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Sunday, July 20, 2008
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Photo © Ryan Hellevang
Water fun: Jeff Gauderman at Morgan Lake Retreat.

Updates -


Photo © Ryan Hellevang
Seated: Mavis & Tom Morgan, Angel, Marlee, Jettison, Troy & Alyssa Freesemann; standing: Tytus Myron, Jeff & Jessica Gauderman, Tim, Char & Zach Myron, Merna, Ken, Lindsay, Brandon, Jessica & Ryan Hellevang.

Update -- Morgan Lake Retreat
by Merna Hellevang
Fargo, ND

Tom and Mavis Morgan and their family held their sixth annual lake retreat at a cabin on Second Crow Wing Lake on July 10-13. It was a duplex cabin with a large dining room that connected the two dwellings. Our group of 19 made good use of the two kitchens, two living rooms and six bedrooms.

This was a special weekend to celebrate Tom's 80th birthday. Mavis made a German chocolate birthday cake for the party, which also honored Tim, Marlee and Ty on their July birthdays.


Photo © Lindsay Hellevang
Birthday honorees Tim Myron, Marlee Freesemann, Tom Morgan & Ty Myron.

We took boat rides, did skiing and wakeboarding, and enjoyed the sandy beach. There was even a horse who would occasionally jump out of the boat and impress us with great skiing ability. Jeff and Jessica brought their puppy, Molly, and it was entertaining to watch her retrieve her toy when it was thrown into the water.

A large hammock was a favorite spot for reading, relaxing and swinging. We played games while it rained Saturday. During one Scrabble game, partners Jeff and Zach "Scrabbled" on their first two turns.

It was wonderful to be together and create memories that will be with us for a long time. Ryan has more photos on his website gallery: www.shortyr19.com

We discussed the previous five lake retreats when we were together last weekend. Each holds its own special memories and each place has been so different. We do have a lot of fun together and it's interesting to see the older cousins interacting with the younger ones. They range in age from 3 to 24.


Photo © Ryan Hellevang
Cabin on Second Crow Wing Lake.


Update -- Virginia Adair celebrates 70 years
by Dorothy Anderson
Alexandria, MN

Sunday, July 13, 2008, was Virginia Adair's 70th birthday and, of course, that deserves a good sized celebration.

Daughters Jane Winkler and Amy Eckel decided on an open house in a guest room of Knute Nelson Rehabilitation where Ginny is recovering from a broken hip. The grandchildren of the honored lady helped with the serving and welcomed the guests.

The day was lovely and we all enjoyed the occasion with visiting and with an afternoon lunch of birthday cake, nuts, punch, and coffee.

Happy birthday, Virginia!


Photos © Donald Anderson
Capt. Jack & Ginny Adair, left; grandson Chase, Edna Larson, granddaughter Elana & Ginny, right.


Update -- Virginia Adair's recovery
by Capt. Jack Adair
Coon Rapids, MN

Six weeks ago Virginia (Ginny) had surgery to repair a broken hip. Afterwards, she went into a nursing home for rehab, and was told "no weight bearing on that leg for six weeks." After that she was to see the surgeon again, and with new X-rays and report from the Therapy Department. He would tell her how much weight she could put on that leg, and when to start learning to walk again.

Yesterday the six weeks was up and the appointment was made. You can imagine our excitement, and tentative plans for when Ginny comes home.

Well, we learn not to plan too far ahead.

After the surgeon read the X-rays, he came into the room where Ginny and I and our daughter Jane were waiting with cheerful anticipation, and announced: "We have a problem here!"

There were two upper screws and three lower ones holding the plate that holds the broken parts of the bone together. One of the upper screws had broken off, and the other was working loose! Now we start again at "ground zero." Redo the surgery next Tuesday, in the hospital through the weekend, then back to the nursing home for another six weeks of healing.

Thankfully, Ginny's attitude is remarkably calm and accepting. Things happen, so go with the flow. Remarkable woman.

And I thought I was the only one in the family with a few screws loose.

Nothing final to report on the move to Alexandria, except that ideas and plans are still progressing. I'll try and keep all up to date on both Ginny's condition and moving plans.



Photo © Ryan Hellevang
Tytus Myron & Alyssa Freesemann tubing at Morgan Lake Retreat.


Update -- news from Montana
by Ken and Ruth (Weiland) Kitto
(in Montana and North Dakota for now)

Good afternoon from the middle of North Dakota! Of course, all we Kittos are remembering that miraculous, wonderful reunion ... the first since 1998, with many changes over the years. I will be covering that for you as soon as we put together some photos.

We thought you might be interested at this bit of news: Melvin and Yvonne Boettcher are in Canada -- just north of here. They are going to stop in Minot and see Yvonne's mother (who is also Ardis Quick's grandmother), Julia Sigman. I e-mailed them to call, so maybe we can get together. Minot is about 80 miles northwest of here, so that is manageable!

Again, a big thank you for The Bulletin -- couldn't get last week's till today. Going to have some venison steaks on the grill tonight.



Kristi & Jim, with Jordan, Alexander & Tyler.

Update -- Indermarks
by Kristi and Jim Indermark
Litchfield Park, AZ

It seems like we haven't sent an update in a long time. Alexander is already 5 months old. He is a wonderful baby, very easy going and laid back. Jordan will be starting kindergarten in two weeks. Tyler is enjoying his at home pre-school curriculum. The summer has been really hot down here, but not as bad as we thought it would be.

We are keeping cool with the waterslide and swimming at Grandma Shari's house.


Tyler, Alexander & Jordan Indermark.


Update -- Devan Seaman visits Grandma Shari
by Shari Larson
Litchfield Park, AZ

Devan is spending two weeks in Arizona visiting me. We are having a great time, playing with Jordan and Tyler Indermark on their water slide, swimming in the pool and drinking both chocolate and strawberry milk. Devan is an early riser, 5 - 6 a.m., which is a huge adjustment for me!


Photo © Shari Larson
Uncle Jim & Aunty Kristi took Devan for his "summer" haircut. Isn't it cute?


Update -- to bee or not to bee
by Miss Kitty
Anchorage, AK

You've read about our mailbox, how it got demolished one winter day when the street was a sheet of ice, and the neighbors who replicated the original and installed it in our front yard. And I believe we've mentioned how Miss Jerrianne stopped in to pay the mailbox lady a visit, found her out in her back yard tending her bees and got a tour. Well, naturally, she thought that was a honey of a story opportunity for The Bulletin, and Miss Marti, the mailbox lady, e-mailed us some photos and a story. You can scroll down past the mystery picture and read all about it.

According to Miss Marti, the bees fly around the neighborhood looking for the best flowers in a three-mile radius ... and we're only a few blocks from their hives. We finally got some rain this week, so our lawn is lush with clover and our fireweed is in full bloom. When those bees are ready to dine out, we do hope they will drop in and drink their fill of nectar. We like the idea of our flowers providing honey ... with a little help from Miss Marti's ambitious honey bees.


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN


Photo © Anita Oliva Wolbrink
Anita Oliva Wolbrink and her father, Tony Oliva

Double Birthday Celebration for Olivas

We were invited to share in the double birthday party for Anita Oliva Wolbrink and her father, Tony Oliva.

The invitation stated: Join us for a Cuban Fiesta & Pig Roast. When: Saturday, July 12. Celebrating Birthday Milestones for Anita-40 and Tony-70.

There was a sun in one corner and a little pig with a fork, saying PIG OUT in the other corner. And, needless to say, WE DID!

What a feast! That was an understatement, actually! I think Mike (Anita's husband) said the pig weighed 250 lbs., but I'm not sure. I know it had the snout and all! Delicious, though, if you could get by that part!

They also served Yucca (which the Cubans use instead of potatoes) and rice and black beans, all my favorites! I remember being introduced to them years ago, when we first met Anita. Been a big hit ever since.

They could have quit there, as that's what everyone attending seemed to narrow in on the most. But, there were also salads, fruits, cheeses, crackers and the list could go on and on. I'm not even sure what all else, as I said; those first items were the very most popular to those gathered for the celebration.

And, of course, cake or your choice of a cupcake in honor of the birthday duo. No one should have left with an empty tummy, unless they chose to!

When I got a chance to talk to Tony, I had to tell him I'd been looking for the "old man" who was celebrating his birthday, but couldn't find one. He looks great! Makes 70 look like a kid! (which it is, right, Dad?) Gave Tony a chuckle anyway!

Some of the more familiar faces joining us for the day were Shari, Kelly, Nathan and Devan. I also recognized many of the other guests, although it had been several years since I'd seen some of them. I even got to give a hug to my former, roommate, a cousin of Anita's. That was fun! Got to meet her two girls and catch up a bit.

Then we were fortunate to get to spend the night at Anita and Mike's, so we got in a lot of great visiting.

I want to share how much Anita enjoys The Bulletin (she gave me the go ahead). She shared how much she enjoys reading things about our children, about Wyatt and Jolene and family. Wyatt and Jolene were a young dating couple when she met them the first time. She said it's fun to see what a lovely family they have. (Not to brag, I have to totally agree!)

She also commented on how much she enjoys Weston's writing, too, enjoyed seeing his garden and reading about his many trips, etc. (We also got to visit with Weston, go out for lunch and check out the garden in person, plus his indoor remodeling projects. That was fun, too!)

Anita also said she's really been enjoying the Appalachian Trail Trek.

I'm guessing there were other things she mentioned, but that's as much as I recall for now.

All in all, a wonderful party and a lovely evening!

Happy Birthday, once again, to Anita and Tony! Wishing you both, many more!


Photos © Anita Oliva Wolbrink
Shari Larson & Anita Wolbrink, left; Donna, Anita & Beaver, right.


Tame That Wrap!

Someone shared this with me, I certainly had never known this and wonder if it will be news to others...

Yesterday I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it and looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, "Press here to lock end."

Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked at a box of Saran Wrap and it had one, too! I can't count the number of times the Saran Wrap roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up.


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. Sarah Steinhauer 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.

Mystery picture is Larry Dake and Obama, the incredible escaping llama. :)

Sonja Dake
Durham, NC


I will try and guess who the picture is of, but it is quite a de-llama. The one in the hat looks to me like Larry Dake but I just cannot put a name on the other one.

Rich Weiland
Coon Rapids, MN

Editor's comment: Great guess ... too bad you couldn't get the second guy ... he looks like he would be friendly and intelligent!


That really looks like the cousin Larry Dake that I met some time ago; although a little different than he looks in the new family picture. (Just a little fun Larry; we have all changed.) We also enjoyed his pen and ink drawings.

Earl Stahlecker
Gatesville, TX


Dalai Llama or Dick Cavett? I looked back in the Archives to see if I could find out who the Guess/Mystery is. I don't have a clue. I had first thought that was Larry Dake in the mystery picture, and then again I don't think so. Wonder who it is?

Now I have a supplement to my previous guess. This morning, Roy and I went to see Vonnie and LeRoy Dake. When we got to the door, a man met us and I saw the very same man that was in that Guess picture. Same glasses, same hat, same eyes -- only the llama was missing. So, now I know ... it is Larry Dake, himself.

I asked him, when I had finished gasping at that likeness, if he was the one in the Guess picture and he said he was.

So, please accept this second guess.

Betty Weiland Droel
MoundsView, MN



Photo © Steve & Martha Bolan, left; photo © Joe Gross, right.
Marti's beehive, left; the little girl is Marti's daughter, Morgan. Marti Bolan wears the rounded veil, Ashley Gross, Joe's teenage daughter, is at right.

A Bee Story
by Martha Bolan
Anchorage, AK

Joe Gross is really good with bees. He started with them when he was 8 years old. His dad taught him. His father was the oldest of 17 kids in a family that immigrated from Hungary. They had been beekeepers in their old country. They came over and started a beekeeping and honey business over here. His father had polio, so he couldn't do any lifting, so when Joe was 8, he became his father's right-hand man. I think, as result of the responsibility that was placed on him, he really learned his stuff.

Joe worked with me last summer and this summer and only on one occasion has he ever received a sting, and he has never worn any protective gear. When he comes, it's always more interesting and I learn a lot.


Photo © Steve & Martha Bolan, left; photo © Joe Gross, right.
Joe Gross, left, with bees on his head; Morgan, right, stays calm around bees.

He has the kids come help and he shows them the eggs, the larvae and then he finds a bee that is just emerging from the brood. The kids get to watch it emerge. He shows them (and me) how to identify the newly emerged bees, versus the older ones. He likes to find drones -- they can't sting, because they don't have a stinger -- and hand them to people and ask them to hold the bee for a minute. It usually freaks them out. He's truly an asset. I can't even imagine trying to learn all of this without his help.

I've learned to really start looking at the flowers and when they bloom. It's nice to cultivate this awareness and learn more about nature.

Last summer, early one garbage day, about 5:30 a.m., the bear in the picture came to visit. He was a little show-off. He climbed up and down the wood pile and went all over the garden area, posing for pictures. He was quite cute, until he decided to be interested in my beehive. He went over and put his paw up to it to try and knock it over. At that point, my neighbor started yelling at him and drove him out of the garden with some well-aimed rocks.

This summer, another bear came looking for a treat. He called at about 1:00 a.m. He came in and knocked over one hive. Fortunately, we had them strapped together, so he couldn't get into the hive. He walked over to another hive to mess with it. About that time the bees from the first hive caught up with him and must have found his nose. He ran away with such haste that he knocked the chain-link fence gate off its hinges. He's never been back. Oh, well!

We ended up with 53 lbs. of honey from my one hive last year. It is -- all bias aside -- the most incredibly flavored honey I've ever tasted and we're anxiously awaiting this year's harvest. [Last year there was one hive; this year there are four.]


Photos © Steve & Martha Bolan
Bees surround their queen, which has a yellow dot on her, left; last year a bear came to visit, right. A bear that visited this year didn't stay around for pictures.



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.

BERRY PICKING

In that country, it seemed like every year we had good berry crops. That country had all burned off a few years before. I shouldn't say all burned off, but a lot of it was burned off. Berry picking was always a must in the early days there. You could always go somewhere and find blueberries and raspberries.

In the fall, we picked a lot of berries whenever there were blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, plums, cranberries, even low bush cranberries, those that grew out in the bog. We'd pick hundreds of quarts of blueberries. Sometimes Ma would can way over one hundred quarts. You needed to get a hundred quarts or a hundred and fifty quarts or whatever you could get, because that was your sauce for the year.

That was our fruit. It wasn't for the fun of it or just a little treat in the wintertime. You didn't pick blueberries just to make a pie or two. I don't know what people would have done if they didn't have berries. It was a real necessary something that was done as a part of surviving in the wilderness. Everyone just made berry picking a must. It was all out.

Everybody did this, the whole family, the men and the women and the kids and everybody. It was just like putting up hay or anything else that was done in season. When the blueberries got ripe they stopped whatever they were doing, except haying, and went and picked blueberries. They'd work their berry picking in between their haying and all their other work. That was a must.

In the fall of the year, we'd go pick high bush cranberries and carry them in pails. My dad would make boxes. They were about four inches thick and the width of your back and maybe two feet high. We'd fill them up with cranberries and put some straps on them like a packsack. That worked pretty well.

Ma and the smaller kids didn't go cranberry picking or plum picking. There were a lot of very nice, big, sweet plums out east of our place on what they call the Riley Brook Meadows, Riley Meadows, natural hay meadows. We'd go out there and fill up the packsacks and whatever else we could carry. A little later on we'd go out and get the low bush cranberries. Not too many. We didn't go for that too much.

There was a place out east where Orin Patrow had a hunting camp. There was a little pothole bog where there were always lots of cranberries. When I look back on it, that was kind of pioneering because there wasn't any industry, just a little logging. In those days the price for their wood products was practically nothing. It took a lot of work.


Travelogue t


Photo © Jerrianne Lowther
Wood Lilies, Appalachian Trail, Pennsylvania.


$  A Long Time Ago   !


Photos © Jerrianne Lowther
Kyra climbs "a river of rocks," left; Gypsy Moth caterpillar, right.

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

When you hike 2,000 miles, it stands to reason that not every day is going to be a holiday, but just when the heat, the bugs, the rocks and an introduced pest known as the Gypsy Moth took a toll on our good humor, something else would save the day. After days of hiking through the wilderness under less than ideal conditions, nothing lifted our spirits more than crossing a road on a drizzly Sunday morning and finding a bakery. And not just any bakery, but an AT hiker's legendary oasis on U.S. Route 206: Worthington's Bakery.

"Breakfast began with a whole nut-covered coffee cake, enjoyed in the comfort of a side yard under a broad-branching tree," Mic wrote. "A trip back for jelly doughnuts followed, then brownies, cupcakes, and a large can of fruit juice. Still we couldn't leave."

Back he went for another half-dozen doughnuts. "They were brought to me straight from the fryer, soft and warm and clouding the clear plastic bag. We savored each bite, finishing them off as we walked slowly down the trail."

After 35 years, I still remember how much we enjoyed our breakfast at Worthington's Bakery.

"Rocks. Rocks we walked on; rocks we climbed on; rocks we stumbled and tripped on. Rocks in the trail. Rocks were the trail, in miles-long windrows we couldn't avoid. They'd been just an inconvenience at first. We'd passed one bad stretch before the Susquehanna and only a few more in the seventy miles after that. But after three solid days of walking on rocks we had our fill. Rocks were eroding, wearing away, geologists said, but not fast enough for us. We ached. We were tired. We were frustrated.

"Moments of relief were few and largely intellectual. We followed the trail down a tree at one point, down a tree we hadn't climbed. It leaned at about sixty degrees and provided convenient descent from an abruptly ending ledge. Jerri found wood lilies, arresting flowers with brilliant orange, brown-spotted petals, growing in clumps along the trail. She stopped for pictures of nearly every one. Teetering along the crests of some of the bigger boulder piles got to be interesting at times as we looked through trees and over cliffs to valley scenes below. But our legs and ankles became increasingly sore as the days wore on. We wished the rocks would end, disappear, or that the path would go around them. To our disappointment, the trail would be rocky through the rest of Pennsylvania and into New Jersey as well.

"We'd also seen and lived with enough gypsy moths to last a good long while. Small sections of forest beyond Port Clinton had not been badly damaged, but we'd left those behind and again walked shadeless trail in the heat. The stench of the dead surrounded us. Caterpillar corpses dangled from branches, littered the ground, floated in the water supply. They'd eaten everything, even scrub growth on the ground. In places we found them eating needles of hemlock and spruce as well. The view was of destruction. Whole mountains were stripped brown as far as we could see.

"Through it all we picked blueberries. They were small and sour at first, but Jerri and Kyra stopped to pick them just the same, filling empty half-pound margarine dishes we used as all-purpose containers. They stopped more often when they found bigger and sweeter berries, eating them in quantity out of hand and stirring them into our mid-day pudding. If I'd thought walking behind a photographer tested a man's patience, compulsive berry pickers strained it even more.

"I didn't complain. I wanted to walk, of course, to cover ground and not stop and dawdle all day, but we were doing well. We were actually ahead of where I'd thought we'd be. So I stopped and picked, too, growing restless, perhaps, only because I wasn't that fond of blueberries." --from Walking North, by Mic Lowther.


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Birthdays
July 20---Michael Miller
July 20---Susie Miller Smith
July 24---Donna Jacobson Anderson
July 24---Jeni Larson
July 26---Tytus Joshua Myron
Happy Birthday!

This Week's Anniversaries
July 21---Capt. Jack and Ginny Adair (46 years)
Congratulations!

More July Birthdays
' 
July 1---Suzanne McCorkell
July 1---Jim Smith
July 1---Zachary Elliot Smith (4 years)
July 3---Vonnie Dake
July 4---Brian Lehtola
July 5---LeRoy Dake
July 5---Jennifer Dake Horne
July 6---James Miller
July 7---Kimberly Johnson
July 8---Trenton Loredo Roberson (5 years)
July 13---Zach Bratten
July 13---Ginny Adair
July 15---Tom Morgan
July 15---William Earl Dake
July 15---Sherry Dake
July 18---Callie Printz (7 years)
July 19---Patricia Dake Meyer
July 19---Marlee Morgan Freesemann
July 19---Devon S. Stewart

July 27---Wyatt Timothy Mellon (11 years)
July 29---Heather Henderson
July 29---Colleen Mellon Scott
July 30---Justin Printz
July 31---Tim Myron

More July Anniversaries
Z
July 1---Ken and Amy Dake Harrison (1 year)
July 8---Shawn and Lori Chap Ostendorf (2 years)
July 19---Dan and Nancy Mellon (39 years)

July 27---Larry and Sherry Dake (30 years)
July 29---Charles and Ardis Sigman Quick (36 years)

July Special Days
O
July 4---Independence Day

Miss Hetty's Mailbox:


Photo © Lori & Shawn Ostendorf
Ostendorf family, 4th of July parade in Delano, Minnesota.

Dear Miss Hetty,

Thank you for the beautiful anniversary e-card! We enjoyed our second anniversary day thoroughly! We were on vacation at our lake last week so we enjoyed not only the day off but the whole week! For our anniversary dinner, we tried out a relatively new Italian restaurant in Alexandria called Bella's on Broadway. It was wonderful. We did not get any pictures from our evening dinner but we have various pictures from our week of vacation.

We also have a little announcement to make...

We had so much fun with the first addition to our family that we have decided to do it again! We look forward to having our second child right after the first of the year. We can't wait for McKenna to have a partner to play with. :)

Shawn and Lori Ostendorf
At Lobster Lake (near Alexandria, MN)


I want to send my thanks for the nice and cute birthday card you sent for my birthday today. I did appreciate it very much.

I had a wondeful birthday party on Friday night at Crow Wing Lake with my family of 19. We celebrated the birthdays of Tim Myron, Marlee Freesemann, Ty Myron and my 80th. We had German chocolate cake, which is one of my favorites, and I got the "Happy Birthday" candles all blown out in one blow. (There were 13 of them, one for each letter in happy birthday). Ty is a 13 year old this month, so the candles figured just right for him.

My gift was a Philips NORELCO 8150 XL cordless razor from my family, which I will enjoy using in these future days.

Today, the 15th, my exact day, we had the remaining cake as dessert for noon lunch. You said to write how the day was spent. Well, we feel we had a real productive day. After a trip into town this morning, we washed and vacuumed the boat, pickup and van. Now I suppose it will rain. If we lived on blacktop it wouldn't really matter, but this gravel road tests everyone's patience.

Thank you again.

Tom Morgan
Hope, ND


Photo © Ryan Hellevang
German chocolate birthday cake at Morgan Lake Retreat.


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 once again say thank you for another wonderful issue of The Bulletin. I've run out of original ways to say thank you, so I'll just repeat myself.

As usual I enjoyed ALL the articles and photos. I must say that my mouth is watering at the photo of that platter of freshly caught fish Betty and Roy Droel shared. My father was an avid fisherman. After he retired, if he couldn't find time to go fishing at least three days a week, he felt very deprived and got kinda cranky! He's been gone for over 15 years now, but I still recall the taste and smell of those fresh caught, pan fried fish. That picture and Betty's description made me VERY hungry for a taste.

Goes to show, that even though I'm not blood relation, The Bulletin "family" has much in common.

Again, as I have no original words, I'll say, "keep up the good work." It's a highlight of my day to read the latest happenings, stories of the past, and view the wonderful photos that accompany everything. Thank you so much for your hard work!

Donna Richards
Eden Prairie, MN


I enjoyed the picture of Mai Tai you ran last week. What a pretty cat! The eyes have it.

Kyra Lowther Carson
Mill Valley, CA


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

It was Saturday morning, at long last, and The Bulletin appeared on the screen right on schedule! I can almost set my clock by its arrival in my e-mail. It is always an excitement and anticipated moment as every Bulletin is totally individual and unique in itself. Totally dependent on who will send in the week's items.

The first picture was so colorful, but I had to study it a minute to figure out just what it was supposed to be. Oh, it is a hand, and oh, it is a tree ripened plum. Another photo by Whitney Johnson. Her pictures are so unusual and colorful. We have some great photographers among our Bulletin subscribers, and we thank them for sharing their pictures with the rest of us.

I had heard that LeRoy and Vonnie Dake's family were all going to be here for a special occasion and, according to the picture, they must have all made it. At first I couldn't recognize Larry. I wondered who that man was? He has changed a lot since I first knew him -- in his high chair, eating pancakes for breakfast. Actually, it was Sherry beside him that gave me the clue. Roy and I couldn't identify a few others, either, but the names below the picture helped.

Thanks, Larry, for the Update on the reunion birthday and anniversary. We were hoping for some details on our friends having such a memorable family gathering, and you were the one to give it to us.

So Brian Lehtola has retired from the Army National Guard. That will be an adjustment, not feeling commitment to that service. That was very thoughtful of the Quicks to open their home for the celebration.

That cute picture of Brianna -- is that happiness, or what? Caity looks right at home in the pool. The Bulletin chooses so many cute, unposed photos. Like the one of Kira among the dandelions with that cute hat on. She looks pretty sweet there. Surely, she never cries or is naughty.

The Update from Montana by Ruth and Ken Kitto was fun reading. I just talked to her on the cell phone as they traveled from Montana to North Dakota to visit another of Ken's sons. The cell phone battery gave out so all I know is that their Kitto reunion was just about the most perfectly successful happening.

So will the Johnsons be leaving California? They have had good days there, and plenty of fresh fruit, it looks like. I just heard of the John Crawfords this afternoon from Paul and Melody Trevithick. They told about the reunion at John and Sue's place that Judy Crawford had arranged for the Trevithicks and their families. It must have been a grand, well organized, fun few days.

I certainly congratulate the new LPN! How I would have loved to acquire that, but I needed chemistry, which I hadn't taken, so gave up on the dream. To think of a 4.0 GPA and passing the boards is a tremendous accomplishment. She will never have to wonder if she will find work. Home Health Care will be a challenge, but you can about name your own hours and patients. I am sure you will have busy, wonderful days and interesting experiences. Maybe we will hear more about it in The Bulletin as time goes by.

Oh, what a cute picture of Mai Tai crawling out of the sack. That IS letting the cat out of the bag. What a mischievous expression in those blue eyes! Poor Miss Kitty! Just has to suffer through the cloudy Alaska days. It sounds like they gave Miss Sharon a good time while she was there. She probably had to leave in self-defense. Now, with two cats, anything is possible.

Don and Patty, I love your little corner with the items in it which now include that beautiful painting of one of your own relations. Aren't you the ones who have the log home that we've been seeing pictures of in The Bulletin? I truly admire that home, and I also admire the folks that live in it. I envy every pound you lost, and it would be difficult to keep having such victory.

LTD Storybrooke's art work is the result of hours and hours, I'm sure. The lamb's leg looks like Checker's must have looked.

That was quite a story that Bruce McCorkell recorded about the timber wolf. Pretty scary to find out you'd been parallel to such a critter when you thought it was just another person answering your whistle. I am thankful for the ending of that story being uneventful.

Travelogue always has something spectacular in it, like you would have to travel quite a ways to find the White Mountain Avens flowers. They are blooming where nature planted them, in the wilderness where not too many venture to enjoy their beauty. Thanks for taking a picture of them and sharing it, Jerrianne.

A Long Time Ago gave another, and better, picture of two of the hikers. I loved the silhouette of Kyra and her fishnet top. That was good thinking to all be matching so everyone could easily identify you as a team. I was glad to get all those details of your gear and your friends, the Doerings. I can hardly imagine you having this anticipated day off together, only ending up at a campground. Sounds like it was very enjoyable, however.

Thanks for the special report of the 4th of July picnic at Steve and Marci Weiland's home. It is so much fun to submit something to The Bulletin, and then see it in print and the pictures all arranged so neatly. We do have a professional photo editor on the staff, and she excels. Also, our dear Editor that began The Bulletin with a heart for her family, and after all these years it has grown to include even the rest of us. Thank you, Dorothy.

We got to see that same hand again, only with blackberries this time in the CHUCKLES. That must be a remarkable camera to capture such intricate details (like on the berries), Whitney.

Oh, my -- that Quotation for the day was very thought provoking. About "time." It's a nonrenewable resource. When it's spent, it is gone!

Thank you again for this Bulletin #317.

Betty Droel


CHUCKLES


Photo © Ryan Hellevang
Bottoms up!


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Quotation for the day: Adversity is another way to measure the greatness of individuals. I never had a crisis that didn't make me stronger. --Lou Holtz

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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