Today I had the privilege of taking a picture of four World War II veterans in Cokato, James Haapala (Army Air Force in Europe), Theodore Stark (Navy in the Pacific), Rod Stewart (Army Europe) and my favorite George Peterson (Army SW Pacific).
I told George his son Mark was a cracker head and he laughed (Mark has a good sense of humor, if you know him). I was told to be there at 10 a.m. and waited until 10:30 a.m. but the commander still didn’t show up, and so I had to take off for other errands. It’s likely this picture won’t even be used, since Theresa Liepold will submit a photo later, but that’s OK. It was worth the trip to visit with George. What a fantastic guy.
These four men helped save the world. Courage looks handsome, even with the onset of age. They were the best looking guys in the whole place (it was at Daniel’s and the place was packed).
Monday, Oct. 1 is the beginning of a statewide smoking ban and many people think this is an infringement on Americans’ rights. Since smoking isn’t against the law, they wonder what will the government take away next? On the other hand, many people are happy they can now breathe easy. What do you think?
Thanks to everyone who helped in any way for the Mark Blazinski benefit Sept. 22 in Silver Lake. He is a Holt Motors employee who underwent a liver transplant earlier this year.
The person who won the grand prize in the 2007 Ford Taurus car raffle is declining to accept the prize, so the Silver Lake Fire Relief Assn., which is the sponsoring organization, is working with the state gambling enforcement division to properly take the next steps.
Pictures from the event and list of other cash winners will be in Monday’s paper.
Carolyn Holje of Dassel told a funny, but “awful,” story Thursday about the restroom in the Universal Laboratory museum in Dassel. She was explaining to the Cokato Dassel Rotary the purpose of the $375,000 fundraising campaign to add an annex to the building. The building has only one restroom, it’s not up to code and not handicap accessible.
The Dassel Area Historical Society was hosting a special event in the museum, a four-level building, she said. After viewing a play in one of the upper levels, about 100 people came downstairs to enjoy refreshments, and make a stop in the only restroom. As a result, the sewer backed up and made a mess of what the embarrassed organizers had hoped would be an elegant, cultural event.
Our family visited the remains of Fort Ridgely near in Southwestern Minnesota recently, along with the original site where the nearby Birch Coulee battle took place in 1862. Both are rich pieces of history that recorded the fighting between settlers and Native Americans at that time. Remember, this was about the time of the Civil War. Nevertheless, we had a great time. I strongly recommend anyone to visit these old forts and other monuments (another is Camp Release on the western side of Montevideo).
A former foreign exchange student from Cokato 10 years ago visited the Dassel Cokato Rotary Thursday at Daniel’s Family Restaurant in Cokato. He has since become a doctor of chiropractic. He was from Norway originally, but studied for his degree in chiropractric in Australia. He spoke English very well but he had two accents, one Norwegian, and the other Australian! He had the “G’Day, Mate,” and “Putting the shrimp on the barbie,” lingo down pat.
If Dassel gets the financing for a new water tower, and if the department of health and pollution control agency approve the plan, Dassel will get a new water tower. What will happen to the old empty tower after that?
I hope Dassel keeps it as a landmark for as long as it lasts. The tower is distinctive with its shiny red roof and red rooster logo on the side.
I’ve also always loved the white boat with the portholes that perches on the top of the hill on the east side of town along Highway 12. The boat makes a wonderful landmark, too.
While driving north on Wright County Road 3, just south of Cokato, a driver pulled over to the wrong side of the road to retrieve mail from his mailbox. At that moment cars came from both directions, and there wasn’t a big-enough shoulder on the road for three cars to pass safely.
It was pretty scary. The driver getting his mail finally realized he was causing a car accident and turned into his driveway at the last second. This is a dangerous habit. If your mailbox is on the left side of the road, pull into your driveway and walk to your mailbox. We all need exercise anyway.
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