Monday, June 25, 2007

The Wright and Cromwell Area News

06/25/2007

The Wright/Cromwell Area News by Jennie K. Hanson June 25, 2007

There are several Class Reunions planned for this summer and fall.  Alice Lake informed me that the class of ‘55 and ‘56 will meet at the Fireside in McGregor on July 21st at 5 PM.  Then I got this email from Wil Tamminen: “Hi Jennie. Wil Tamminen here. Enjoy your news. Just a reminder that the Class of 1952 is having a reunion at the Fireside in McGregor the July 21st @ 6 PM.  We know many of your readers would like to have graduated in our class so we will accept any and all “Wannabees” for the event.............A fun time guaranteed for all.”

The Cromwell-Wright Auxiliary will hold their annual summer picnic on Monday, July 9 at Noon at Helen’s home.  Please bring your potluck dish to share and your own dinner and silverware.  See you there!

There will be a presentation from the USDA Rural Development department by Julie Claussen at the Cromwell Park Pavilion on Tuesday, July 10 at 2:00. Ms. Claussen will share information on programs for low income Carlton County citizens with respect to home ownership and home repairs.  Please mark this on your calendar and plan to attend.  This is offered to you by the YOT Club of Cromwell.

Eva Alberg was laid to rest on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Cromwell, Mn.  Her funeral was held at Bethany Lutheran Church in Cromwell with Pastor Janeva Stromberg Officiating.  Special music was by the Bethany choir, Melanie Hansen Amundson, Tania Ekstedt, and Patti Almquist.  Pall Bearers were Mike Garin, Sonny Turnock, Franklin Turnock, Richard Turnock, Kevin Turnock, and Bob Reich.  Her funeral was one of the most unusual we have had in the Bethany Church.  Eva requested that there be “No Sermon” and only music and scripture readings.  She felt that music and the words of God are all we need to say.  After all, Eva was the sermon! She lived her life with honesty, caring and unselfishness.

Her sons did disobey her one last time, though and both spoke at the end of the service.  I know Eva didn’t want this, but we did.  It was great to hear David and Brian share their feelings about their mother.  Here is what David had to say about his mom.

“ Mother didn’t want Brian or me to speak at her funeral.  This will not be the first time we disobeyed mother, but it will be my last.  In line with mother’s wishes, I will keep this brief.

We were very fortunate to have had mother for 91 years and as she would say – ‘still had all her marbles’.  Mary Jane and I will miss our phone conversations with her.

I am very proud to have been her son and proud of the contributions she made to the community of Cromwell, which she loved dearly.  The only part of Mother I will not miss was her stubbornness.  If you knew mother, you knew she could be very stubborn at times.  Enough said!

I want to take a moment to thank some people who were very special to mother.  One of these is Laird and Julie Ann Hansen.  Laird, you were a Saint!  Everyday you brought mother’s mail, fed the birds, took her to the doctor, as needed, did odd jobs around the house and most important, you would bring her joy over a cup of tea each day.  Thank You, Laird and Julie Ann for being such wonderful friends.  Mother could not have lived out her years on the home place without your help!

I also want to thank my daughter, Brenda Gairn.  Brenda had a very special relationship with her Grandmother and her visits brought Mother a lot of joy.  I know her passing will leave a void in your life, Brenda.

And last, but not least, I want to thank all of you – Dear Relatives and friends.  Your visits with Mother meant a lot to her.

Mother, I’m going to miss you, we all are going to miss you.

And now Brian would like to say a few words.”

Here are a few excerpts from those remarks.

“ A few good words about a really good mother. Eva had 3 sons and I am Brian, the youngest.  Mother would probably be uncomfortable with good words being said about her.  Or she would in her cute, humble manner joke and say, yes, she was indeed a very fine person. But since she’s not here to stop me, I’m going to continue.  Mother’s not here because she’s in heaven. And that’s not just a mushy sentiment we all like to express about a departed loved one.  It is a fact!  Mother’s there because she chose God’s way, not her way.”

David and Brian’s words comforted us all and we will dearly miss our friend and neighbor, Eva Elizabeth Turnock Alberg.

Zona Turja has been collecting autographs on a dining room tablecloth for many years.  As of this writing, she has 426 names on that tablecloth. There are also 27 Gold Stars on it.  One for each person who signed it, but have now died.

Try to remember that St. John’s is holding their annual Church Supper on June 29th from 4:30 – 7 PM.

The Cromwell Park Pavilion is sponsoring a dance on Thursday, June 28th from 1 – 4 PM. Music by Virginia and John Shogren.

The public is also invited to a concert at Bethany Lutheran Church on Sunday, July 1st at 10:30 AM.  Simple Grace will be performing with the Hitch family from Nebraska. There is a mom, dad and 8 children.  They have been here before and are great.

Madelyn Adelsgruber is again asking for nominations for the 2007 Outstanding Senior Citizen in Carlton County.  Nominations need to be in by July 20th. Please call her for more information on how you can nominate someone. Correction from last week.  Jen Houck of Wright ran the half Marathon in 1:22:41 not the time listed.  Sorry for the error, Jen.

I’ll close with a quote from my sister-in-law, Mary Dahlman of Colorado. She says: “ You work hard to buy things that you don’t need or have time to use.” How true this is.  We all have too much “stuff” we worked hard to buy, and now it sits there unused because we are working hard to buy more “stuff” we don’t need.

Last week, Bob and I went to the Goodwill to drop off a load from the Area Clothing Depot.  While there I met an old friend from MEA and he was getting rid of a whole pickup load of “stuff” as he was moving to Indiana now that he’s retired.  He called this action for simplifying: “Shedding!” I thought that was really a neat way to say it.

That’s all the news from Lake Govisitafriendbeforeit’stoolate and Hello to all the summer visitors in the area.

Monday, June 18, 2007

The Wright and Cromwell Area News

06/18/2007

Wright/Cromwell Area News by Jennie K. Hanson June 18, 2007

There sure is a lot going on even if it is summer.  With June 21st just around the corner, we will welcome the first day of summer.  But, with that day also comes shorter hours of daylight.  It was light out till almost 10 PM this past week.  That’s a far cry from the 4:30 PM time in the dead of winter.  So, I guess we’ll have to enjoy every minute of daylight now.

Lindsay Lally and I just returned from a short trip to Stillwater, Mn to visit with Gayle Nieman and her daughters, Jenifer and Rhea and their families over the 15th and 16th.  Gayle was staying with Jenifer as her husband, the former Lutheran Pastor here, Ed Nieman was helping out in New Orleans with a Habitat for Humanity house.

Gayle has been suffering with back problems, but was able to be up and about while we were there.

The Lakeside Community Club Garage and Bake Sale was a success! Congratulations to the winners of the raffle. The winners are: 1st prize - $40. 00 certificate for Fireside went to Kathleen Thomas of Wright, 2nd prize - Handmade rug donated by Yvonne Peterson went to Karen Mattson of Cromwell, 3rd prize - Diamond Willow walking stick made by Dan Webster went to Laurine Kreitz of Big Sandy, 4th prize - 2 bluebird houses donated by the Tamarack Sportsman Club went to Jim Kulaszewicz of Cloquet. Thanks to everyone who participated in their own way to help make this event the success it was.

The Forest Hill Cemetery Assn. of Cromwell would like to remind lot owners that any ground flowers need to be picked up off the ground no later than June 30th.  Any plants in shepard hook containers or elevated stands can stay where they are as long as it does not interfere with the lawn maintenance crew. We have heard of situations of missing, stolen or damaged plants this year, which is unacceptable.  Any information on these damages or any suspicious behavior should be reported to Carolyn Krogh.  Also, this is a reminder (according to our by-laws) that there should not be any plants or trees put directly into the ground without prior approval of management. Please help us keep our cemetery in the good condition for all visitors at any time.  Thank you, from Carolyn Krogh.

With this announcement in mind, I got a letter from Michelle Clark Hedin which reads: “I was wondering if you could put a note in your news column asking whoever stole the flowers from our son Zachary’s grave if they would please return them, “no questions asked.” We placed them there for Memorial Day (Monday) and on Wednesday when Wendy went to water them, they were gone. Is nothing sacred?  Having this happen in Cromwell which we consider ‘home’ makes it more hurtful.”

So as Carolyn said earlier, if you are driving by the Forest Hill Cemetery, or any cemetery for that matter, be aware of any suspicious activity and please report it.  Thank you.

There will be a presentation from Julie Claussen of the USDA on Tuesday, July 10 at 2:00 at the Cromwell Park Pavilion sponsored by the Cromwell Y.O.T.  Anyone interested in loans available to certain Carlton County residents with low income families for home repair or purchase is invited to come.  Grants for essential home repairs may also be available for those who qualify.  Bring a friend and help spread the word.

Tammy (Hill) McManis of Australia spent a couple weeks in Minnesota.  She visited her parents, Art and Carole Hill, and other relatives.  She also visited with friends in Rochester, MN where she had resided with her family for several years.

Grandma’s Marathon 2007 events are now a part of history.  Several local residents participated this year.  There were 5,263 finishers in the Gary Bjorkland Half Marathon: 2,327 males and 2,936 females. The average time was 02:12:14.  Participating were Beth Hanni at 1:50:36, Arthur Hill at 1:52:39, Diane Hansen at 2:24:06 and Liz Mowers-Aho at 2:28:03.  Art Hill placed lst in his division.  They all are from Cromwell.

Jen Houck, Wright, MN, and daughter of Darla and Rod Houck, ran in the half marathon. Her time was 1:22:41 and she placed 5th in the women’s division, which had 2934 entries.  She placed 90th over all.  Samantha Smith participated in the William K. Irvin 5 K race.  Her time was 20:34. Congratulations to you all!  It is quite an accomplishment and takes a tremendous amount of training and determination.

Oscar Horton and Tina Bailey were married on Saturday, June 16, 2007 in Moose Lake. Oscar is the son of Florian and Glenice Tomczak, grandson of Glen Richards, and great-grandson of Dorothy Richards, Cromwell.  Her parents are the Bill Baileys of Moose Lake.  A reception and dance followed at the Star Club in Kettle River.

Toini and Leonard Aho are proud to announce that their granddaughter, Dr. Kimberly Kalli, daughter of Elaine (Aho) and the late Karl Kalli, received the first grant of $15,000 from the Women’s Cancer Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Mn.  Dr. Kalli’s program is very promising.  She and her team are researching the viability of an immunization-boosting peptide vaccine that they hope will reduce instances of recurrence in ovarian cancer patients.  Karl and Elaine both graduated from Cromwell High School and then lived in Bloomington, Mn.

Congratulations to Jackie (Clark) and David Tuomi on the graduation of their youngest daughter, Hannah, from Horizon High School in Thornton, Colorado. A graduation party will he held in her honor at Grandma Clark’s residence in Cromwell on Sunday, June 24th.

On Sunday, June 24, 2007, at 1 PM, there will be a Pot Luck Suomalainen Kirkko (Midsummer’s Day Celebration) at the Kalavala Park on Hwy 73.  There will be a Silent Auction and the Jarvenpaa Singers will perform.  There will also be supplemental funding by Thrivent.

A grand and gracious lady in the Cromwell Community has died.  Eva Elizabeth Turnock Alberg died at the age of 91 in her home in Cromwell, Mn. Eva has so many deeds to her credit and will long be remembered by her 4-H’ers, church friends, and long time Cromwell News readers.  I think she will also be remembered for her care and concern for so many.  She would send cards of encouragement to so many and I was lucky enough to have received several of these cards, just receiving one about a month ago.  Her funeral will be on June 20, 2007, with more on that next week.

Our sympathy is extended to the family of Martin “Marty” Larsen, age 75 of Cromwell and formerly of Esko who died on June 13, 2007.  Marty lived on Eagle Lake for the past few years and was always present at many of the community events in the area.  So to his wife Donna and children, Kurt, Kristi, and Kari and families we are sorry to hear of your loss.

Ione Heyd Bolstad, Class of ’57, lost her husband, Kenneth on June 22, 2007.  They had just celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary last year. Several area folks including Kenny and Alice Lake, Keith and Patty Switzer, Delores and Sulo Walli and Matt and Jeanne Benson went to the funeral in North Dakota.

St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wright will be holding their Annual Ham Dinner on Friday, June 29th from 4:30 – 7 PM.  This is a great summer get-together.

And speaking of summer get-togethers, the 42nd Wrong Days in Wright will be on July 20-22nd.  All the usual events will take place and there are posters up all over town, but for those of you who don’t live here, I’ll give you a short list of things you can participate in.

Friday includes a Rummage Sale at St. John’s 3 – 6 PM, Flea Market in the Park, Steak Fry from 4 – 7 PM, Cook Shack will be open from 7 – 12, Pie Social at Bethlehem Church from 5 – 7:30 PM, Coronation and Talent Show at 7 PM, Teen Dance starting at 9 PM and Fireworks at Dusk.

Saturday includes Games in the Park All day, Cook Shack, Rummage Sales, Parade at 10 AM, Smorgasbord at 11 – 1, Kid’s Tractor Pull, 11 AM, ages 4 – 11, Horseshoe Tournament at 11 AM, Cribbage at 1:30 PM, BINGO at 1 – 3 PM, a Gospel Concert at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 2 PM featuring Janice Pettit Rollins and friends and an Adult Dance, featuring Minimum Maintenacne, from 8:30 PM – 12-30 AM.

Sunday will feature a Pancake Breakfast at the Big Top from 8-11 AM.  There will also be a Mixed Softball tournament all weekend and the Area Clothing Depot will be holding their “Grand Opening” on Saturday, the 21st, from 10 AM – 3 PM with a $1.00 a bag sale.

Call Dennis at 218-644-3535 or 218-380-2995 for more information. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, July 11th, for the Annual Thrivent Picnic at the Cromwell Park Pavilion starting at 5 PM.  The chapter provides meat, beverages, plates and utensils and members are asked to bring a potluck dish to share.  Contact President, Wayne Thom or VP Karen Mattson for more information.

Last Wednesday, the 13th, I went to the Villa Vista for my Annual Spelling Bee with the residents. The competition was tough, but in the end Betty Johnson won 1st Place, Joanne Mapes came in 2nd and Esther Dearborn came in 3rd.  Also participating and placing were Juanita and Roberta tied for 4th, Francis - 5th, Marion - 6th, John – 7th, Vi – 8th, and Lempi, Hulda, Elizabeth and Sonja participating.  This is always a heated competition and I am always amazed at the spelling ability of the residents.  This Spelling Bee has been held for the past 6 years and Betty Johnson has won it in 2003, 2004, 2005, and now again in 2007.  Last year’s (2006) winner was Joanne Mapes and the first year, 2002, was Lucille Nyberg.

There will be a dance at the Cromwell Park Pavilion on Thursday, June 28th with Virginia and John Sjogren from 1 – 4 PM.

Last week I went to a movie and bought a 20 oz. bottle of water for $2.75. After figuring this out, that comes to $17.60 a gallon, so I guess gas isn’t that expensive when you compare prices.

That’s all the news from Lake Rememberwrongdays and Hello to all of Eva’s family and friends.