Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Photo © Jerrianne Lowther
Snowzilla, Anchorage's 16-foot Snowman
http://www.adn.com/life/story/7298889p-7210633c.html

Updates -

UPDATE -- Holiday doings
by Kathleen Stahlecker
Gatesville, TX

We had a great time last night at Stan's. Just wish that Carol's and James's could have been there and that would have been the icing on the cake. Mom seemed to enjoy it all.

Mom said that Uncle Jim had called the other week, which she always enjoys. It was good to hear news of the Florida relatives.

Mom did tell us that Carol's are planning to come in March for a visit, so we were excited about that and will be looking forward to it.

Our kids all managed to come in for Saturday and Sunday so we had a GREAT TIME with the grandsons. Angela and Scott are expecting their 4th child the first of July. She (Angela) has not felt too good of late, but seems to be having more good days than bad right now, so maybe the worst of the morning sickness is over.

On a sad note, before we went to Stan's, my little poodle named Oso, that the kids had given me last year for my 50th birthday, got run over on the busy highway right down from our house. So, we all had a little sorrow in our heart about this. He was a really sweet, smart little dog and we enjoyed having him around. He and Aaron's cat, Kit Kat, were great buddies and she will miss having him around. They were so fun to watch when they would play.

Earl will go back to work tomorrow. And as it was only going to be a three day work week anyway, I took this week off, to catch up on some stuff around here that has been so neglected. I do not know if I will make a dent in it but I am going to try. Aaron and I both will go back to work and school on January 3.

Angela was on the prowl with the camera last night. Said she was on a mission for Aunt Dorothy. So we will see what she came up with.

Love to all, and hope you all have a great holiday time together. Love the pictures of all the snow. We are very dry and need moisture. Have had to sell some of our cattle. It is supposed to be 81 degrees tomorrow, according to the computer weather chart. If any of you want some warm weather for a few days, come on down; we would love to have you.

Kathleen


Photo by Angela Stahlecker Roberson
Standing, L to R: Patricia Dake Meyer (holding grandson Ashton) & husband De Meyer; sitting: Earl & Kathleen Stahlecker, Ashley Meyer & Janice Dake.


UPDATE -- Christmas in Texas and a birthday
by Angela Stahlecker Roberson
Hico, TX

I just wanted to pass along these pictures from our Christmas in McGregor at Stanley Dake's house. Stanley, Kathleen, and Patricia had their families there, along with Grandma Lois Dake. Although we did miss getting to see Carol's and James's families for the holidays, we had a great time visiting with family.

We had a Texas-style Christmas supper with barbequed brisket, sausage, beans and cornbread, fried jalepeños, iced tea, and lots of desserts! Grandma had said that she didn't want any gifts this year as there wasn't anything she needed -- so we all decided to give her something that everyone needs ... rolls and rolls of toilet paper! She just laughed and clapped her hands. She said that she was thankful for something she could actually use! Ha!

It was also my 29th birthday, so my mom brought a carrot cake (my favorite), and I got to celebrate all day long. That's the thing about a Christmas birthday ... nobody ever forgets!

All in all, we had a good time with lots of laughs. We hope you all had an equally fun and safe holiday weekend.

Happy New Year to everyone!
Angela


Photos by Angela Stahlecker Roberson
Stanley Dake tells a story, left; Trevor & Tracer Roberson & Hannah Meyer (Patricia's daughter) watch Grandma Lois Dake open presents, right.


UPDATE -- the Printz family gathering
by Carol Printz
Sidney, NB

We set a temperature record for Christmas day in these parts. It was in the high 60's ... and the newspaper said Denver set an all time high record of 69 degrees that day. So needless to say, we didn't have a "white Christmas." No doubt we'll be getting some winter in the months to come, though!

We had a "record number" of family and friends here for the day on December 24 ... 50 of them. Our house isn't THAT big ... but we heated up the garage and set up extra tables there, and it all went very nicely.

It would have been great to get in on my immediate family's get-together in Texas at Stan's and Janice's for the holiday ... but we're hoping to get down that way in the spring for a visit instead.

I'm enjoying The Bulletin as usual ... every time I see pictures of your grandchildren, Shari, it takes me right back to when you were a little girl ... they look so much like you!



L to R, back: Chassidi, Larry; front: Shawn, Lori, Tammy, Shirley.

UPDATE -- Christmas with the Ostendorf family
by Lori Chap
Maple Grove, MN

Shawn and I celebrated Christmas Eve with his family at his parents' home in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Shawn's parents, Larry and Shirley, were gracious with gifts and goodies! We dined on fondue steak and shrimp, baked potatoes, salad and much more!

Shawn has one sister, Tammy, who has one daughter, Chassidi. Chassidi just turned 18 on Friday, the 23rd, and is a senior in high school. She celebrated her birthday by going to the Minnesota Wild Hockey game, which was a surprise gift from her mom. The rest of us were able to celebrate with her on the Wednesday before, at Olive Garden.

On Friday, Shawn and I and his parents headed down to the Holidazzle Parade and enjoyed a wonderfully warm December evening. Though the crowds were plentiful and parking garage full, a good time was had by all!

Our next stop was Ashby for Christmas Day and evening. (I won't go into too much detail as I'm sure my mom will send an update with photos). We enjoyed Beaver's famous open-fire grilled steaks, time just sitting around chatting, and watching the kids (and Beaver!) tear open presents.

On Monday, my mom made us all a wonderful brunch before everyone headed off in their separate directions again. Though our time in Ashby seemed short, it was fun and relaxing.

It was a busy, yet fun-filled week and weekend! I hope everyone else enjoyed the same!

Lori


Shawn & Lori, left; Holidazzle Parade float, right.


UPDATE -- Chap Christmas pictures
by Joe & Linda Zitzmann
Eagan, MN

Here is a picture of our granddaughter Shyanne Spurzem and grand niece Caity Chap at the Chap Christmas. It was held in the school library in Cokato to have enough space. Notice Caity's pink coat ... that's from Uncle Chris Chap. [The second photo is from Chris, who also celebrated Christmas with his girlfriend Jessy Wolff's family.]


Shyanne & Caity, left; Jessy & Chris, right.


UPDATE -- California Christmas
by Glen Lee
Santa Barbara, CA

Yesterday, we had a quiet Christmas Day, and since the weather was still cooperating for the better, I barbecued the prime rib roast with oak bark with fresh herbs from the garden in front. Actually, I had to prune the rosemary from a small hedge that we have in front of the bay window, with the last of the thyme from summer that is dried.

It has been getting cool within the last few days before this warm spell. The leaves are almost gone from the deciduous fruit trees, but one of my tropicals, a yellow guava, is full of little green fruit which would ripen shortly.

I have the week off, and Jayna and Shane are driving up to Yosemite National Park for the weekend. I thought that you might like this picture of the newlyweds, Jayna [Lee] and Shane [Swenson], taken yesterday, Christmas Eve. We had a picnic on the bluffs overlooking the beach to see some big waves coming from the south.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Glen


Jayna (Lee) & Shane Swenson.


UPDATE
by Russ and Barb Dewey
Ashby, MN

A very happy holiday season to all of you!

I just want to say thank you again and again for all your hard work with The Bulletin. It was perfect getting one today! We appreciate your hard work and time in getting it together ... and thank you to all who contribute.

My most favorite is the stories of everyone's lives ... the travels and the pictures, tales from far away places. (Thanks to Flat Stanley, too.) I guess you can't have a favorite in The Bulletin, can you? It is all wonderful. Thanks for everyone who takes the time to type and share their lives.

I don't know if my iMac can share our Christmas picture with you ... we had it done at the State Fair by Russ' brother, Chuck, who had a stand in the Little Farmyard. It isn't a particularly flattering picture ... but most everyone bursts out laughing seeing it ... so that's what we used.

Chuck is a web page designer ... If you want to see his latest production of his children's Christmas book, Mr. Gonopolis and His 12 Holsteins -- How the cows saved Christmas -- go to www.woundedcoot.com

Thanks again and again for sharing your hard work with me. Love and Blessings in the New Year,

Barb


Russ & Barb Dewey at Minnesota State Fair.


UPDATE -- Sailor recruit: Zachary Bratten
by Patty and Don Anderson
Isanti, MN

Here's Zach's address. Currently he is a sailor recruit. He will have the rank of E3 when he graduates from training. We expect him to be there another 8-9 weeks.

SR Bratten, Zachary C
Div 079 Ship 14
Recruit Training Command
3410 Sailor Drive
Great Lakes, IL 60088-3510


UPDATE
by Ben Johnson
Ashby, MN

Merry Christmas, Grandma.

Once again it has been a long time since I wrote. I am now working my winter job of hauling sugar beets in Wahpeton, which I started about a month ago. So if any of our Wahpeton readers see truck number 22 before noon, it is probably me.

I finished well drilling for the year just before deer hunting, so I took a week off to relax and hunt. Deer hunting was successful again this year; as a group, we got 12 nice deer and I got two of them, including my first buck. Other than that, I haven't been doing too much.

I've done a bit of snowmobiling and I went ice fishing for one night, but that has been the only entertainment I've had.

Now, for Christmas, I will be spending some time at the farm, at Ashley's, and next weekend with Mom. Do you have any big plans for the holidays? Tell Grandpa Merry Christmas, as well, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Ben J


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN


Photo by Lori Chap
Jayce, Becky & Caity Chap on Christmas Day.

Beaver's Christmas Eve Birthday

It was probably the most quiet birthday Beaver has had for years. We had none of our family at home, so we called up Mom and Dad and the four of us went out for a lovely meal at Arrowwood, one of the few open restaurants in Alexandria. We had good food and a great visit, including stopping back at their apartment for some dessert.
 
Christmas Day we had a bigger group to help him celebrate his birthday. Here you see him admiring his gifts; from the "kids" he got new skis and from the grandchildren and me the new boots to go with his skis. I'm sure he'll put them to good use!


Beaver, Donna, Dorothy & Don, left; Beaver, skis & boots, right.


Update on Coni

To re-acquaint those of you who might not have heard the news, Coni is Weston Johnson's girlfriend, since early last year (Bulletin 145). Two weeks ago, Coni was informed that she has a very rare form of cancer, adrenal cortical carcinoma, with a spot on her liver and another on her lung. It is an aggressively growing tumor, so there was a feeling of urgency and great frustration for all of us that it was happening over the holiday season, as that slowed down the whole process of finding out whether anyone could do surgery to help her.

North Memorial Hospital referred her to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Coni went there Tuesday, December 27th. They said the tumor on her adrenal gland has invaded the vena cava, the major vein returning blood from the lower body to the heart. This, along with the relatively large size of the tumor, makes surgery to remove the tumor risky and not necessarily the best course of action.

The clinic set up a date for Coni to visit the National Cancer Institute in Maryland on Wednesday, January 11th. They are doing research on adrenal cancer, working on a drug that helps chemotherapy work on the adrenal gland. The adrenal gland normally works like a pump and pumps the chemo out immediately, making it ineffective. The new drug's purpose is to stop the gland's "pumping" action, so the chemo can do its job.

Coni will undergo tests on January 11th to determine whether she would be a good candidate to participate in the research project, but the doctors feel that she is very likely to be accepted into the program. After conducting their own examinations, the doctors at the Institute will determine whether surgery should be attempted, or whether they want to try the new chemo/drug combo first.

This cancer is so rare, even in the elderly, that we feel fortunate research is being done on it, giving Coni hope of beating the odds. Please add her to your prayers!


Coni & Weston


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

Happy New Year, Everyone

I want to thank you all for helping us publish The Bulletin successfully now for well over three years. Haven't we had fun! It has been great meeting and making new friends ... meeting relatives ... (a mixture of Dakes, Andersons, Mellons, Johnsons, etc.) ... along with several assorted friends (who should count as extended family).

I am making a New Year's Resolution and I am hoping you will help me fulfill it:

I HEREBY RESOLVE THAT EVERY ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO RECEIVE THE BULLETIN WILL HAVE AT LEAST ONE ARTICLE IN IT THIS COMING YEAR!

Just remember ... the first thing you should have done was give us an introduction to yourself. (It is only polite -- with so many families represented, we can't possibly know everyone!) The fact is there are several of you who have not done this ... but it is not too late.

So if you haven't sent us an introduction, please do. Remember to include an explanation of how you are related to (or are friends to) the Matriarch ... and then tell us a little (or a lot) about yourself. What do you do for your work and your fun? Include as much as you care to about your family.

Here are some other types of articles that make good, interesting reading: Updates, Travelogues, Miss Hetty Society Notes (weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc.) We run recipes, memory pieces and other stories, essays and even poetry from time to time.

And please continue sending us photos -- we love pictures!

And now a little pitch about some special photos for us to use in the Guess and Foto-Funnies columns. The authors are asking you to share some of your special photo gems to keep them in production.

You may hear from me again if you procrastinate ... and if we get deluged we will line them up and publish them when we find room ... but we want to hear from everybody!

Loving Best Wishes for 2006
The Matriarch


Don has gotten his shop established in our present HUGE garage area. It is truly a wonderful gift to have an area where we can store our "extras," maintain a shop with the tools on display for use (not stored in boxes), and where there is room for me to get loaded into the car without touching foot to any ice or snow ... and then plenty of room for Don to load and unload the Jazzy without having to be out in the weather to do it. It is true grandeur, as far as I am concerned.


A garage for all seasons, with art on the walls and neat as a pin, too.


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):

I may be way off on this, but is it possible that's my dad? [Roland Mellon] And if so, then I'm guessing that's Diana next to him. If I'm wrong, please don't publish this. I wouldn't want the world to know I couldn't identify my own father.

Dan Mellon
Alta Loma, CA

Editor's comment: Oh we can print it, all right. That is indeed your dad (Roland Mellon). He is standing by his first cousin and we will see if anyone knows who that is!


May I guess? The first picture is Rolly Mellon and my sister Blanche!

The second picture, left to right in the back row, is Jim Miller, LeRoy Dake and Don Anderson; middle row is Blanche Miller, Vonnie Dake, Dorothy Anderson, Gertrude and Foy Blackstone. The good looking older couple are Amy and Bill Dake! Now wasn't that easy? (Because I just happened to be there, at their 50th wedding anniversary!)

Uncle LeRoy Dake
Blaine, MN


YES, I know those people in the picture on the right! That is the DAKE family, and I can claim to know them all, in their day! Don't know the young man by Gertrude -- kinda remember seeing him several times but can't remember his name.

Tom Miller
Madera, CA

Yes, that is our cousin Rolly and our sister Blanche, but what interests me is the expression on their faces. Rolly is smiling so big, and Blanche looks like she was about to smack him. And our family picture -- my how young we all looked ... can hardly remember those days!

Gert Pettit
Howard Lake, MN


LTD Storybrooke

Off Track
by Larry Dake

Something wasn't right. I released my seatbelt, opened the cab door, and climbed down onto the left track of the new John Deere 750 bulldozer.

Whoa. The track was sagging -- and at an odd angle to the bulldozer! I felt like my heart was going to stop. I jumped down onto the ground and checked. Yes, the heavy left-hand track had come off the drivers.

My boss, the ranch manager, had been so busy keeping the ranch running, he hadn't had time to come over to sheep headquarters to operate the bulldozer himself.

We needed the feed alley built; the sheep would be coming next week!

The feed bunks were to be set down each side of a level dirt pad cut out of the side of the hill above the lambing shed. The pad would be 40 feet wide and 400 feet long, with a cul-de-sac on the end large enough to turn around a semi.

I'd told my boss, over the two-way, that I'd run a John Deere bulldozer before, and that I could get started with the earth work. He was reluctant.

But he didn't see how he was going to get the job done, either. I took that as a yes, and got started with moving dirt myself.

What I didn't tell the boss, was that the bulldozer I'd run was a much smaller model, and that I'd only driven it about a hundred feet to park it up on top of a pile of dirt. That had been a number of years ago, at a construction site near downtown Minneapolis. I was manning a water pump for a construction company at the time. I'd been called on the radio and asked to park the bulldozer on top of the peak of a large pile of dirt. The idea was to prevent vandalism.

Back at the ranch, since the conversation with my boss over the two-way radio, I'd been bulldozing on the side of the hill for several days. I was cutting rock and dirt out of the uphill side, and filling it in on the downhill side.

It was a wild ride. The bulldozer was hydrostatic; it could go from forward to reverse, spin right to left, instantly. It had three rippers on the back. I would set these into the rocky ground and rip the length of the pad. The rocks beneath the surface would bust explosively. After ripping back and forth several times, I'd blade the loosened soil and broken rock with the fancy, all-hydraulic-tilt-and-angle bulldozer blade.

Once, I had backed over rocks with both tracks -- simultaneously. The back end of the bulldozer went six feet up in the air, teetered, and came down with a spine jarring crash.

Thank goodness for seatbelts and a high-tech, shock absorbing seat!

Another time, a rock busted and the bulldozer rocked so violently that I hit the left side of my head on the right side of the cab.

Now, at the moment the track had derailed, the joystick to the left track had become unresponsive.

The still shiny -- new -- bulldozer was leaning downhill over the derailed track. The track and drivers were partially hidden in the loosened dirt and rock. They were inaccessible to any of the heavy-lifting machinery that might be required to get the track back on its drivers.

The boss wouldn't be very happy.


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Special Days
January 1---New Year's Day

This Week's Birthdays:
January 3---Brandon Hellevang
January 3---Virginia Dake McCorkell
January 4---Nathan Hill
January 4---Harry "Junior" Anderson
January 5---Jayce Michael Chap (7 years old)
January 5---Krista Rae Wieland (6 years old)
Happy Birthday!

More January Birthdays:
' 
January 11---Brandon Harvey Lehtola (3 years old)
January 15---Shea Ashley Birkholz
January 19---Trevor Jayce Roberson (5 years old)
January 20---Lois Dake
January 22---Timothy Thomas Mellon
January 24--- Marloes deBeen
January 30---Whitney Anne Johnson

January Anniversaries
January 24---David "Beaver" and Donna Anderson Johnson (12 Years)
Z

January Special Days
January 1---New Year's Day
January 16---Martin Luther King Day

Miss Hetty's Mailbox:

Happy 6th Birthday, Krista Rae!

Krista Weiland, born January 5, 2000, left; with big sister Shalana, 9, right. Krista's & Shalana's parents are Steve & Marci Weiland; grandparents are Rich & Verlaine Weiland.


Happy 55th Birthday, Beaver!

Thanks for the birthday card! I'm having a lazy day, went out for a snowmobile ride, may get up enough ambition to go for a walk yet...

Beaver Johnson
Ashby, MN


Happy 21st Birthday, Koen!

Miss Hetty,

Yes, we have had Koen's birthday. Now he is 21 and he has reached the age of adulthood (so help me). No! No! Just a teasing.

Just precise at 18.09 p.m. on December 26th, he became 21 years old (young).

We had a cake for him and he liked it very much, all that attention about this day. 21 years ago his weight was 4176 gram [9 lbs. 3 oz.] and 49 centimeters [19-1/4"] long. Now he is +/- 75 kilos [+/- 165 lbs.] and 1.92 meters [6' 3+"].

Frans deBeen
Oosterhout, The Netherlands


Koen DeBeen with birthday cake.


Happy Birthday & Anniversary, Carol!

Thanks for the lovely birthday and anniversary e-cards!

As all of us who share December special occasion dates would already know ... it seems that there isn't time for much "celebration" because there is usually a lot of other activity going on at this time of year. However, Harold and Cody fixed a nice "birthday brunch" for me here at home and invited several friends over for my birthday.

As for our anniversary ... well we "celebrated" with supper at McDonald's, half-way between here and Denver, where we were meeting Austin's mom and stepdad to return him after he spent a week of his Xmas vacation with us. You'll have to admit it was unique, anyway! :>)

Carol Printz
Sidney, NB


Miss Hetty Says

The indexing spider has been sent around to do his monthly task and all issues of The Bulletin should now be fully searchable again.


Illustration © Virginia McCorkell

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

Thanks for the wonderful Bulletin articles throughout the year. It is much appreciated and I'm very fond of many of the articles and commentary. I look forward to the new edition every Saturday. Keep up the good work.

Have a wonderful holiday season.

Shawn Ostendorf
Rogers, MN


Hallo Dorothy (and the rest of the people),

Dorothy I hope I made some nice pictures for the magazine that (I would like to mention clear) that those people who make this every week possible make me happy and as I mentioned some months ago I wait for the next edition. I do like it very much.

Those people make a nice Bulletin. I do hope to read it for many times. I know it sometimes difficult to find something useful for you to send an article that has all of your interest but ...

Dorothy have all for you a nice and healthy New Years Day and a good 2006 from us in Holland.

Take care and ................. greetings from a cold Oosterhout.

Frans deBeen
Oosterhout, The Netherlands


Koen & his sister Marloes (16 years) and a picture today: SNOW!


My Dear Aunt Dorothy and the rest of the Family and Friends,

The girls and I read The Bulletin very quickly yesterday, before we went to Stanley's for supper and the evening with the rest of the family, (except, of course, Carol's and James's). I had to just scan it so asked the girls to save it so I could read it at my leisure. So, I just got back to it this morning.

I want you and the rest of the regular contributors that help on a regular basis to know that we appreciate all you do. It helps to keep those of us that are so far away connected to our loved ones all over this great land called the USA.

It is amazing to hear from California (Uncle Tom), to Texas, to Florida and then up north to Nebraska, South Dakota and then over to Minnesota and feel like you are sitting in a living room for a morning chat. Enjoy all of the articles/ stories that each contribute,

We really see my and Earl's experiences in a lot of Larry's stories. We spent the first few years of marriage on the ranch there in southern Colorado. Our life was cattle ranching while Larry's was with the sheep ranching, but still very much the same style of life. Life was so much simpler then, and we would take nothing for those years, even though there were a lot of hardships.

Kathleen, Earl and Aaron Stahlecker
Gatesville, TX


Hope you and Don had a great Christmas. We had a houseful and they all left a couple hours ago. Nancy really outdid herself with a wonderful dinner. Aiden got more gifts than he'll know what to do with. Austin just looked on in wonderment. Give him another year or two and he'll be right in there with the other kids.

I'm off work for a week. We get Christmas and New Year's Eves as well as the days, so I only had to use three vacation days to get about 11 days off. Plan to play some golf and clean some carpets. Saturday was a Chamber of Commerce day here, but since then it has cooled a little bit with some overcast. By the way, cool for us is a high of 62, rather than a high of 70. Sorry, I shouldn't rub it in.

Happy New Year.

Dan Mellon
Alta Loma, CA


Thanks for the wonderful job you are doing with The Bulletin. We really look forward to having it on Saturday morning, although we were gone for two weeks -- up to Oregon to see our new Great Grand Baby, born October 10, 2005. (Miller Grandma had the most fun sitting and talking to the little one! No one else knew what the conversation was all about, but they did.)

Tom & Lou Miller
Madera, CA


I just wanted to take the time to thank you for all your hard work, along with all the other subscribers who consistently write for The Bulletin. I usually receive my copy from your daughter, Donna (Dee as I know her), but would like to be included in your weekly subscription, if that is okay.

I will try to write something but have to admit I'm far from a writer, so please be patient! Although I have not met a lot of these fine people, I feel by reading your Bulletin that I've become a part of your family.

I especially enjoy reading Miss Kitty's articles, being I'm a cat lover (not that I don't enjoy anyone else's). I also enjoy hearing from The Netherlands as I've always been intrigued with other parts of the world, especially since I've barely left Minnesota.

Being Dee's friend, I also enjoy reading about her family and Larry's articles make a person believe they are sheep herders, truck drivers, or in the shoe repair business. What wonderful writers you all are and you should all be given a hand for such wonderful pieces you contribute!

I especially enjoy recipes that are included in The Bulletin and have tried quite a few of them, some with success and others with not so much success. I think the Concord Grape Pie was my most unusual, as no one in "these here parts" have ever heard of such a thing. Can honestly say it was my first and probably my last!

Well...that was an old Betty Crocker recipe that was born in "those there parts"! --Ed. :)

I hope sometime within the next week or so I will give you an update of the Larson clan. Until then, just want to give you a HUGE THANK YOU!

Bridget Larson
Ashby, MN


Farewell, 2005

In lieu of the usual review of last week's Bulletin by Betty Droel, we offer a note from the editors of The Bulletin regarding the passing of Betty's mother, Rosalyn Weiland, and another friend, both known to many of our subscribers for many years. Rosalyn Weiland's family celebrated her 100th birthday on July 10th. (Bulletin 162) She suffered a heart attack, a stroke and a fall on Friday, December 23. She passed away on Monday, December 26, in the presence of her loving family. The funeral and burial were Friday, December 30. Condolences may be sent to The Family of Rosalyn Weiland, c/o Rich and Verlaine Weiland, 758 - 109th Ave NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55448 or c/o Roy and Betty Droel, 8080 Groveland Road, Mounds View, MN 55112-5811.

On Wednesday, December 28, Beverly Gulbrandson passed away in Alexandria, Minnesota. A visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Sunday, January 1, at Erickson Funeral Home in Hoffman. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. on Monday, January 2, in the auditorium at the Barrett School, County Road 2, on the west edge of Barrett. Lunch to follow. (Lunch will be catered and friends can bring bars or cookies.) Burial will be at 4 p.m. on Monday in Ada, Minnesota. Condolences may be sent to The Family of Beverly Gulbrandson, 15306 - 160th Street, Barrett, MN 56311.


Rosalyn Weiland, left; Loren Quick & Beverly Gulbrandson, right.


WITH  LOVE


Illustration by Kimberly Johnson; photo of Brooklynn & Caity by Lori Chap

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Quotation for the day: Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. --Dale Carnegie

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.