Monday, August 14, 2006

Don't Forget To Check The Oil

08/14/2006

Congratulations to Tom and Destiny (Muse) Gervais on the birth of a daughter on August 6, 2006.  They named their first child, Aurora Kalan, and she weighted in at 8 lbs, 9 oz. And was 22 inches long.  The proud grandparents are Lonnie and Sandi Gervais of Cromwell and Cindy Muse of Duluth.  This is the first grandchild for both sets of grandparents. 
Robert Suhonen of Operation Mobilization Ministry in Austria recently took a shipment of orthopedic shoes to a ministry working in Kosice, Slovakia.  Karla, GE’s partner, said the shoes from Switzerland were a great hit.  Karla and her husband Brad were able to witness to their neighbors as they distributed the shoes.  Older ladies cried when receiving the shoes, thankful for this practical and necessary gift.  Through her tears, one woman said she hadn’t left her house for three years because she didn’t have the proper shoes. 
Our prayers and best wishes go out to Matt Hakala, 26 of Cromwell for a speedy recovery from cancerous tumors on his leg and kidney.  Matt is at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Mn at this time. Cards can be sent in care of his parents, Mary and Walter Hakala, Jr. at 1455 Kettle Lake Rd, Cromwell, MN, 55726-8136. 
The next meeting of the Sno-Gophers will be at the Clubhouse in Cromwell on August 26 at 6 PM.  This is a date change from the calendar.  A lunch will be served and ALL NEW MEMBERS ARE WELCOME! 
Congratulations to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wright on their 100th Anniversary Celebration held at the church on August 20, 2006.  St. John’s has been a vital part of the community and we wish them the very best in their next 100 years.  May God Bless all those attending the celebration and may they have safe travel to and from this special event.
Our sympathy is extended to the family of Larry Purcell, 81, of Wright who died at home on August 9, 2006. His Memorial Service was held on Saturday, August 19, 2006 at Bethany Lutheran Church in Cromwell at 4 PM.  So to his wife of 58 years, Mary Jean and their children Dan, Larry, Susan, Margaret, Sally, Shirl, Mary Alice, and Nancy and their families we offer our sincere sympathy to you all.  May the memories you have of Larry be with you forever, and may his spirit bless you now and in the future. Larry’s favorite quote, “Don’t forget to check the oil!”.
Please keep in mind that the Cromwell Community Harvest Fest will be held this year on the weekend of September 8th, 9th, and 10th with all the usual events starting with the Steak Fry on Friday Night. 
Congratulations to Jason Line, a Wright Native, who did well at Brainard this past weekend.  He didn’t win his races, but gained in points so he is 83 points ahead of 2nd place Pro Stock racer, Greg Anderson and 108 points ahead of 3rd place racer Dave Connolly.  Anderson and Line are members of the Summit Racing Team.  Good Luck, Jason for a successful Pro Stock Race Season!
There will be a meeting on August 30 at 7 PM at the pavilion in Cromwell to plan a benefit for Brian Saaristo and his family.  Brian, as you may remember, is the soldier who lost both of his feet in a car (Humvee) bombing in Iraq a month ago.  Anyone is welcome to come to this planning meeting and give your ideas.
The Farmer’s Co-op Store of Wright, met on August 10th with over 30 folks attending.  Madelyn Adelsgruber was re-elected to the board.  The Family Pride 4-H Club served lunch, and Bill Haapoja provided the entertainment. The Co-op Store is doing well, but the bottom line was a $5,900.00 deficit.  Financial reports are available at the store.  The big news was a presentation by Lynn Black on the possibility of adding onto the store and there are drawings at the store for you to look at and please give Deb your input on the project.
The singing group, “Hear By Faith” will be presenting a program at Bethany Lutheran Church on Sunday, August 27 at the 10:30 AM Service.  Everyone is welcome to attend.
Congratulations to Zula Matalamaki who celebrated her 80th Birthday on August 13th at Bethany Church.
Ray Gurske also turned 80 on August 11th. Happy Belated Birthday to both of them.
Household hint: Keep a small magnet in your sewing basket to collect stray pins and needles.
Don’t forget to check out my website at http://jkh.cwhanson.com or my email at . I’m getting more and more people emailing me their news and that is great. Thanks!! 
That’s all the news from Lake Seeyouatthefair and have a great week.

A Tribute to Pete’s Winter Whiley

08/14/2006

November 26, 1996 ---- July 22, 2001 at 7:45 p.m.

July 22, 2001 was a very sad day for the Hanson Family.  The day started out good and then it got tragic. About 7:30 P.M. Jennie and Bob Hanson got back from going out to eat with Gene and Zona Turja.  As they drove into their driveway, Whiley, Curtis’ dachshound ran to meet them.  They slowed way down and tooted the horn to make sure Whiley got out of the way.  Whiley’s little legs and rear end bounced down the droveway in such a cute manner.  Both Bob and Jennie commented on how cute he is. 

Well, it couldn’t have been 20 minutes later when Angie drove into the yard and we heard her van stop suddenly and Whiley was gone.  He had gotten under the tire of the van and died instantly.  One of the kids ran into the house to tell Bob and Jennie.  Then, Becky Newton came up the driveway carrying a limp, dead Dachshund.  Jennie took Whiley from her and cradled him in her arms and then laid him on the table out by the garage.  Whiley looked like he should wake up at any minute, but his eyes were clouded over and they knew he was dead.  They were all so sad.  Mandy was crying uncontrollably.  The boys, Dennis and Devon were real sad and asked if Whiley went to heaven.  They all walked around and looked sad.  Angie was so upset, she couldn’t even get out of the car and when she did, Jennie gave her a big hug and told her it wasn’t anyone’s fault.  Whiley just loved to go out to welcome cars and this time he just got too close. 

After a while they picked out a place to bury the dog.  A site under the pine trees on the north side of the driveway was chosen. Bob got a spade and dug the grave.  Devon and Dennis got a towel and wrapped Whiley in it and put him in the wagon for the funeral march out to the gravesite.  Whiley was lowered into the grave and the towel was removed.  Whiley was placed in a comfortable looking position and Bob covered him up with soil.  They all stood around not knowing what to say.  Finally Jennie said a prayer thanking God for giving them Whiley to love and enjoy for the past 4 years or more and they all hugged each other.  Each of the mourners helped to get some rocks from the rock garden near the house and they placed the rocks on Whiley’s grave so no animals would dig him up. 

The family walked back to the house and tried to go on. Jennie didn’t get much sleep that night and Bob couldn’t sleep at all.  He even went out to the gravesite and checked to make sure that Whiley was really dead.  In the morning the rocks had been replaced in the shape of a cross made out of white quartz.  Bob and Jennie couldn’t have felt any worse.  This dog was their son Curtis’ and it was there connection to him while he serves in the Air Force in Hawaii.

Monday, the 23rd was a real day of mourning.  Jennie cried a lot during the day everytime she thought of Whiley or Curtis.  Bob had to go back to work after a 3 weeks vacation and after not sleeping all night, he also had a very hard day.  When Bob got home from work, he sat in a chair outside and didn’t hardly move, then he went to bed.  Each day after went better until Ina Peterson called and asked if she could bring her female dachshund Molly over to visit with Whiley.  Jennie had to tell her that that just wouldn’t work because Whiley had died.  Ina almost started to cry on the phone and said how sorry she was about Whiley. 

Whiley was a great dog and he will be remembered for as long as the Hansons live.  They really miss his feet pitter-pattering on the flooring, his jumping up on the bed and crawling under the covers and sleeping at their feet, his poking his nose at your leg and also his sitting up on his bottom doing the patty-patty when he wanted something.

It’s August 2, 2001 and Jennie and Bob still haven’t had the heart to tell Curtis that Whiley is dead.  This is a job that they will need to do soon, but it will be hard.

The Hansons have had many animals over the years and some of them have died in accidents but this is by far the worst death of a pet that they have had to deal with.  By writing this story down, Jennie has felt healing and is dealing with the death of a true pet in an adult manner.  She never thought that the death of a pet could affect her in such a way.

Written by Jennie K. Hanson in 3rd person. August 2, 2001