The Bulletin
May 18, 2003
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Updates -

The Oldest Mom of the Family
Reports on Mother's Day

What a super Mother's Day! To get all the phone calls, computer generated cards and snail mail ones, to enjoy the gift that came in honor of the occasion when my birthday was here (meaning I have had that to enjoy for a month now), the telephone calls, and then a story dedicated to me and the honor of having my recipe printed -- tell me a mother that had it so nice!

But that was not the only celebrating I did. Before we went to meeting Dad got me a yellow orchid in a little lapel waterer (so it is still nice this morning). It went very nicely on the lapel of my wine colored suit. After Meeting, Kellie, Melinda, Vickie, Martha, and Sarah each gave me a big hug as daughters-in-absentia. Then, not to be outdone, Rod and Simon each gave me a hug for my sons who couldn't be here. What a nice warm feeling! Next Dad and I stopped at the Waffle House and had a brunch.

When we got home, I got the ingredients to a potato salad put together as we had been invited by the family of my former roommate whose name is Jeweldene Bateman, and her two daughters and their families to come on out to a nearby park to the family picnic. Don and I have become family, too. We reached that status during the time the two of us went through rehabilitation together --well, at least as together as roommates can be -- from the broken bones we had fallen for! (joke -groan) When the presents for the Moms got handed out, I was surprised and thrilled to be remembered.

What a great invention: Mother's Day -- THANKS AGAIN, EVERYONE!


UPDATE
ELWOOD ANDERSON FAMILY
by Elaine, with information from Lorene

For those interested in the updates for Elwood's family, I got the following from my notes and what Lorene added when here yesterday. Elwood was a year younger than Donald; he grew up in the Dwight area and married Lorene Jacobson from near Abercrombie. Elwood died in 1966, and Lorene and her daughters moved to California after that, where all reside at this time.

Elwood and Lorene had 3 daughters -- Bonnie, Susan, and Vickie.

BONNIE ... married Peter Saffi and later divorced. She has done accounting work, now does charity work at home. She had Shane, Eric, who was killed in a car accident when 3 years old, and Natalie. Natalie has 2 children ... Andrew and Jarrod.

SUSAN ... married William Wright. He did pastoral work, now works as a broker in investments. Susan homeschools her children now. Their children ... Amber married Brian Bouy who works at writing up sales brochures. They have Audrey, 6, and Helena, 3. Brittany, a dental lab technician, married Dacer Keeley, who is a truck driver, and they are expecting their first child. Lindsay works at an animal hospital, is married to Bradley Merino, who works in sports sales. Both Brittany and Lindsay were married on December 22, 2001. Annalise is attending high school, and Journey and Jathaniel are homeschooled.

VICKIE ... was married to Julio Moro, who died in January of 2002. She works with computers at hotel desk. Her children are Justin, who is a postal worker, and engaged to be married soon... Susie, who visited here with Lorene, works at a pharmacy with films and prescriptions, and 10 year old Matthew.


UPDATE -- New Job
by Becky

Well I found out today what my grades were. On the report I did I got an A and on the presentation I also got an A. My overall grades were: C in Ethics, and in the rest of my classes I got B's It isn't that great.

I also just started my new job yesterday working in a group home in Hoffman, half hour drive from home. This will be every other weekend and some week nights. I am going to keep on helping with the daycare during the day. I will also be working sometimes at the home in Elbow Lake (which is a few miles closer).

My title is Direct Service Support, which means care for clients, cooking, cleaning and supervising. There are four adult males I care for. I get on with them fine and they like me. I am going to be recertified in CPR and will also get my Meds exam done, so I can pass out the meds to them. I start on my summer courses May 29th, they will be done online with a visit to the college a few times. Well that is all for now will keep you up to date.


UPDATE -- New Job
by Ben Johnson (Beaver's son)

Hi all. Thank you for the E-card you sent on my birthday. Everything is going well here. I started a new job a few weeks ago. I now work for a friend of mine from high school. We mow lawns, landscape, and a variety of assorted tasks. Other than that there isn't a whole lot going on. Hopefully the weather gets better for you down there. Thanks again for the card.

Ben


UPDATE -- New Job
by Chris

Grandma,

OK, so I finally am giving you an update on what is going on in my life. I apologize for not writing for such a long time, but things have been kind of hectic as of late. I don't know how much my mom has told you so far, so I will explain from the top. I originally planned on staying in Fargo for six to eight months, because that is how long the management trainee program was supposed to last. But to my surprise, things are going to be moving much faster.

A week or so ago, my manager approached me with an offer to get transferred to the Eden Prairie store to be their second assistant manager in Hardware. I was extremely stunned, but also very excited. My manager and I had spoken a few weeks before that and I had mentioned that I would like to get down to the twin cities area. He then put me on the promotional list and luckily something opened up for me.

I will be starting next Monday (the 19th), and once again I will be living with Lori and Weston. I am starting to get a little nervous now, though, because it feels like I am starting all over again with a different company, even though I will still be with Menards. It will be good to meet new people and this will look really good on the resume for future jobs if the Menards thing doesn't work out.

Well, that is about all I have for now. It's been a long day, considering I moved most of my stuff in a U-Haul today to Ashby. What a way to spend a day off! I will let you know how everything is going in a week or so at the new job. Once again, thank-you for putting the bulletin together.

Love,

Chris


UPDATE
This is from Jayce's Grandma Judy Arens in Wisconsin. Becky had met her in Minneapolis and Jayce had gone for a weekend visit.

Thanks, Jayce, for coming and visiting me. We had fun throwing rocks and blowing bubbles, and playing ball. I'm sorry you were scared of the fire whistles. Kind of spoiled our time at the park. It was so dry outside and there were grass fires.

I'm glad you got to see your dad for a while and Ally (Jayce's half sister). She sure had fun playing with your cars. She's getting big, isn't she? We had fun at Uncle Joe's (Jayce's uncle) and Mandy and Alex's (Jayce's cousin). You like his big plastic submarine with all the balls in it, remember Alex and you would throw out the balls and put them back in. You played his piano and went down the slides in his yard and his Grandma's yard.

Well! I hope you come see me again real soon. I miss you and love you. Thank your Mom for the great pictures of you and Caitlynn. They sure are nice. I like you in the baseball outfit and you are handsome in the picture with the white shirt. Caitlynn looks like a princess. Gotta go.

Love & Kisses
Grandma Jud


The Family Cookbook
Culinary Heirlooms
by Doug Anderson

      As I have promised you for the last two weeks, today's entry is an experiment in contrast and comparison. On April 3rd I received two recipes from Donnie, via e-mail. One of them was today's experiment, sorry, recipe.

      Oddly enough, I received a version of that same recipe on April 4th, this time from my sister, Patty. Coincidence? Could ancient astronauts actually have been the authors of today's recipe? I will let you draw your own conclusions. Put on your lab coats and protective eye wear and witness the sheer magnitude of:

Donnie's Notorious Bean Supreme
(A meal fit for a king, all in one pan!)

Ingredients:
16 oz. can of Van Camp's pork and beans
(If somebody tells you should substitute Peruvian white navy beans, ignore him, use only Van Camp's!)
1 large hamburger patty
(Go ahead, use the hamburger Mom was planning to use for Thursday night's chili; she will never miss it.)
1 small onion, chopped.
6 slices of American cheese

Assembly:
Fry hamburger in large pan over medium-high burner.
Add onions when you flip the burger.
When burger is done, reduce burner to medium and stir in beans.
Cover with cheese and let melt.
Thoroughly blend ingredients; serve.
(Serves one, not enough to share with bratty siblings.)

Now let's take a look at specimen number two: (No pun intended!) Cower before:

Patty Dee's Adaptation of Donnie's Notorious Bean Supreme

Ingredients:
A nice big chunk of ground beef. (A one pound package would do.)
A "single serving" can of Van Camp's Pork and Beans (I think a 12-16 oz.)
3 or 4 slices of American cheese.
Salt and pepper, to taste.
1 onion, diced.

Assembly:
Take the hunk of beef and add the salt and pepper.
Form into a giant-sized patty. (Ego, anyone?)
Fry in pan until done.
If you are watching your fat intake (or you're just not MAN enough to deal with this baby) pour out the extra drippings and give it to the dog.
Take dog to the vet.
Otherwise, leave it in the pan and slide it around. (sheer poetry!)
Add the diced onion and brown a bit.
Pour the can of pork and beans over the patty.
Allow the beans time to heat.
Top with cheese and allow to melt; serves one.
(Yeah, we covered that. YOU are one of the bratty siblings, remember?)

      Patty then adds: "Seriously, this is quite tasty. It is one cooking experience I remember watching. I think he (Donnie) may have had a few variations, but this is the one I remember!"             Thanks goes out to Patty, and of course, the original auteur, Donnie. When he says "A meal fit for a king, all in one pan," I think he means THE King, as in Elvis! Now we know what really killed him!

      Next Week: The last Family Cookbook entry?


Memory Lane

Don has done a collection of "Memory" items and from them I have chosen a few to run in the Memory Lane column. This is the third. --DMA

Farming Operations in the 40's
by Donald Anderson

We farmed the home farm and the SE of section 17 until 1945 when we were able to rent the NE of Section 21, a mile or so east of the home farm. We farmed this land with the 15-30 and WC Allis Chalmers. We got a 10-20 in late 1945 on a farm auction on the Minnesota side for $400, which was the OPA ceiling price. (Office of Price Administration -- in force during the time of war shortages.)

Dad liked to raise flax. We threshed for seven days in a row in 1945 and the price was $12 a bushel. These years helped our family get a good start in farming. Dad was able to buy another tractor and an "H" Farmall made its appearance on July 17, 1946. (Dad's birthday present -- age 50.)

In the next year we were able to improve and paint the buildings. Our two boxcars were then moved to a location north of the barn to be used for grain storage. This move may have been made in 1944 -- I am not sure.

We planted an extension to the grove and made the crooked driveway straight. Elwood used to say, "Able was tipsy when he made the first road." Later it was graveled to make an all weather road. Years before that we had to leave the car up by the road and use a team and sled to make connections. It was my job to bring the team home and put them in the barn and then run across the footbridge over the river to meet the car by the mail box. When coming home the reverse order was used.


Editor's Comments: I have two items that have no available title; let's call them Misc.

Contributed by Barb Dewey

An elderly woman and her little grandson, whose face was sprinkled with bright freckles, spent the day at the zoo. Lots of children were waiting in line to get their cheeks painted by a local artist who was decorating them with tiger paws.

"You've got so many freckles, there's no place to paint!" a girl in the line said to the little fella.

Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head. His grandmother knelt down next to him.

"I love your freckles. When! I was a little girl I always wanted freckles," she said, while tracing her finger across the child's cheek. "Freckles are beautiful."

The boy looked up, "Really?"

"Of course," said the grandmother. "Why, just name me one thing that's prettier than freckles."

The little boy thought for a moment, peered intensely into his grandma's face, and softly whispered, "Wrinkles."


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Call 218-747-2034 or contact flattail_j@yahoo.com or donnamj@yahoo.com

+ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Donna Johnson

I got The Bulletin and it was great! You do such a marvelous job of putting it together...fun reading. Doug's writing captures my interest so much, I hate when the story ends! Such descriptions!!! Dad's and Beaver's were both good, too. Wonder what's happened to our other family members? Was really fun reading about Rylie; Wyatt had told me some of that in an email, but fun to see it again. As was seeing her today (even though she was sleeping. :-)


LET'S GET BETTER ACQUAINTED
by Donna

Hi Everyone,

Thought sharing some answers to various questions would help us ALL get to know one another better. This is the one I'm sending out first. Please, please send me an answer. :-)

Describe the most wonderful vacation you've ever taken. Why was it so great?

Donna


From: Wyatt and Jolene Johnson:

Our best vacation was our late honeymoon, in March of 1999. We went to Cozumel, Mexico, with Jolene's mom and dad, her twin brother Joel and his girlfriend Lynn, and her brother Tyler and his girlfriend Nikki.

We flew in to Cozumel at around 10 p.m. on a Saturday night. There were many taxis waiting around the airport, mostly Suburbans. We found one, and managed to get all of our suitcases in. As the Suburban pulled away from the airport, we began to admire the trees in the moonlight. Within about 15 seconds, however, we were going what felt like 100 miles per hour, down a road not much wider than the stance of the truck. Admiration of the scenery gave way to fear for our lives. I suspect the driver got some joy out of the fearful look on our faces.

When we got to the condo we were renting, we couldn't see much outside, but knew it was right on the beach. It was the most incredible place. It was three stories, with decks overlooking the ocean on each level. Beautiful tile floors throughout, and spacious bedrooms and bathrooms on each level.

Walking out the patio door, it was about 50 feet to the rocky shoreline of the ocean. About 100 yards either way, there were sugar sand beaches at the neighboring resorts. It was a more beautiful scene than anything I ever could have imagined, looking out over the moonlit ocean. The view during the day was also incredible; it is hard to describe the color of the ocean with any other words.

We had an entire week there, so we got to experience a lot of the island. One day we rented a jeep and drove around the entire island. The side we stayed on was the calm side, so it was fun to drive to the windy side, and see what the ocean looks like when the wind gets hold of it.

Our favorite day there was the day we went snorkeling. We rented a boat with a guide, through the lady that we were renting our condo from. We had no idea what to expect, and were very surprised at the good sized boat we walked up to. Our guide took us out to the coral reefs, which were nothing short of breathtaking. The colors of both the coral and the fish were like something out of only the wildest imagination. We saw everything from tiny fish to manta rays.

For lunch, he pulled the boat near a little beach restaurant with an outdoor bar and grill. We ate a great meal, and were entertained by a little monkey running around. We've got pictures of the monkey on my back! Literally.

The food throughout our week there was spectacular. We, of course, ate mostly seafood -- shrimp, lobster, fish, and even octopus (tastes like chicken). I feel like I'm not doing the food justice, but again, I just can't think of words to describe it. We had been warned that we'd be disappointed if we ate beef there, but tried it one evening, and had some of the best steaks we've ever had. The restaurants we ate at were all pretty small, and we were treated with a respect and friendliness I've never before seen.

Best of all, though, was the fact that we were in 70 to 80 degree weather every day, while back home we missed 10s and 20s, and a snowstorm.

Wow, thanks for the opportunity to reminisce. I think it may be time to book a trip again this winter!

Wyatt


CHUCKLES

We took the kids out to eat with us at Melby. I read the kids' menu off to them. Caity wanted a grilled cheese with fries. Jayce said something I didn't catch twice, something cheese and I'd say grilled cheese and he'd say, "No, (now I finally got it!) BOY'S cheese!" He was hearing "girl's cheese" -- not grilled! :-) Got a good Chuckle out of that!

Later he thought he saw a wood tick in Caity's hair, so he stood up and was picking through her hair, as she'd tossed her head before she understood what he'd said. Beaver turned and looked at them and said, "Looks like the monkeys in the National Geographic magazine!" The lady in the next booth made a similar comment about having seen monkeys do that ... gave her a big smile! (She hadn't heard Beaver's remark.) Did look funny!


Our Present Staff:
EDITORS: Mom, Grandma, Sister, etc.
COLUMNISTS:
Doug -------St. Cloud Correspondent - "Family Cookbook"
Beaver------"By Beaver"
Rich---------Mr. In-A-Jam(b) &
Kim------his assistant
Donna------Researcher for "Memory Lane" & "Chuckles"
& Let's Get Better Acquainted