Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Wright News

03/09/2005

by Jennie K. Hanson March 9, 2005

Boy, these sunny days sure have been a Godsend.  It seems that even if the weather is cold, the sunshine really helps lift ones spirits.

Our sympathy is extended to Gilbert (Dawn) Kinnunen on the recent death of his mother, Aili Kinnunen.  Aili just celebrated her 90th Birthday on November 19, in Moose Lake.  Her funeral was held at Bethany Lutheran Church on March 5, 2005 with Rev. Hal Kamppi officiating.

The elementary school is again collecting food for the local food shelf. Mrs. Koenig’s 2nd graders will be collecting food March 7-18th.  The class that donates the most items will win a prize.

Firearms Safety Classes will begin on Tuesday, March 29th at 6 PM at the school. Instructors this year are Pat and Tyrel Messer and Pete Koenig. Call the school for more information.  Students must have turned 12 years old to participate.

The Cromwell Community Arts group is looking for local artists to come and share their work on April 30th at the 1st Community Art Show at the school. The event is intended to introduce all forms of art to our community, including performing arts.  Call Jeanne Weimer at 644-3953 or Sam Clark at 390-2974 to sign up.  The deadline is April 15th.

Wade Schultz and Courtney Messer are proud to announce the birth of their daughter, Ryanne Rose, 7 lbs, 9 oz. on March 2nd, 2005.  This is the first grandchild for Bob and Marilyn Schultz and also for Courtney’s parents.

The ladies of Bethlehem Lutheran Church have met for their WELCA Meeting. Plans are underway for their Annual Mother-Daughter Luncheon on May 7th at 1:30 PM.  The featured speaker will be The Rev. Christine Anttila from the Twin Ports Ministry to Seafarers, Inc.  Remember all women and girls are welcome to attend this special event.

The next Lenten Service at Bethany in Cromwell will feature Sharry Waldriff on March 16th.  Soup supper at 6 PM and program at 7 PM.

Then on Saturday, March 19th at 7 PM, the Accord Brass Quintet Concert will be at Bethany in Cromwell. They will also perform at both church services on Palm Sunday, March 20th.

There will be a Chinese Musical at the school on March 30 from 2 - 3 PM. This musical will be presented by the Ying Zhang’s Greater Minnesota tour. Ying Zhang is an award winning Chinese composer and woodwind performer.  He has just won a McKnight Composer’s Fellowship and as part of that grant will perform in schools in our area free of charge.  This program will tell about the 9,000 Years of Music and Stories from China and will last about 50 - 55 minutes.  Thousands of school children throughout Minnesota have enjoyed Ying’s music and his amazing and rare instruments.  This is a rare opportunity for our students and I’m sure it will be enjoyed by all that see it.

The next Dance at the Cromwell Park Pavilion will be on March 24th at 1 - 4 PM.  The Fat Dutchman will provide the dancing music.

Bonnie and Doug Suhonen have returned from a trip to Ireland with Bonnie’s mother.  They report having a wonderful time and the scenery was just fantastic.

Don’t forget that there will be NO SCHOOL on March 21- 28 for Spring Break. Graduation is scheduled for May 27th.

I’ll close this week with the names and addresses or some of our local serviceman serving in the Middle East. Spc. Larson Robert, or Spc. Mowers, Seth, D/Co. 1-172 AR, APO AE 09852 ; Spc. Mowers, Trace or Trent, E. 216 ADA 1-184 Inf., APO AE 09364’ Robert Kedrowski, 9582, 530 1 Ave., Box K 271, Shepherd, TX. 76311; and MA3 Thom, Michael S., PCS 451 SEC., FPO AE. 09834-2800 Be sure not to use your own return address on these letters but instead put the Army National Guard address of 801 S. Hwy 33, Cloquet, MN 55720.  This is for security reasons.

That’s all the news from Lake Godblessourtroops and Hello to all the Lind’s, especially Melvin who is in the Moose Lake Nursing Home.

Sunday, February 27, 2005

POOL IS COOL, WEST OF WRIGHT

02/27/2005

Wright, Minnesota, 2-27-05 By Jennie K. Hanson

What could an 18-year guy and an 86 year old man possibly have in common you may ask?  Well, on Saturday, February 26th, I found out.  That was the day I went over to 86 year old Leonard Aho’s home to get aquainted with a bunch of guys from the Cromwell-Wright area who get together once a week during October through April to play a few rounds of pool.  This happened to be the day they chose for a pool tournament, so there were guys from as far away as Mora, Minneapolis and Big Fork, MN. This particular tournament had 22 guys entered and they always draw for partners before all their pool matches.  Leonard says that this keeps the play fair and everyone has an equal opportunity to win and a chance to meet new guys, also.

Leonard has two pool tables in his basement so play goes pretty fast.  They were playing Round Robin when I got there and had been playing for about 2 - 3 hours so the tournament was just winding down.

The first guy I met when I arrived was Jim Rebrovich from Big Fork.  He has been coming to tournaments for the past 4 years and got to know Leonard from playing Horseshoe in the summer months.

Next, I noticed brothers, Robert and Darren Dahl.  Robert is the 18-year-old guy and he’s been playing since he was just a kid.  But, they weren’t the only brothers there.  Chet and Chuck Thomas from Tamarack Lake were also participating and in fact they had brought the lunch for the day. Usually Leonard’s wife, Toini makes a lunch for the 12 to 14 regular guys who play on Mondays.  Also in on the fun was Jens Bertelsen, Tim Olesiak, Lincoln Hansen, Aaron Aho from Mpls., Sulo Walli, Bob Beck, Kenny Lake, Jason Taylor, Bill Sorenson, John and Shawn Pietz from Mpls., Duane Shaffer, and Bill (Goat) McCarty, from Mora.  Several of these guys only participate in the tournaments.

Leonard starting having a few guys over for pool about 10 years ago and now he has had to add another table because of the great interest.

Once during a match, the 8 ball went in acorner pocket, but no one knew who hit it, so it had to be spotted on the table and play continued.  I thought tempers might flair, but play continued in a gentlemanly fashion.

Not knowing a lot about pool, I just listened and tried to keep out of the way.  But, some of the comments I heard were: “Just kiss the ball, You shouldn’t have tickled it, and that was a double kiss.”

There was a real rivalry for 3rd place and the room got deathly silent while the last game was played.  Jason Taylor missed an easy shot and that let Sulo and Shawn move in for the kill.  Everyone shook hands and seemed to really enjoy the day.

Around 1:30 the play was over.  1st Place winners were Bill Sorenson and Chet Thomas, 2nd Place, Duane Shaffer and Bill McCarty, 3rd Place, Sulo Walli and Shawn Peitz and 4th Place to Kenny Lake and Jason Taylor.

I overheard Tim Olesiak saying, “ All in all, this is the best thing I have ever done.”

So, if you are of a mind to play pool, give Leonard Aho a call and he may have to add an extra day to his pool schedule.  They may have one more tournament in April, but after that the pool queues will be hung up for the summer and the horseshoes will come out.