Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Wright News

03/21/2006

Wright News By Jennie K. Hanson March 21, 2006

This past week was a very important one for 4 young men from our area. They are Seth, Trace, and Trent Mowers and Robbie Larson.  They have returned from their deployment in the Middle East and were honored at a Welcome Home Celebration at the Bethany Lutheran Church in Cromwell on Sunday, March 19th, 2006.  These brave young guys left our area in August of 2004.  Seth and Robbie were sent to Saudi Arabia and Trace and Trent went to Iraq.  The 3 Mowers brothers had wanted to stay together, but the Army said that they couldn’t in case something would happen to all three of them.

These guys plan to continue their education in the fall, but they could possibly be called up again for active duty.  We are all thankful for their safe return and hope they will be able to stay in the area.

Three Cromwell-Wright Elementary students were named to the 2006 Reading Rainbow YOUNG WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS CONTEST.  More than 4,000 students in grades K - 3rd Grade from 31 area schools wrote and illustrated original stories for the contest, sponsored by WDSE - PBS Channel 8.  Named to the Top Ten for 2nd Grade was Jenna Koenig, Top Ten for 3rd Grade was Shannon M. Genereau, and Top 30 for 3rd Grade was Kaylan Risacher.  Prize winners will be honored at a celebration on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 1 PM at Marshall School in Duluth.

Please try to attend a WRONG DAYS IN WRIGHT meeting on March 28th at the Fire Hall.  Be there at 7 PM.  This meeting will determine if there will be a Wrong Days or not this summer.  Let’s all try to help out and make sure there is a 41st Annual WD this summer.  Call Dennis at 644-3535 or cell # at 1 - 218-380-2995.

Mrs. Kathy Koenig’s 2nd graders held a Food Drive during March and collected a whopping 674 pounds (that’s 720 items total) of food items.  The 2nd grade brought in the most with 186 items, 3rd Grade brought in 115 items and the 6th grade brought in 96 items.  The whole community is to be thanked for their generosity.

Please keep in mind that the PTA Cookbooks will arrive in Mid - April. They are will cost $8.50 and must be pre-paid so don’t miss out.

The Science Fair was well attended on March 14th.  The students in 7th - 9th Grades presented their Science projects to the public on that evening.

The “Parading Puppets” will be at Bethany Lutheran Church on Wednesday, March 29th.  Remember that the Soup Suppers start at 5:45 PM and Lenten Services at 6:30 PM.

The Sunday School kids at Bethlehem Lutheran in Wright will be singing and presenting a program on Palm Sunday, April 9th at the regular 9 AM worship service.  The kids and parents will also be serving a Brunch after church on that day.  Kids will be asked to bring colored hard-boiled eggs, sweet rolls, juice or fruit for fruit cup for the brunch.

That’s all the news from Lake Welcomehometroops! and a grateful Hello to Robbie, Seth, Trace and Trent and your families.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

A BAND OF BROTHERS COMES HOME

03/19/2006

A BAND OF BROTHERS COMES HOME By Jennie K. Hanson Cromwell, Mn March 19, 2006

559 days ago, four young men from the Cromwell area were given a Community Send-Off when they were deployed to Iraq and Saudi Arabia.  559 days later on March 19, 2006 these same young men were welcomed home by the same and grateful community.

Robbie Larson, Trent, Trace and Seth Mowers were deployed from the 216th E Battery of the National Guard Unit from Cloquet, Mn.  They each gave up 18 months of their lives to serve our country in this war torn areas of the Middle East.

The community gathered in August of 2004 to pray and wish them well on their service.  At this time community members were given a small polished black rock to carry with them the whole time they were gone.  These rocks represented the time the guys would be spending in Iraq ("I Rock") and also a reminder to pray everyday for the guys while they were in Harm’s Way.

It must have helped, because our guys came back safe and sound.  Not one of the guys or gals from the 216th were seriously hurt or wounded while they were away.

The Welcome Home Celebration took place at the Bethany Lutheran Church on Sunday, March 19th, 2006 in Cromwell.  The church was filled with family and friends who wanted to thank these guys for their service and to praise God for their safe return.

It seemed that Robbie, Seth, Trace, and Trent were humbled by the wonderful response of their friends and families.  In their own quiet way, they thanked everyone for keeping them in their thoughts and prayers while they were away.

The program started with the singing of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”, a responsive reading of the 27th Psalm, prayers and a slide show that the guys narrated as the pictures appeared on the screen.  There were pictures of Baghdad, car bombings, roadside bombings, bombed out vehicles, including the Army Vehicles, and many pictures of the Iraqi children.

The guys said that they tried to do a good deed everyday, and they especially liked helping the Iraqi Children.

After the slide show, Joan Bloemandaal-Gruett, Billy Switzer, Bob Bjorkland and Jennie Hanson spoke and added to the thanks that others had expressed.

It’s hard for any of us who live in the Cromwell-Wright Area to even imagine what it would be like to spend time in Iraq or Saudi Arabia, but with the help of these guys, we now have a small idea of what it was like.

Before the program ended, Pastor Matt Saarem also expressed his thanks and gave a final prayer.  The program ended with the singing of “Eternal Father Strong to Save” while all the veterans in the crowd were asked to come forward so they could all be thanked for their past service to our nation.

A wonderful lunch was served by the ladies and many people stayed around to visit with each other and the returning soldiers.

So again, Seth, Trace, Trent and Robbie, Thank You and may God bless you in all your future plans.