved the baby ducks.


Photos © Shawn Ostendorf
McKenna explores the park & watches ducklings with their mom.


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN


Photo © Donna Johnson
At the 58th anniversary meal with Dad & Mom, I gave them a card that said it guaranteed to make them feel younger; when they opened it up, it unfolded to this card. It worked! Don't they look younger?



Photo © Donna Johnson
Jayce is in the blue trunks, top right, on this climbing challenge at a Maple Grove park Eric mentioned to us. Eric and Leona joined us for a game of Frisbee with Caity. The kids swam and then we all went for dinner together at a new salad restaurant.


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. LeRoy Dake supplied last week's mystery picture.


How many can you identify?

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

Editors' Note: Correct guesses appear in bold face type and incorrect guesses in normal type ... generally in the order we receive them, so the first guess received is on top.

My guess for The Bulletin today is Donald Willie Anderson, Dorothy Mae Dake, and Gert Dake, standing before the judge as Dorothy changes her name to Mrs. Donald Anderson. This photo was taken on August 15, 1950, and the place was in the Bill and Amy Dake living room on the home farm just out of Howard Lake, Minnesota.

Mavis Anderson Morgan (sister of the groom)
Hope, ND


This picture must have been taken at Uncle Don and Aunt Dorothy's wedding. Aunt Gert is standing up with them. Don't know the Justice of the Peace ... but I think the pictures on the piano are of Uncle LeRoy (and Aunt Vonnie?) and the picture closest to the JP is of Carol Dake Printz and brother Stan (Bill) Dake ... I've seen that one many times.

Carol Dake Printz
Sidney, NE

Editor's comment: I doubt anyone will know that the man marrying us was Judge O.J. Anderson, from Buffalo, Minnesota. He did us a special favor to come out the 18 miles, but he was my special choice as he had been in high school at the same time as my mother, and he had given the speech for my graduating class from that same school, Howard Lake High School. Not only did he come, but he refused payment for doing so!


No "guess" about it for me this week; that would be my parents, Don and Dorothy Anderson on their wedding day. My Aunt Gert was one of their attendants. I'm not sure who married them.

Donna Anderson Johnson
Ashby, MN


The guess picture is The Bulletin editor and hubby with her sister, Gert, on their wedding day 58 years go this week! Congratulations!

Elaine Anderson Wold
Wahpeton, ND


That appears to be a wedding for my Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Don with my mom, Gertrude [Dake] Pettit, standing by in case anybody decided to get cold feet. Looks like Uncle LeRoy and Aunt Vonnie sitting on the piano watching as the Honorable John Smith presided. Could be I have his honor's name spelled wrong as I just can't seem to remember that far back. : )

Ardis Sigman Quick
Roseville, MN


The mystery picture is: my handsome Uncle Don, and beautiful Aunts, Dorothy and Gert. And, although this was before my time, I would also guess it was the wedding ceremony for Uncle Don and Aunt Dorothy.

Shari Larson
Litchfield Park, AZ


My, how young those people look! Dorothy, you were probably still Miss Dake, when that picture was taken. Can you or Don remember what the judge's name was? I can't. And I see LeRoy and Vonnie sitting up there on the piano looking on. Congratulations on becoming Mr. and Mrs. Don Anderson on that day.

Gert Dake Pettit
Howard Lake, MN

I will send you a copy of the Certificate of marriage and you can see. The O of his name stands for Oscar. --DMA


Well, I'm glad to see that you have one of the best pictures in the Quiz this week. Mr. Don Anderson and Miss Dorothy Mae Dake becoming Mr. and Mrs. Donald Anderson. That is your little sister, Gert, at your left side, helping complete the program. Wonder who took the picture? Who was holding Donald up? More details, please. Thanks!

Tom Miller
Madera, CA


That is Uncle Don Anderson, Aunt Dorothy (Dake Anderson) and Aunt Gert (Dake Pettit). I see Uncle LeRoy's picture (high school graduation?) in the background.

Steve Miller
Coral Springs, FL


Anyone who doesn't GUESS this time will simply be neglectful. No question about who that happy bride and groom are, and the baby sister witness. Don and Dorothy and Gertie. No clue who the Justice of Peace would be. At first look, I thought I was seeing Marlene or Patty.

Betty Weiland Droel
MoundsView, MN


A late guess on Tom and Dick, in Bulletin 320:

The Dake kids enjoyed them from kid through adulthood as friends, Tom and Dick Miller. Although you could second guess yourself and wonder if it could be Robert and John. Amazing how much siblings can look alike in their younger years.

Gert Dake Pettit
Howard Lake, MN

A late guess for Bulletin 319:

Well, it happened again. While we were gone to the Smoky Mountains for a week, sure enough, there was a mystery photo with my family in it. And nobody got it correct, either! Correct answer: my dad, (Jim Miller), my daughter, Sandy (Miller) and my nephew, Kurtis (Larson).

Steve Miller
Coral Springs, FL



Larry McCorkell sent us a manuscript he transcribed from his father's tape recorded memories and made it available to The Bulletin for a series of excerpts. These stories were originally tape recorded by Bruce McCorkell of his growing up days on the homestead near Effie in northern Minnesota. They were recorded from a period of the mid 1980's until the early 2000's. These are Bruce's words of happy, sad, funny, good, and hard times.

SUCKERS

Every spring, about the middle of April, the suckers were running in the creeks. There was one creek over there on the South Bustie Road, east of Effie quite a ways, that was a good sucker creek. Oh, the suckers! I remember as a young boy, I was a little older then and going to school, it was a big thing.

In those days suckers, blueberries, raspberries, whatever there was off the land, was very important as far as food. So everybody went and got suckers. Man, they got suckers! They canned suckers. They smoked suckers. They ate suckers. It was a big deal. My mother canned them in two-quart jars.

My dad would smoke them. He did a good job of smoking them. He'd salt them and get them dry somehow. Fish are kind of slimy. Then my ma would can them. She put them in the jar and sealed them. So we had suckers. I never liked those things myself, but my dad was crazy about them and most everybody else was too.

It was a big deal, getting suckers in the spring of the year. But what I was going to say, we'd go over there and get them at night. You'd take a spear made out of an old fork or you could just take a pitchfork. If you went there at the right time they were so thick you could almost walk across that creek on suckers. You'd stick your spear in there and throw them out on the shore and put them in gunnysacks and you could come home with a truckload of suckers. You would use a light or lantern to spear by.

In the daytime they were kind of shy. They'd see your shadows and by the time you'd throw the spear at them, they were gone. It was much harder to get them in the daytime. You could get all the suckers you wanted at night. It was really fun. You'd get a nice warm spring evening at night and go over there and get suckers like everything.


Travelogue t


Photo © Sheldon Swenson
Mule Train.

Huayhuash Trek Of Peru
by Sheldon and Mitzi Swenson
Dickinson, ND

We awakened at around 7 a.m. the next morning to the sound of Nicol, our muleteer for the next 11 days, greeting us. He had awakened at 3:30 a.m. to ride his horse, herding four mules up the road in the cold and dark. He explained he was not feeling well and had a cough -- not hard to imagine why.

The trek is far too long to give a day by day summary so I will just mention some of the highlights.

After a breakfast of tea, oatmeal, and maybe some bread (there is plenty), we break camp and Nicol then has to load the mules. There are four gunnysacks of food and four bags of our gear, two bags for each mule. Nicol usually rides his horse.

The mules and his horse are slightly faster than we are going uphill, and much faster going downhill, so he always beats us to the next campsite. It was a great surprise to arrive at our next campsite to find our tent already set up. He did this every time, which was far beyond his duty. He was hired strictly to supply and manage the mules, at the great cost of $5 per day per mule and $10 per day for his own time. This sounds amazingly cheap by our standards but for Peru this is extremely good pay. Kjirsten says unemployment is high and the average wage for the people living in the mountains is only about $2 per day.

Lunch each day consists of bread and cheese and, initially, fresh fruit such as peaches, pears, mandarins, and apples, and chocolate for dessert. Supper is some type of soup fortified with reconstituted, dehydrated vegetables, supplemented with more bread, tea and hot chocolate.


Photo © Sheldon Swenson
Mitzi & Kjirsten lunch with a view of Mt. Jirishanca.

Mitzi's Journal

Rodrigo had told us our muleteer would be there at 7 a.m. Right on time, Nicol arrived, riding a horse and herding four mules. He was happy to have a cup of hot chocolate and a bowl of milky oatmeal, (our breakfast every day), telling us he left home at 3 a.m. He also had a nasty case of bronchitis and was coughing. It had been a freezing night and our tent had frost inside. Nicol insisted on washing our dishes in the local stream. For the next 11 days, our dishes would be washed in streams, without soap.

We packed up and started hiking up the pass while Nicol prepared the loads for the mules. We gave him his lunch of bread, cheese and fruit before we left. He always caught up with us before we crossed the pass, where we usually stopped for our lunch. By the time we got to the next camping area, he would have the mules unloaded and our tent set up, so all we had to do was put our gear in the tent. He always smiled when we gave him his share of the daily chocolate bar.

Kjirsten would make tea while I got the inside of the tent arranged and Sheldon purified or filtered water. We were carrying two water systems, a little hand pump filter and a system that used batteries to make a salt brine to purify the water. We used a minimum of 12 liters of purified or filtered water every day.


Photo © Sheldon Swenson
Boy watching Sheldon filter water, left; girl crawls in for closer view, right.

To be continued...


$  A Long Time Ago   !


Photos © Jerrianne Lowther
Kyra slogs through mud, left; hangs laundered socks to dry, right.

Appalachian Trail Trek: August 1973
by Jerrianne Lowther
Anchorage, AK

"The map is not the territory," as Alford Korzybski famously observed, and so it is hardly surprising that Mic and I looked at the same data and saw entirely different pictures. With three quarters of the trail behind us, we just needed to maintain the same pace to reach Mount Katahdin before winter snow closed the park for the season. We were "on schedule" to reach the end of our journey on October 6, none too early, but adequate, he thought -- if we didn't fall behind.

I saw it differently. The last quarter of the trail, through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, was the most interesting -- and the most difficult. Mountains in New England were higher, grades were steeper, backpacks would be heavier, temperatures would be lower, weather would be deteriorating ... and there would be fewer hours of daylight.

"To walk. To see. And to see what you see." That was what forester Benton MacKaye had said the Appalachian Trail was for ... and to see what you see takes time. We were concerned about running out of time. We could buy time by hiking the highest peaks first, in good weather, and saving the lower parts for later. It made perfect sense to me. Mic hated the very idea of hiking sections out of order. Something had to give, I thought ... and soon.

On Mic's birthday (exquisitely bad timing!), as a dying hurricane blew itself out in a torrential rainstorm on Bromley Mountain, Vermont, it did.

"Rain drummed the cabin roof. No, I told them, we weren't going on. We would bake a cake instead. The next day, August 15, was my birthday.

"Rain: I went to sleep to rain; I woke to rain. Glum and disappointed, I stared out the cabin window next morning at rain. It was major, all right, number eight in a month, falling harder than ever. We hadn't even counted smaller showers in between. I was tired of rain. I took down the packs to get ready for another day.

"Raining on my birthday yet. The universe was not being kind. Rain gear was still wet from the day before and spotted with mildew like the packs and tent. It hardly seemed to matter whether we wore it or not. Our clothes clung lately with a dampness that wouldn't go away.

"The three hikers with us stared solemnly out windows. Jerri and Kyra slept. I got out breakfast things.

"Three-fourths of the way. We'd walked almost three-fourths of the muddy trail that passed outside the door. Only 520 miles remained to Mount Katahdin, to the end of our long walk. That was significant. We should celebrate the milestone, along with my birthday. But it rained. At least we were inside, in a four-walled cabin with a stove and a roof that didn't leak. Six of us jammed bunks for four.

"Getting time to go. I set breakfast within Jerri's and Kyra's reach and woke them. Rain drummed the roof, the windows, the trees just outside. Major. It hadn't let up all night. The trail would be a river soon. I stuffed things in the pack, preparing to depart.

"'Time to get up and ready, Jerri,' I said. 'Looks like we can make Lost Pond today.'

"'I'm not going.'

"'What?...'

"'You heard me,' she said. 'I'm not going.'" --from Walking North, by Mic Lowther.


Photo © Jerrianne Lowther
Mic wrestles backpacks off Greyhound bus as we skip ahead to hike the White Mountains first. We can finish up Vermont later, after the highest peaks are done.


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Birthdays
August 19---Christopher Michael Chap
August 19---Jordan Nicole Indermark (5 years)
August 21---Jessica Hellevang
August 22---Camryn Lucille Johnson (1 year)
Happy Birthday!

This Week's Anniversaries
August 20--- Shane and Jayna Swenson (3 years)
Congratulations!

More August Birthdays
' 
August 5---Austin Patrick Montford (3 years)
August 5---Jan Smith
August 6---Sully Michael Brown (4 years)
August 7---Melanie Lehtola
August 7---Weston Johnson
August 7---Sue Wright
August 8---Erik Huseby (7 years)
August 8---Roxanne Mitzel
August 11---Mitchell Allen Miller
August 13---Jeffrey Todd Aydelotte, Jr.
August 16---Jason Quick
August 16---Rod McNeill
August 16---Darryl McNeill

August 24---Becky Chap
August 24---Maggie Zeppelin (4 years)
August 25---Jeff Aydelotte
August 26---Donna Richards
August 30---Jessica Myron Gauderman
August 30---Ethan Wallace Horne (6 years)
August 31---Devan Alexander Seaman (6 years)

More August Anniversaries
Z
August 5---Wesley and JoAnne Sigman (19 years)
August 5---Sheldon and Mitzi Johnson Swenson (31 years)
August 6---Ryan and Heidi Johnson Henderson (3 years)
August 9---Jeff and Twila Aydelotte (17 years)
August 10---Ryan and Jessica Hellevang (1 year)
August 15---Don and Dorothy Dake Anderson (58 years)
August 16---Eric and Leona Anderson (5 years)

August 28---Ken and Merna Morgan Hellevang (26 years)
August 30---LeRoy and Vonnie Dake (60 years)
August 30---Chris and Jennie Dake Horne (11 years)

Miss Hetty's Mailbox:

Dear Miss Hetty,

Julia (Kingsnorth) Sigman, my paternal grandmother, will celebrate her 100th birthday on August 27th. This picture was taken at this time last year.

Grandma loves to get mail -- if you'd like to send her a birthday wish, send to:

Julia Sigman
706 16th Ave. SE
Minot, ND 58701-6707

Ardis Quick
Roseville, MN


Photo © Ardis Quick
Julia Sigman, soon to be 100.


Thank you for the e-card you sent for my birthday last week! Sorry this email is so late. I have been meaning to write, but my first week as a 30-year old has been a busy one to say the least!. [See Update above.] So I guess that is my long-winded excuse for why it took me so long to say thanks for the e-card! It was much appreciated! Also, thanks to everyone else who sent cards and well-wishes, helped with the party preparation and clean-up, and kept me company over the weekend. I am lucky to have such great friends and family!

Weston Johnson
Maple Grove, 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 am sure you will have many replies on this one. The Sauk Centre article was interesting. Our historical society was there one year on our tour. We toured the home of Lewis also. We were told he wrote a lot in the upstairs of the garage there.

We also ate our meal at the restored old hotel.

We took in the Chapel Gardens at Eagle Bend, also an old mill at Terrace was interesting, with guides to explain things.

Elaine Anderson Wold
Wahpeton, ND


Just a quick update to let you know how things are going with Ginn Adair's recovery. They are going well!

Ginn's last check-up indicated that healing was progressing well, although she will have another three to four weeks of no weight on that leg. Then a week of "toe touch," and slowly will be allowed to put a little more weight on it. Once she can put some weight on that leg, she'll be trained on walking, with a walker, and how to manage stairs, then she'll be allowed to come home. It's still a long way to go, but her spirits are up, and with visits from friends, the time passes well. I still travel home for a few days weekly, and will be on my way back to Alex today, as soon as I finish packing.

I may not have too much to say about progress every week, but will send an update when there's something to report on her progress.

Again, thanks for the cards and letters. She really looks forward to the mail every day.

Capt. Jack Adair
Coon Rapids, MN


The days slip by so fast ... we are doing fine and are trying to get through the HOT Arizona summer. In July, Don and I went to Montana for a family reunion on Don's mom's side of the family. It was fun -- about 80 were there. Otherwise, we have been home all summer.

Mom and Dad [Chuck and Donna Anderson] are doing fair. Mom has been having extra pain with her back the last several months. She is going to see a new doctor soon ... maybe they can help. She had an MRI and it showed very advanced deterioration. Dad hangs in there and is doing pretty good.

We still enjoy The Bulletin every Saturday morning. Now take care!

Julie Sandon
Phoenix, AZ


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

We leave at 3:15 p.m. and it is 2:00. Will I get a nap and this LTTE both in before that? I get so enthused about The Bulletin that I feel an urgency to send in a thanks from Roy and me. Sometimes, it has to be squeezed in, as it is today.

Our computer has had major downtimes, but right now it is up. I want to at least start this while all is working fine once again. One is totally lost without their computer, once you have enjoyed all it can do.

Of course that first picture is always a thriller. This time it was such a perfect, sharply focused, close up shot of the Gooseberry Falls on the North Shore trip by Donna Mae. I marvel at that camera. It's all in the settings, I know, which definitely takes some skill in itself. We get to enjoy the results of the trips and photography sitting in our easy chair, thanks to these dedicated Bulletin people that submit their travels.

Split Rock lighthouse has been a highlight of the Duluth area all my life. The picture of all those steps. No thank you. I groaned out loud, all by myself, as I saw that picture, imagining tourists willing to ascend and descend all in the name of "vacation." Am I getting old or what??

So Sully Brown had a 4th birthday! I loved seeing the pictures of him with his unusual idea of dinosaur toys. We are either looking forward to a wedding or a new baby with each Bulletin that arrives lately. We are going to anxiously await that new one at the Browns' in January.

Jack (Capt'n Jack) has been so good to keep us updated on Virginia. I remember trying to get into the house after my hip surgery, and the impossible, hopeless feeling looking up our four steps into the house. Roy kindly made it possible to do so with his clever ideas of how to use the walker and building up the top step into the house so it was hardly any lifting of that leg. I certainly feel for Ginny with the long road ahead. A break happens so instantly, but doesn't heal very quickly. It sounds like she won't have to worry about the cooking and washing for awhile.

What an interesting, educational Update by Shawn and Lori and McKenna. We drive through Sauk Centre without even considering all the history. I was surprised McKenna wasn't afraid of that dark, sober bust of Sinclair Lewis. For some reason, when I first saw that picture of Lori and McKenna in the Little Red Schoolhouse desk, I wondered how quickly the years will pass before we hear that that cute little girl will graduate. Oh, please, Betty!

I know I am repeating myself, but I find it very special the way Donna Mae keeps her family busy with both work and fun like she does. So many occasions for the children to enjoy, and all the company and travels.

I got a "start" to turn the page (scroll down if you don't print it like I do) to see Great Grampa and Great Gramma Anderson with McKenna. I wonder when they are going to start to age? They survived another anniversary without showing signs of all that time passing. Actually, Dorothy looks thin.

Homesteading Days is so interesting to those who have seen some of the experiences first hand. (Roy, not me). However, I certainly remember the butter churning and squeezing all the milky water out of it. My clever dad put an electric drill on the beaters of our butter churn, which made the butter in minutes.

One thing about the Peru trek story in the Travelogue is that we will never, ever see it ourselves, and we have heard about it from our workers who are in those areas. So, it is extremely interesting to see the pictures, and even some of the place names that we've heard mentioned. Kjirsten would be very happy to be back there again as I remember a picture of her taken with natives that was in The Bulletin long ago. Maybe not just in that certain vicinity, but way down there on her trip. It makes me tired to just look at that picture of Mitzi and Kjirsten hiking into nowhere -- more and more of nothing.

Oh, and then next here comes another chapter of the Appalachian Trail Trek, and pictures from 1973 that are as beautiful as if they were taken yesterday. That would have taken some photo genius ability to bring them up to printing standards for The Bulletin, I would think. Those bugs must have really been dreaded for each one to submit to the (cold) blasts of bug spray. Again, I can not imagine what all that trek would have been like or the endurance it required just to stay motivated.

How you ever got that perfectly clear, sharp photo of the berries up there in those mountains and hills is amazing. You could almost taste them. Seeing the picture of Kyra last week, and then this one of her getting the cold spray, is a vast contrast. I think we could recognize her as she still looks just like this little 10 year old, turning 11.

I see Bitzi is still able to develop a CHUCKLES with Doug's help, even if she is so absorbed in LeRoy and Vonnie's situation and care. Have thought of Larry and the family in this crisis time of their lives. Sometimes one has to take a moment at a time rather than a day at a time.

"Growing old is easy, growing up is hard." Now, I would say that is quite the Quotation for the day! Anyone growing old will attest to that thought.

We are already looking forward to the next chapters of some of the features of The Bulletin, and this is only Sunday. We have a whole week to wait. Just so you keep inspired, Editor and Photo Editor! A lot depends on your dedicated enthusiasm, and no doubt that is hard to come by sometimes. Just remember that we all are anticipating your work.

Betty Droel


CHUCKLES


Photo © Sarah Steinhauer
Levi Steinhauer tastes the rhubarb in Mommy's garden.


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Quotation for the day: So you went to the Louvre: What did you see? --Terry & Renny Russell, On The Loose

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.


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