Ben Johnson on his shiny red restored Farmall M tractor
Ben takes his newly restored "M" Farmall tractor out for a spin.

Lookin' Good Now
by Ben Johnson
Ashby, MN

During the winter I decided I needed something to keep me busy after work so I decided that I would restore an old tractor that we had sitting in the shed. Well we pulled it into the shop and I started the tear down stage of the project. That went real good and pretty fast, which left me with a tractor with none of the sheet metal and it was also missing most of the front end and the top half of the engine. I then took the head and radiator down to Alex to have them fixed and machined.

Within a week I had all parts back and I was starting to rebuild the tractor, which wasn't much of a project, being I had to leave a lot of parts off for the painting process. Then the project got put on the back burner until it got warm enough that I could paint without having to keep the shop heated the whole time.

After starting my new job, I sort of lost track of time until a couple of weeks ago somebody said the Barrett tractorcade was scheduled for the 25th of June. The tractorcade is a group of people that drive old tractors from Elbow lake to Barrett and have a makeshift parade once they get to Barrett. This is one of the events that I wanted to participate in, so I got myself in gear and started to get the tractor ready to be painted. And what a project that was! There were times I thought my arms would fall off, due to all the scrubbing and sanding I was doing.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that all of this is going on during hay season which is chaotic enough without the rain that delayed us and my project going on which as you could imagine dad was thrilled about. After a week of long days I was close to being able to paint and the haying was part way done and going as well as could be expected.

So last Friday I spent all night preparing the tractor and Sunday I decided to paint it. Sunday morning I woke up and went to get my friend's paint gun and got some instructions on how to paint. Because this was the first thing I have ever painted I was looking for as much knowledge as I could get. I finally got home and began mixing my primer; once it was ready, I decided it was now or never and I started to spray the primer coat on the parts of the tractor that are not too visible.

It didn't take too long before I got comfortable with the spray gun and soon after that I finished the primer coat. Now it was time to do the paint that everybody looks at, the nice glossy red paint, so I started out and before I knew it I had two coats on the tractor and it didn't look too bad. WHEW! What a relief!

Next I started to reassemble the rest of the tractor and by 10 o'clock on Friday night I was ready to try to start it. Just like I figured, it wouldn't start. We tried to pull start it while spraying starting fluid in it and it still wouldn't start. I had a week before the Evansville parade to figure out the problem with the wiring on the M.

While the pictures were being taken, the tractor quit on me, but after a few hours of messing around with the wiring, I got it going again. Last Saturday I drove it down to the lake and met up with some more tractors; we went to Evansville for the parade and everything works great.

Updates -


4th of July sparklers for all at the Johnson Farm! From left: Eric, Shawn, Wyatt, Jayce, Weston, John Thoennes, Lori, Brooklynn, Jolene, Beaver & Caity.

UPDATE -- Fourth of July weekend
BBQ & Major League Baseball in LaMirada
by Lori Anderson
LaMirada, CA

Greetings from California! I thought it would be fun to send a quick update from our neck of the woods and say hello. We had a fun time celebrating the holiday this past weekend. On Sunday, the city of La Mirada had its annual fireworks show. Steven, Keith, and I went to the park and found a good spot on the grass to watch the show.

Then on Monday, Mom and Dad prepared a great BBQ complete with burgers, corn on the cob, and watermelon. Mom even made Melinda's famous baked beans. The recipe is delicious!

Steven got four free tickets to the Angels game that day, so after the BBQ, Keith and I tagged along with Steven and his friend Dave to the stadium. Even though the Twins beat the Angels, we still had a great time and enjoyed the stadium's big fireworks show. It's just a shame we all had to head back to work Tuesday morning.


Steven, Keith & Lori at the Angels vs. Twins game, left; Jayce shows that corn was more than "knee high by the 4th of July" at the Johnson farm.


Cowboys Round Up Cattle At The Johnson Farm
by Beaver Johnson
Ashby, MN

Last Saturday Ben, Wyatt, and Shawn were kind enough to volunteer to help process calves. Our farm has had problems with the deadly disease Blackleg in the past, so we are very careful to vaccinate for that as well as a for host of other diseases. Each calf got two shots, two insecticide ear tags to kill flies, and an implant to promote faster growth and better feed efficiency.

Wyatt got the dirty job at the back end of the calves, chasing them up the chute to the headgate. Ben clipped on the ear tags, while Shawn kept the taggers loaded for him. I did the vaccinations and the implants. From sorting to turn out back to the pasture, the whole process took only about three hours. Things go great when you have good help!

Handling cattle is a little outside of Shawn's usual activities, but he has the makin's of a great cowboy. He bulldogged a calf that was trying to squeeze through the headgate and saved us a new sorting job to get that one back. Well done!

Thanks, guys, if you ever need a recommendation for a job as a cowboy, all you have to do is ask! You're the best!


Cattle roundup at the farm; Beaver, Shawn, Ben with calf, right.


Independence Day In Tikrit
by Jim Pachan
near Tikrit, Iraq

I thought I would just send a short hello to let everyone know I am doing fine and to wish everyone a happy 4th.

We didn't have any fireworks or anything (I'm sure somewhere in Iraq there was ... if you know what I mean), but they do put on special meals for holidays, so we had prime rib and a bunch of picnic-type food like hot dogs and stuff. Most of the workers on camp are from different countries; in particular, the workers in chow hall are from India, so it was kind of funny to see these Indian guys all decked out in stars and stripes aprons and hats (struck me as funny, anyway ... but I may just be bored).

Also, for the 4th we were greeted with a wicked sandstorm; visibility was about 10 feet. The best way to describe it is one of the worst blizzards you have driven in, except it does not accumulate and it feels like it is wearing a layer of your skin off.

Things are going OK, though it has been pretty hot some days, for sure over 120 degrees a few times and over 130 a couple. It feels like standing in front of a hair dryer ... but there is not much humidity, so that is a plus.

As far as coming home, I really don't know for sure ... late October is a very outside shot, but mid to late November is a pretty good bet. I don't know if I will have to make the convoy back down to Kuwait, as most vehicles that have the Level 1 armor (factory made) are staying in country, to be handed off to other units; therefore, hopefully, most of us will fly down, which is the safest way to travel here. We are sending back a lot of our equipment that we are not using, so that is a good sign that the end of tour is near also.

I just want to let everyone that I have not been in contact with know that I am OK and hopefully coming home soon. Take care...

Pachan


Popeye Finds His Way Home in Anchorage
by Miss Kitty
Anchorage, AK

On Monday, the 4th of July, this little black kitty got locked out of his house accidentally while his family was away on a camping trip and he came into our yard. He was frightened by all the noises of people celebrating the holiday with firecrackers, etc. I was in a panic, thinking he might try to move in with us!

He spent the next few days camping out in our back yard, MUCH to my obvious annoyance, and visiting several veterinarians. On Friday afternoon his owners saw the "FOUND" sign on our mailbox. They came and picked him up and took him home, about a block away. I am SO relieved! I let the little rascal keep the harness I outgrew. He got off his tether twice Friday, but he didn't run away. I think he likes the food here -- MY FOOD! I can't fault him -- I like it, too.

His parents are Siamese and Russian Blue cats and he's quite an elegant cat, 5 or 6 months old, same as I was when I came here, but he is blind in one eye from a scratch when he was a very young kitten. His owners, 8 year old Charlie and Taylor, age 11, said the little guy's name was Popeye and they were very glad to see him. Now everything is SO much calmer here!


Popeye, happily reunited with Charlie, 8, and Taylor, 11.


Moving Day in Portage
by Kristi Indermark
Portage, WI

We are finally in our house. We moved in over the Fourth of July weekend. Our basement is not finished, but they are working on it each day. We got most of our furniture in the house. There are still a few pieces that might not fit down the stairs.

The kids are doing great. Jordan has really done very well with all the changes recently. She is now sleeping in a big girl bed. We are very glad that she doesn't get out and roam. Well at least she hasn't yet. Tyler is getting so big. We are guessing that he weighs around 12 pounds maybe even more. He is really heavy.

Jim went back to work yesterday. I have been unpacking boxes and organizing cupboards and such. We finally got the computer hooked up yesterday so I am back on-line.

Jim, Kristi, Jordan and Tyler


New Wisconsin home for the Indermarks, left; Tyler & Jordan, right.


UPDATE -- Career
by Wyatt Johnson
Moorhead, MN

As of July 1st, I'm now a Senior Design Engineer! I started out as a Design Engineer when I started full-time in 1998, then in 2000, was promoted to Design Engineer 2.

As a Senior Design Engineer, I'll be looked to more for mentoring of less experienced engineers, and will be expected to accept more responsibility on projects (though my supervisor and department manager acknowledged that they feel I've been performing at the expected level already for a couple of years). The bottom line is, my daily duties won't change much, but I'll get paid more for it!!!

The next step for me will be a choice between two paths: a technical path and a leadership path. The next step down the technical path would be a Technical Specialist. A Technical Specialist has a few key areas of expertise, and is expected to help others, especially in these specific areas. They're also expected to work on cutting edge technology, including technologies that are up to two years from production. Tech Specialists will actively seek out new technologies to help form the future design strategies.

The next step down the leadership path would be a Team Lead (Lead Engineer). A Lead Engineer performs normal Senior Design Engineer type duties, but also accepts some supervisory responsibilities. This would include reviewing project status, providing process improvement ideas, and providing training and mentoring for other engineers, among other duties.

I'm still not sure which path I'll follow in the future. I love the technical stuff, but would also like the opportunity to have more interaction with people. I guess we'll see what presents itself later!

Wyatt


UPDATE -- Introducing Tom Morgan
by Tom Morgan
Hope, ND

I was born on July 15th, 1928, at rural Pillsbury, North Dakota. It was there I attended school for eight years. My father passed away in 1935 and in 1943 when my brother, Les, passed away I started farming the land we were renting. In 1946 we moved to rural Hope, North Dakota, where we bought land.

On May 31st, 1957, I married Mavis Anderson at Wahpeton, North Dakota. We have three married daughters and nine grandchildren.

My hobby through the years was collecting toy tractors and other farm toy implements.

We retired from farming in 1999 and still reside on the farm except for the winters when we go to Florida.


Tom Morgan


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN

For those of you that might not have heard, I got to have another very expensive "vacation" in the hospital (from Tuesday noon until Friday later afternoon this last week). The doctor told me it was "Costochondritis," which in lay terms is inflammation in the chest wall, mainly on the left side. He also found I have arthritis in the area and there is a spot of pneumonia in my lung. It proved to be a very painful combination!

My doctor sent me home with instructions to "take it easy" with lifting, pulling, pushing -- anything that stresses the chest wall muscles. He prescribed pain meds to use as needed and to continue with using a hot water bottle on my chest. Believe me, I do NOT want a recurrence, so will try and follow orders. :-)

A HUGE THANK YOU to Mom and Dad for visiting and for Dad's daily gift of strawberry shortcake (a big time favorite of mine); it was delicious! They also brought me home from the hospital and contributed toward my wonderful gift: a housekeeper to come in and do whatever housework I need help with, whenever I choose to have her. Others joining in that MARVELOUS gift were: Shari, Elaine, Jerrianne, Eric & Leona, Chris, Weston, Wyatt & family and Lori & Shawn. Thanks to all of you -- what a thoughtful gift! (Thanks, LORI!) Believe me, I LOVE IT!!!

Also, a special thank you to Becky for taking over the day care for the week and to Linda for her help.


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

Request

I was saddened to hear that Russ Martin, my cousin Diana's husband, is having serious health problems. On Monday, July 11, he will have a 5-hour biopsy at the Virginia Piper Cancer Institute in Minneapolis, to determine the exact situation.

Diana also told me that her stepbrother, Don Carbine, is very ill with cancer (and not expected to live).

Diana has asked for our prayers!

Dorothy 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):

What a great picture! Darling little girls and handsome young men, and they are my Uncle Elwood, my father, Donald, my aunts, Elaine and DeLoris [Anderson].

I wasn't sure about the crying baby ... thought it looked somewhat like my pics around the same age, but with the older clothing and hat, guessing an earlier generation.

Donna Anderson Johnson
Ashby, MN


It was fun to see the photo of the four oldest Anderson kids ... Donald and Elwood in back, and myself [Elaine] and DeLoris in the front. No one knows how I value that picture! Can you imagine our mother taking the time and effort to dress us up, comb our hair, and have enough money to go to the photographer for a picture? Remember, this is during "the dirty thirties"!!!! That's why it's so precious to me.

Elaine Anderson Wold
Wahpeton, ND


Editor's Note: It does seem strange that no one recognized the "weeper" last week! After all, you all must know that "Anty" got tired of trying to catch me smiling but finally gave up and took it of me at my regular occupation -- crying. And it is also strange that none of my children recognized their mother!! ;-)

Oh well, better luck with the next group... So then, my dears, that was Dorothy Dake crying her eyes out in last week's Guess photo! After all it was taken only 77 years ago, or so -- you should remember that!! --DMA


LTD Storybrooke

Beaverton, Or Bust!
By Larry Dake

What we would do for a home when we got there, we weren't sure. But it was December 1985 and we were moving from our home in Minnesota to Beaverton, Oregon. I would be the new manager of a shoe repair shop, in a very busy mall. We were looking forward to a job and a steady income. We had less than a month to get moved to Beaverton.

Our first step would be to sell our house and find a home for our dog.

We talked to the people who held the contract for deed on our house, and they agreed to allow a new buyer to take over payments. An attorney drew up the necessary paperwork. We set about trying to find a buyer -- as quickly as possible! Real estate doesn't always go up in value, and in this town it was on its way down. We didn't expect to get any money back out of the house, because we knew we'd be lucky if we could even find a buyer.

In addition to selling the house and the dog, we also needed to have a moving sale. By selling our things we'd reduce the amount of stuff we'd have to transport. More important, we would be raising money to pay for the gasoline to make the trip.

We put prices on our oak table and eight oak chairs, our oak swing rocker, piano, easy chair, sofa, fancy dishes, beds, and many other things. The only furniture we didn't put up for sale was a small chest of drawers, and an antique shoeshine chair made of iron.

We ran an ad in the local paper and put up flyers in communities all around us. I had a stack of plywood scraps and a couple old cans of red, white, and blue paint. I painted large bold signs proclaiming MOVING SALE, 9-4 SATURDAY. I put these out in both directions on the highway: a mile from town, a half mile from town, at the edge of town, at our street, and at our house.

By sale day we still hadn't found a buyer for our house or a home for our dog. So I tacked up a price tag on the side of the house: HOUSE FOR SALE $10,000. ALSO FOR SALE: DOG.

Sherry made a dozen or more loaves of fresh homemade bread to sell.

On sale day we had people come calling early, but we refused to allow anyone into the house until nine. By nine o'clock there was a long line of people standing out in the cold. The line went all the way from the back door out into the street. And more cars were arriving by the minute. When we opened the door at nine, it was people, shoulder to shoulder, throughout the house. People were snapping things up as fast as they could, for fear someone else might buy them first.

The sale was 80 percent over by 10 o'clock. We had sold nearly everything we had for sale -- even the house. A lady had purchased the house and the dog! She would take over payments. The dog would get to stay in the house with the new owner and her children. Perfect! The sale was a success.

We had a "used up" old car that we needed to replace with one that would have a good chance of making it all the way to Oregon.

Sherry's dad always seemed to have a few cars around that were for sale. So we went up to Oklee and ended up buying a baby blue 1976 Lincoln Continental Mark IV from him. Part of the roof, back of the passenger seat, had a somewhat blistered, padded, blue vinyl top and the fenders were rusted around the wheel wells. But it had little oval port holes just back of the passenger seat, and the headlights were covered by lids that flipped up by themselves when turned on; it had automatic electric windows and electric blue leather seats; it had a hood over the engine long enough to park a Yugo on, and there was plenty of power under the hood to pull a trailer. Best of all, it was big enough to live in!

We were also needing a moving trailer, so I called my dad and asked if I could borrow his. He had an old trailer that he had built while on the farm at Dassel, Minnesota. He indicated he'd need to make a few repairs, but yes, I could use it.

When I arrived to pick up the trailer, Dad had it totally stripped down to the frame and was in the early stages of building a new floor, new sidewalls, and a new end gate. And he was installing a new set of wiring and taillights. I was itching to get going, but the test of my patience would prove to be well worthwhile.

When he was done, we had a very nice 8' x 4' trailer, with 4' high sides. He built a classy end gate that could be folded down for a ramp; he made a rack on the side for the spare tire, and he made a special place to set our picnic cooler, so we could access our food along the way. To top it all, Dad gave the trailer a fresh coat of paint.

With help from friends and parents, we were soon all packed up to go. We put a big tarp over the rounded pile of our worldly possessions and tied everything down snug. The iron shoeshine chair was tied up on top of the tarp. The cooler on the trailer was stocked with groceries to eat along the way. We tied our camel-bell wind chimes onto the back of the trailer. Hanging the camel bells on the trailer would become a family tradition whenever we moved.

After saying our goodbyes, and inviting everyone to come see us, we were on the road. It was January 3, 1986, just 28 days since I had arrived home from long haul trucking. It was snowing heavily when we left and continued to snow all the way to Dickinson, North Dakota, where we spent our first night in a motel.

It was a little awesome to realize that our family and everything we owned were all in the Lincoln and the 4'x8' trailer. Sherry and I both felt an unusual peace and freedom from all the constraints of "property" and "things."

As we were passing through Laurel, Montana, on the freeway, we had a tire blow out on the heavily loaded trailer. I walked about a quarter of a mile to a station and had them mount a used tire on the rim. Sherry and the girls stayed in the car.

With the used tire mounted on the rim, I rolled it back to the trailer and put it on. We were back on the road and we still had a good spare.

That night we stayed at a motel in Bozeman. Sherry was awed at the sight of the mountain out the motel window the following morning. It was the first mountain Sherry had seen since she was five or six years old. We left early to meet up with friends of Sherry's sister in Butte, Montana. It was a beautiful "Big Sky" morning. We went to a Sunday morning meeting with them and stayed for lunch at the meeting place. Monday morning we were on our way west again.

Crossing the Bitterroot Mountains, on the Montana-Idaho border, I put on the tire chains because it was snowing heavily as we neared the mountain pass. We were glad when we were over the pass and rolling into Coeur d'Alene. We stopped at a convenience store located on the tip of a triangular city block, a place where the road divided and went two ways. We filled up with gasoline and I decided to call my new employer.

"Hello," I said, "We're right on schedule -- I should be ready to start work in a few days."

There was a short pause.

In her broken, Asian accent she said, "There no job for you. I sell shop. I train new owner. Bye-bye."

Click.


Travelogue t

The Bolivian Beat
By Kjirsten Swenson

Photo Editor's Note: Kjirsten returned to Bolivia for a second year of independent study, prior to entering medical school at Baylor University in Houston later this summer. She has recently been trekking in Peru with her father, Sheldon, older brother Shane and his friend Marshall, and her younger brother Tyler, and his friend Greg.


Two of the guys & Kjirsten, Mt. Santa Cruz, Peru.

Alpamayo
Part Four
by Sheldon Swenson, Guest Columnist

Day Siete: We hike mostly downhill for about three hours to the end of our trek. We pass many simple homes, terraced crops again on the hillsides each side of the valley and way up the hillsides. I recognize wheat, barley, corn (maize), potatoes and other crops. No tractors; they work the fields either by hand or with oxen, but it appears mostly by hand.

We reach the village and are happy to see that a bus leaves in 90 minutes. There is a mineral bath hot spring five minutes away. I vote for the bath, the rest vote for food. Shane says he is content with his equilibrium state of filth and what is a few more hours? So we try lunch at the best looking place.

We see beef and chicken soup on the menu but they promptly bring us the house soup. We do not recognize beef or chicken but do see what has to be some type of animal gut and something else that Kjirsten identifies as brain. The broth is good. Most of us leave the rest. We hop on the bus at noon for a nine hour ride back to Huaraz. The seating is cramped, it is hot, we have two flat tire delays, up and down a 15,700 foot pass with way too may switchbacks.

We meet a large truck near the top. There is not room at the switchback where we meet so the bus driver backs up to the next higher switchback. Needless to say the drop off is steep. We are glad to finally reach Huaraz many hours later.

Showers never felt so good! We celebrate with dinner at the Creperie Patrick, a French restaurant near our hostel, and plan our next adventure over delicious dinner. None of us gained any weight on that trek. About 70 miles with the side trips, three passes around 16,000 feet. We got up to 16,500 feet on one of the side trips. Excellent views most of the time but a lot of up and down.

Shane and Marshall will return to the States tomorrow, but the rest of us will trek along the other side of the mountains with Demetrio and his trusty donkeys after a couple of rest days. Wish us sunny skies!

Sheldon


Plowing with oxen, left; coaxing donkeys along switchbacks, right.



The Eiffel Tower, left. The Tower is amazingly huge, about a football field in length between the supporting legs of the tower. Front view of the Notre Dame, right, located on an island in the middle of the Seine River in Paris.

France
by Heather Henderson
Lilydale, MN

Our Europe trip was -- I think the best word to describe it is -- interesting.

Back in January, I think, we had planned to visit France, Italy, and England. We planned to be there for 17 days, so at first we thought we would cram a lot in.

It ended up that we got only to France and Italy, and that was plenty.

We flew into Paris and spent two nights there. While we were there we saw the Eiffel tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame, to mention the main ones.

The next day we took off in the train to Nice, France. We "beached" it on the rocks and just walked around trying to take it all in.

The Grand Prix was in town so we didn't find cheap accommodations there. We stayed in Nice three nights and then took off for Venice on the night train.


The Arc de Triomphe, left. The unknown soldiers of WWI are buried under it. The Nice coastline from a park on the edge of the town, right.


This and That
6
by Elaine Wold
Wahpeton, ND

I have really enjoyed reading about and seeing all the pictures of little children in The Bulletin. It seems as we get older, we tend to write more about the "good old days." But it's so interesting to see the little ones, with their sparkling eyes and their cute smiles, and I reflect on my own happy-go-lucky days as a child.

Having grown up with siblings and raising two children of our own, I feel fortunate that now in my retirement that I have neighbor children who I enjoy watching each day. I have done some babysitting too, but now I just enjoy watching their antics as they play and watching them grow.

I enjoyed knowing the family with four little ones who lived across the street from me, who have invited me to graduations and weddings, and now all are married. Now a new family live in that house and they have two little boys I enjoy watching play.
The other evening I watched as the mother helped them light smoky snakes and sparklers. They were excited and antsy as they jumped with elation over those special memory making minutes of their lives. The time that parents spend with their young ones will never be forgotten.

This verse has been meaningful to me this past while ....

Excuse This House
Author Unknown
Some houses hide the fact
That children live there
Ours boasts of it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere.
For smears are on the windows,
Tiny smudges on the doors,
I should apologize I guess,
For toys strewn on the floor.
But I sat down with the children
And we played and laughed and read,
Even though the doorbell doesn't shine,
Their eyes will shine instead.
At times I'm forced to choose
The one job or the other,
I just want to be a housewife
But first I'd be a Mother.

As any older person will tell you, "They grow up all too fast!"


"MY" Grandpa
by Shari Miller Larson
Bradenton, FL

I was tired ... and Nathan (almost 4 years old) wanted me to come in swimming with him ... and it made me smile and think of all the times I begged Grandpa Dake to go swimming with us ... and he would say, "Yes, I will ... as soon as the water is dry."

Now my Grandpa Dake was a very special man ... no matter what ... he was always happy to see ME. He seemed to enjoy it if I would just come and spend time hanging out with him. How special it was to be the recipient of such unconditional love! He was interested in hearing all about my life ... always had time to listen ... AND ... the very best part ... he would share stories of his childhood ... over and over and over ... as I just loved to hear all about them, over and over and over.

His tongue in cheek sense of humor was fun ... when I would sit on the floor by his big wooden rocker ... and Snooks would lean down and lick my face, he said, "Wouldn't it be nice if we could carry a washcloth to clean up with anytime ... just like Snooks does?" Which would make me giggle every time.

I miss MY Grandpa ... wouldn't it be fun to have just one more long summer afternoon with him?

And now I suppose there are other people out there that will try to claim they shared his love and attention ... but I know ... he was "MY" Grandpa!

Shari


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Birthdays:
July 13---Zach Bratten
July 15---Tom Morgan
July 15---William Earl Dake
July 15---Sherry Dake

Happy Birthday!

More July Birthdays:
'
July 1---Suzanne McCorkell
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 (2 years)

July 18---Callie Printz (4 years)
July 19---Patricia Dake Meyer
July 19---Marlee Freesemann
July 19---Devon S. Stewart (11 years)
July 20---Michael Miller
July 20---Susie Miller
July 24---Jeni Larson
July 26---Tytus Joshua Myron
July 27---Wyatt Timothy Mellon (8 years)
July 29---Heather Henderson
July 29---Colleen Mellon Scott
July 30---Justin Printz
July 31---Tim Myron

July Anniversaries
Z
July 19---Dan and Nancy Mellon (36 years)
July 27---Larry and Sherry Dake (27 years)
July 29---Charles and Ardis Sigman Quick (33 years)

July Special Days
O
July 4---Independence Day
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miss Hetty Says

It seems there has been confusion regarding The Netherlands' new princess. Her name is Alexia -- it is her older sister whose name is Princess Amalia. And we had a request for an updated picture of Larry Dake's first grandson, Levi Steinhauer, at age 2-1/2 months on July 2, 2005. Well, folks, here you go!


Prince Willem-Alexander & Princess Alexia, left; Levi Steinhauer, right.

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

Another wonderful Bulletin. All of it was so good again but the one that was extra special is the Chuckles. It was very neat, clever, and great to have our eyes behold!!! (smile)

Mavis Anderson Morgan
Hope, ND

Regarding Bulletin 146 ... I could not believe my eyes ... THERE HE WAS!

I was standing at the photo counter in WalMart and I felt this push and shove at my elbow, and frowning, I turned to see someone (or something) dumping several rolls of exposed film for developing right there where I had my film, talking to the salesperson. Very rude, indeed!

When I got a closer look, I shrieked out, "THE TROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I caught the girl just as she had her hand on the phone to call for Security. I told her it was no emergency, that I was just so surprised to see this fellow. I explained to her that we had quite a history together.

He had been on an extended trip. (No wonder no one had sighted him lately, and I am sure Doug wasn't sorry about THAT.) He had all sorts of decals and souvenir signs wrapped around his body, but there was no mistaking the pointy hat and the yellowed beard and the black, beady eyes.

I guess he got on the airplane free, got in all the events free, posing as a Hollywood character performing some kind of survey of travel. I grabbed a disposable camera off the rack and snapped this picture; otherwise, for sure you would never have believed me.

I could hardly wait to tell Doug. So, in case he was resting easy, thinking he was rid of this fellow, well he is back and very much alive.

He muttered something about "not being able to wait until he got back to the farm." Don't ask me what farm, but no doubt we can all think of a certain chicken coop that he was headed for. So, keep on the lookout.

He said he didn't like cats. That they got their claws tangled up in his beard (ha ha, good enuf for him), so no worry, Jerrianne; he won't be coming to YOUR door.

I just knew you all would be so anxious to hear this -- and I don't know just when he plans to return to the farm, but he wanted his pictures all back in an hour, so he may be on his way already.

Betty Droel
MoundsView, MN

P.S. Sorry the picture is so gray, but that's becuz the camera I grabbed was a cheap one. Hope you overlook that.


The troll!


CHUCKLES


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