An engaging couple...
Engaged: Lori & Shawn

Announcement is made of the engagement of Lori R. Chap, daughter of Donna and Beaver Johnson of Ashby, and George Chap of Howard Lake, to Shawn M. Ostendorf, son of Larry and Shirley Ostendorf of Maple Grove. July 8th has been chosen for the wedding date.


Updates -

Scenes from a
Family Holiday
Get Together
(See The Matriarch Speaks)
Kimberly, Gina & Rachel, left; Whitney shows off a lamp, right.


A feast arrayed on the serving bar island in Don & Patty's kitchen.


All 30 or so found seats at a table that ran the length of the porch.


Leona, Brooklynn, Weston & Coni take a break.


Jayce's birthday cake anchors an array of desserts.

UPDATE -- Introducing Larry McCorkell
by Larry McCorkell
Blaine, MN

1. Who am I? Larry McCorkell. For those who really want to know more about me read on, for those who don't, skip to the next item; the name evolved from Thor, the god of thunder in Scandinavian mythology, plus Ketill, a round pot, which evolved into Thorketill, into MacThorcull, the son of Thorcull into McCorkell. For more please email me and I can fill your ears.
2. Who am I? Pretty much what I just described.
3. Who am I married to? Ginny McCorkell, formerly Dake, 33-1/2 years ago, wow.
4. Who are my kids? One, namely Suzanne McCorkell, presently in North Carolina. Actually, I had a little help from Ginny.
5. Who are my grandparents, parents, and siblings? D. Donald and Olive McCorkell. Holm and Esther Hanson. Bruce and Evelyn McCorkell. Mom died and Dad is married to Rosie for 12+ years now. Harlan McCorkell, Mankato, and Lois Holman, Spokane, Washington.
6. Where do I work? Reserve Mining Company for 13 years, Alliant Techsystems for 21 years and Northwest Airlines for 10 months.
7. What are my hobbies? Going to northern Minnesota 1900's old lumber camps. Model railroading the Great Northern in N Scale; genealogy, see above or contact me; Lincoln, he held the nation together; Kennedy assassination, you can take your pick from a to z on what happened; keeping weird (Ginny's term) records of all sorts.
8. Recent book? 1421, the year the Chinese discovered the world. Look at web site http://www.1421.tv/
9. Pet peeve? Amtrak funding
In 2001 the highways got 33 BILLION dollars.
In 2001 the airlines got 12 BILLION dollars.
In 2001 the airlines got an additional 15 BILLION dollar bailout.
The waterways got an unknown amount of probably billions to run the locks.
IN 2001 AMTRAK GOT A MEASLY 521 MILLION DOLLARS.
In 2001 the highways got more than AMTRAK'S ENTIRE 30 YEAR EXISTENCE!
10. Final thoughts? Not original, some of my weird records.
On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.
On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.
Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.
Only one person in 2 billion will live to be 116 or older.
No word in the English language rhymes with "month."
"Typewriter" is the longest word that can be made using letters only on one row of the keyboard.
"Go." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
On average, Americans eat 18 acres of pizza every day.


Background photo by Larry, photo of Larry by Suzanne, Illustration by Virginia.
Larry McCorkell
The railroad hat and pocket protector are Larry's personal trademarks.


Day to Day R
With Donna Mae
Ashby, MN


Jayce blows his candles out at day care birthday party.

Happy Birthday, Jayce!

Jayce is SEVEN! And, he celebrated four times for this birthday -- not bad!

The first was with the daycare children -- cake and presents. He had lots of little hands trying to help with the presents, but was able to hold his own.

Then, in the evening, Grandpa Beaver, Caity and I took him to eat, per his request: Applebee's. The food was great and he even got a sundae with his meal. However, along with the sundae, came the singing waiters and waitresses, singing Happy Birthday to him. He attacked the sundae like he was totally unaware that ANYONE was there, let alone several people singing to him. When they finished and walked away, he looked up at me and said, "They FREAKED me out!" I had a hard time not laughing.

He also celebrated with his class at school, taking along little cupcakes to treat the other kids and teacher. He got to wear a birthday crown and also heard the birthday song, one more time.

His fourth celebration tied in with our family Christmas gathering. He enjoyed the singing there, just a little more than he had the Applebee's singers -- at least this time he looked up! He was a lucky guy and got lots of nice gifts at various times over his long celebration period. Thanks to all who helped him celebrate!


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


Dorothy and her Jazzy get a lift from Donnie's "Bobcat®" loader.

You will not believe the next episode of my life in the Jazzy...

Don has a very sore knee ... uses rather large doses of Tylenol -- ice packs -- and has a hard time getting up and down the stairs and halls ... so he rigged up a hitch and I pull him behind my machine on the old one that he made into a "push" Jazzy, or as in this case, a "pull" one. He has an appointment at the orthopedic clinic to have x-rays and to find out what can be done to fix it up. In the meantime, I tow him down to the garage when he wants to get to the car.

Yesterday our grandson Dan Henderson and his wife, Gina, came to be our chauffeur. He drove our car to Isanti to our son Donnie's cabin in the woods. It is roomy and open and quite rustic. It has no ramp and quite a few steps, so son Don had made a platform and shallow ramp and put straps on their "Bobcat®." To get in, I went up the steps by four people lifting my feet onto the steps and then lifting me while I held onto the rail ... and they lifted my Jazzy up to the porch with the "Bobcat®."

We had a lovely day. He has built a long, four-season porch on the north side of the cabin. I never did find out how they fashioned a table for us all. They have a large, serving bar island (made by son-in-law Rich Johnson), and on that was arrayed a feast. So we sang our grace and then we loaded our plates with the main course. All 30 or so of us were seated at a long table, which went the whole length of the porch.

We had a fun afternoon with a gift exchange game and a white elephant one, too. Lori and Shawn announced their engagement and Jayce celebrated his 7th birthday. A dessert bar was set up ... several have promised some recipes ... and we finished off the afternoon with Happy Birthday.

When it was time to go home, they all agreed they thought it would be safe, easy, and less work if I just rode down on the Jazzy when they lowered it to the ground with the "Bobcat®." My grandsons (all 6 footers) assured me they would all be there to see that nothing happened to me to endanger my life or limb ... and I rode safely down to the cheers of all the guests.

Dan and Gina drove back with us to where their car was waiting. They helped us back upstairs and thought their grandpa's tow lady was pretty competent. They stayed for another 30 minute visit and then headed for their apartment in Fargo.

Don's knee is still very painful, but he does get around a little better.

I am not sure how much I have told each of you, so I will just publish it in The Bulletin and maybe you will already know it all, but anyway ... you for sure know now.

It stayed so nice and mild yesterday and we even had a little sunshine ... but today it is snowing again ... so we were fortunate it held off until today.

A Jolly New Year to You All!


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 know the second picture! [Harry Anderson] Jr., Doris, and Lori Anderson!

Janie Anderson
Dwight, ND


The couple with the graduate is my brother, Harry [Anderson] Jr. and his wife, Doris, along wtih Lori, their daughter. The little boy is Lori's hubby [Keith Mason] and his mom.

Elaine (Anderson) Wold
Wahpeton, ND


I sure know the people in this week's mystery photos! The little boy on the left is a late-1970s photo of my husband, Keith Mason, with his mom, Aggie. And for the photo on the right, that's me, Lori Anderson, with my parents, Jr. and Doris Anderson, at my college graduation. I can't believe it's been almost four years since I graduated -- time flies!

Lori Anderson
Irvine, CA


What is this all about? The Bulletin readers respond:
(see top photo in Bulletin 186)

Of course this lady has seen snow! She's an undercover FBI agent investigating a crime scene. Pretty good disguise, huh? --Patty Henderson

I think the woman is looking at an egg dropped from a bird with the Avian bird flu. --Elaine Wold

This lady is participating in a government sponsored research project investigating the properties of the world's first genetically altered snow, which is obviously faulty, as it refuses to melt! (And she's a bit afraid that it may be starting to pile up!)

She is saying goodbye to her friend Frosty, the snowman. --Miss Hetty

It's about fear of global warming -- will she ever see snow again? --Miss Kitty

This lady just got pelted with a snowball and she's mad as a hornet. Trying to figure out who threw it, she's taking pictures of the evidence and looking for the all elusive fingerprints. --Curt Henderson


LTD Storybrooke


Esteban and Domingo -- sheep herders from Peru -- flank the Dake family (Sherry, Amy, Sarah and Larry) on New Year's Eve, 1987.

Travelogue t

Greg Dake and Sonja Maness left Raleigh, North Carolina, for Shanghai, China, on Friday, January 6, and will be traveling until January 28th. It's a business trip for Greg and Sonja is going along. I think they are taking extra time for sightseeing while they are there. They have set up a web log to use while they are gone, so we will have interesting travel news to look forward to! (Greg is the son of Ernie and Carolyn Dake, grandson of LeRoy and Vonnie Dake, and nephew of the Matriarch, Dorothy Dake Anderson.) -- Auntie Ginny (Dake) McCorkell


Sonja & Greg

Leaving North Carolina

January 5, 2006. Prior to leaving for Shanghai, we tried to get our personal schedules turned upside-down as much as possible. Shanghai time is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. The last night before flying out we didn't sleep at all. We woke up around 11:00 a.m. Thursday morning after going to sleep at 3:00 a.m. (Greg) and 5:30 a.m. (Sonja). It helped me stay awake that I was logged into World of Warcraft (hereinafter referred to as WoW), and got into a Battlegrounds game in Alterac Valley. The game ended at about 4:30 a.m. and I fell asleep about an hour later.

The rest of the day, Thursday, January 5th, we spent doing last-minute errands and explaining to my parents how to care for the fish tanks, cats and ferret. We tried to get Greg some more jeans but JCPenney didn't have any of the kind he likes in his size. We'll just have to find some here in Shanghai; it'll probably be a lot cheaper anyway. We bought another power converter kit at Brookstone in Southpointe Mall, as well as quite a bit of chocolate at the Godiva store. The Godiva goodies are for gifts for Greg's host on the site here, and the people he will be working with for the next two weeks.

We went to Best Buy to look for non-online computer games for entertainment on the long flights ahead but found nothing. We went into Wal-Mart for marine batteries and power inverters, so that should power go out at our house, my parents can use the generator for heat and the batteries to run air pumps to keep fish alive.

We got home and finally got down to serious packing around 7 p.m. We were still putting the final things into suitcases at 3 a.m. We left the house at about 3:45 a.m. My dad drove us to the airport, which was a big help and saved us a good bit on cab fare. Even with my Vibe's one seat put down in the back we barely fit all our luggage in. Packing for three weeks in a strange country means lots of luggage. We brought all the jeans we own that fit, as well as two weeks' worth of shirts, both short and long-sleeved, and socks and underwear items.

We packed a mini-pharmacy of over-the-counter medicines that we might need, because we were told ahead of time that you probably won't find them in China. We brought Tylenol Allergy-Sinus, DayQuil and NyQuil, Immodium AD (hopefully won't need that because we are very carefully NOT drinking the tap water here, unless we boil it here in our hotel room. But if we need it, we have it.) Tums, etc., etc.

We arrived at RDU [Raleigh/Durham International] Airport right at 4 a.m. Our first flight was to Chicago ORD leaving at 6:15. We got there and got in the International check-in line just in time, because by 4:15 there were easily 50 people behind us in line. There were maybe a dozen ahead of us when we got there. We got boarding passes for all three flights there; we just had to go to the United Airlines counter to get them for the San Francisco SFO to Shanghai PVG flight. Getting boarding passes ahead of time was good because they overbook all international flights. I was happy to find I had a window seat, which meant I could prop my pillow against the side of the plane and snooze.

We got through Security pretty fast. They asked to run a check on my laptop, which was a first for me. They didn't ask Greg, though. I had it back within five minutes so it was no big deal. I just managed to be the random one they picked, I guess.

We then waited until the airport cafe opened at 5 a.m. and bought bacon, egg and cheese bagels and bottled water for our breakfast. It wasn't very good food, but it was food. It turned out to be good that we ate then and didn't wait til we got to Chicago, since we were delayed getting off the plane there.

The plane from RDU to ORD was a commuter plane, pretty small. I thought it was pretty cramped, but I was wrong. The seat in the commuter plane was luxurious compared to the seat I'd spend 13 hours in going over the Pacific. There were several empty seats near us at the back of the plane, so once we were on the way, Greg moved to an empty seat across the aisle and promptly went to sleep.

I stayed awake hoping for some sunrise pictures out of the plane window. I got some pictures but since the trip from RDU to ORD was northwesterly, I didn't get to see the actual sunrise. I got pictures of the horizon and the light coming up over the clouds though, that I hope turn out well.

January 6, 2006 7:20 a.m. We landed in Chicago five minutes ahead of schedule, but now we are waiting for them to fix the jet tunnel so we can disembark. We will hopefully have time to make our connection to San Francisco SFD. The people in the seats ahead of us are not happy with the delay; she says no way they'll make their flight now. Other people are standing in the aisle of this tiny plane, waiting to be let out. The captain just announced they are bringing in stairs so we can disembark that way if the tunnel isn't fixed by the time they arrive. Sounds like a chilly proposition; it's about 30 F. and, of course, windy.

And just as the temporary stairs showed up, the tunnel is fixed and off we go. The flight attendant (an African woman with an accent that is fascinating to listen to but sometimes hard to understand) said, "Miracles do happen, the tunnel is repaired!"

to be continued...

Photo Editor's Note: We plan to serialize Sonja and Greg's web log and illustrate it with the photos they are posting, but there is far more material available than we will be able to fit in The Bulletin, so we will also provide the links to the blog and pictures, for those who are interested:

Web Log: http://sonjas-travels.blogspot.com/

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66036192@N00/


Celebrations & Observances
From the Files of
5
Hetty Hooper

This Week's Special Days
January 16---Martin Luther King Day

This Week's Birthdays:
January 15---Shea Ashley Birkholz
January 19---Trevor Jayce Roberson (5 years old)
January 20---Lois Dake
Happy Birthday!

More January 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)
January 11---Brandon Harvey Lehtola (3 years old)

January 22---Timothy Thomas Mellon
January 24--- Marloes deBeen
January 30---Whitney Anne Johnson
January 31---Larry McCorkell

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:

Krista Rae Weiland Celebrates 6th Birthday

Krista turned six years old, and it was an event, let me tell you. She had looked forward to this birthday, telling everyone it was 10 days after Christmas. Her mother's side of the family was having a Barbie party for her, so Rich and Verlaine and Roy and I, her dad's side of the family, decided to have a Snowman party.

The time was set. So, we all gathered up all the gifts we could find for a six year old, and arrived to find a beautiful house decorated with Snowmen and snowflakes. The cloud over this was that our 100 year old mother, Rosalyn Weiland, had fallen in her assisted living residence, which resulted in her death a few days later. The Snowman party had already been scheduled and we hated to change it, as Krista was so excited and didn't understand the anxiousness in our hearts.

So, we felt we would have this at Sunday noon, as we needed to eat anyway. There is a picture of the table. Note the napkins and plates and the snowman place cards, and the snowflake glasses. Rich had made huge paper cut snowflakes and had them taped to the ends of the fan blades over the table and they slowly turned while we ate. Her mother made a red Jell-O with a snowman and snowflake, decorated with a whipped cream bomb. Then there was a bowl of snowman noses, as you see -- the long, orange things.

Finally, the 6-year-old couldn't wait any longer, so she quickly posed with her six fingers, and then ripped into her gifts. One was a cozy, soft comforter of faux pink fur. She just hugged that to her, and of course she had made out a list so lots of things she really wanted were in the packages.

I would have a much more detailed story, but being there was the sorrow in our family at the time, it was hard to enter into a gaily arranged birthday. This is just a little mention of Krista Rae Weiland's 6th birthday party. A pretty sweet little girl.

Great Aunt Betty Droel
MoundsView, MN


Krista holds up six fingers, left; snowman theme decorated table, right.


"Snowman noses," left; and a whipped cream snowman on Jell-O, right.


We had been going so fast and doing so little for so long it seemed, and it was getting to be mid afternoon.

I said to Roy, "Let's go and eat somewhere. Real "FOOD, FOOD," not Mexican or Oriental or fast food, just a real meal for strength -- quietly sitting down, please -- and I do not want to cook."

So, he turned the next corner, and we went to Old Country Buffet -- perfect, because there we could pick out whatever we wanted.

Time went by and there we were, over full, just sitting there "people watching," when all of the sudden in walked "Bitzi" and Larry McCorkell. So, we just sat there until they got their food and came to sit with us. Oh, what a wonderful fun time we had! We kept interrupting one another, because we had so much to talk about. We just never, ever get together, but we really enjoy their company.

We talked BULLETIN. We talked about the first picture of the last Bulletin, and Roy said he just knew it was Bitzi, and I said, "But her hair is different," -- and Ginny just smiled. So, we discussed a caption for it, etc., and I can hardly wait until the next issue to find out just who this lady is.

She said that she doubted many realized how much you editors do to make The Bulletin what it is. What expertise it takes to build a web page (she lost me on that term), and how long Jerrianne works to create and recreate what is sent in to her, etc., and how Dorothy edits so it makes sense, etc. (I wonder if your ears were burning? They should have been.)

Well, we had to leave, so we couldn't talk longer, but it would have been just more Bulletin conversation, I'm sure. Larry said, "What did Ginny's life consist of before The Bulletin?" I thanked her for the beautiful work she did, making my mother's picture so lovely.

What a nice evening!

Betty Droel
MoundsView, MN


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

In the Guess pictures in Bulletin 185 I didn't know the little boy making cookies, but the other two were LeRoy and Vonnie Dake in front of the Dake HOME! Been there and done that!

I really enjoy the news from The Bulletin and seeing some of the "other" Dake family in Texas. I wish Stanley could get his fingers working and let us hear from that corner... Glad for the letter Kathleen had in last week's Bulletin and always glad to hear from Carol, too. Know the "Dake" kids had a nice time at Christmas time and it seems to be following an old tradition from back in the days of the Gandy era.

Thanks again

Tom and Lou Miller
Madera, CA


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

I just laughed and laughed at the poor lady in the first picture. I just knew it was a creation by Bitzi by the coloring and design, but I know it's not her, though Roy says it is. Her hair is not that color, nor is it combed that way. It will be very interesting to find out who it is, and what on earth she is doing.

Such an interesting update from southern California. Some of Don's family for a change. I enjoyed the very nice pictures.

I was especially admiring the UPDATE of the Arrowwood 50th birthday, as we have been there, so could visualize it all. Rich and Verlaine love going there on a holiday. Such a very well written story, so we could almost see and hear and smell all the happenings. I even recognized some names, but likely not the faces had there been more pictures. Sounds like they had a wonderful time, and no one had to be the host and hostess to do all the work of it. Too bad there wasn't a picture of the "grooming kit" -- It sounds hilarious.

I appreciated reading about the first Christmas without Russ. Very brave lady to sit down and send that interesting story to us, as we have been wondering about Diana. It was so horrible that she fell, but the end was good when she and Honey made it home. The fall into the ditch all by herself was actually serious.

Oh, thank you for the beautiful tribute to my dear mother, Rosalyn Weiland. That looked like Bitzi's work again, which will always have pink and purple in it. I valued seeing that, and could hardly wait to show it to my family and some friends that stopped by. Thank you for printing her story, too. Strange how two such gracious, useful, special ladies had funerals the same week. Beverly, and Mother. We saw Loren last night. He seemed very resigned that he wouldn't have his mother.

I remember Curt Henderson walking into Dr. Tom Miller's office when he first began his thoughts of being a chiropractor, so I was keenly interested in the UPDATE from him. Such a good picture of him and Patty. I can imagine Don and Dorothy are excited, too, about this "Sammy" baby.

The Happy New Year from Donna Mae sounded like they were a lot younger than we are. We slept the new year in. But, whoever could stay up would have had great fun.

I wish we were closer to bring you some dinner, Don and Dorothy. No fun being laid up, especially when it's the chief cook. You are already both using that bigger garage for storing things so you can find them back. Oh, the Levi picture was just so typical of how a fella feels a lot of the time. It was so darling. You could sell that one!

I had to look back to page 2 at the Harry Anderson family to GUESS the pictures this time. But the pretty lady in the first picture must be Snow White at Disneyland. I know it isn't, and will be interested to see who it actually is.

We would have been very disappointed not to have this chapter from LTD Storybrooke, Larry. It sounded like you have one great wife as your "right hand man."

That is the first time I've seen a first hand report of a story like Beaver wrote. To experience a hurricane would be unforgettable, but his situation of being in the Army to do all that work was a side we don't hear from the media. So interesting, and strange they couldn't have furnished decent food to those valuable men. They can go to the moon, but critical things like soldiers' rations are neglected, it sounds like.

We finally got some word about Kjirsten... We need an update now and then about her Texas studies and environment, and activities. We are interested. Not too many we know that are studying to be a doctor, and we have to see her through this very difficult accomplishment.

I hate to comment or I may scare Bitzi out, but I was thrilled to read a Miss Hetty letter from her. I'm afraid Larry would have competition if Bitzi would just write more often. It was so interesting! And I wonder what color Dumpster she got for her birthday. I'm hoping it's a pink one with purple streaks.

I read every single word of every single LTTE in the last issue, and hope more folks will send their comments, as I know it must be a source of inspiration to you editors, Dorothy and Jerrianne, to know we do appreciate the time you spend to make it such a professional and valuable Bulletin. Each one is a keepsake in itself. Each family gets a turn on the pages, and we enjoy getting better acquainted with you all.

The grief over losing my mother was softened by the kind words of sympathy and thoughts expressed by caring friends, and I want to send a special thank you for that. If I could use pages and pages it wouldn't share what all has happened in such a short time, and what a nice funeral from start to finish. It was a severe snowstorm that day, but many came out in spite of it. Empathy is surely felt with Beverly Gulbrandson's family as I know them well.

Roy and Betty


CHUCKLES


Illustration © Virginia McCorkell; photos by Jennie Horne (Ethan's mom)
Ethan Horne is two ... going on three...

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Quotation for the day: Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity. --Joseph Addison

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.