Wright News

05/09/2006

Wright News by May 9, 2006

Have you read your e-mail lately?  Well, it seems to be a very time consuming activity.  I spend most of my time just deleting a lot of stuff, but mostly enjoy the emails from friends and relatives.  It’s a wonderful way to keep in touch with people when they don’t write letters.  It seems that lots of people have given up on writing real letters, which is too bad.

Letters can be read and reread and enjoyed for a long time.  I even have a couple of letters my dad wrote to my mom in 1944 and I treasure them.  But, last week I realized that I had 30 pages of e-mails to go through and save or delete.

If you do have any news for the paper, please send it to me via e-mail or snail - mail.

I hear that the U.S. Post Office may be selling a “Forever Stamp”.  This stamp will be able to be used for as long as you have them.  That means that if postage goes up after you buy these stamps, you can still use them and will not need to add additional postage later on.  This means that you can pre-buy stamps at the regular price and if you buy enough of them, they could last you the rest of your life.  This will also help the U. S. Postal Service by getting a huge boost in sales now and being able to invest these profits to earn interest for future expenses.  Sounds good to me.

An event happened last Saturday that has happened every year for the last 132 years.  What could that be, you may ask?  Well, it was the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby.  The Kentucky Derby has been run on the first Saturday in May since 1875 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY.  It ranks as the nation’s oldest continually run horse race.  About 10,000 spectators watched Aristides win the first Derby and the purse was $2,850.  The Derby is also part of the Triple Crown that also includes the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.  This race is for 3 year-olds and each horse carries the same weight, 126 pounds for colts or 121 pounds for fillies.  Only two fillies, Regret in 1915 and Genuine Risk in 1980, have ever won the Derby.

A group headed by M. Lewis Clark established Churchill Downs in 1874.  They built the track on a farm owned by a family named Churchill.  The track opened on May 17, 1875, and the first race was the Kentucky Derby.  The race was one and one-half miles long, but was shortened to one and one-fourth miles in 1896.  The race lasts an average of 2 minutes and 10 seconds, so that means that the total racing time for the past 132 years is under 5 hours and the horses have run a little under 168 miles in total.

I haven’t missed watching the Kentucky Derby for many, many years and have enjoyed every one of the races.  I know that my dad never missed seeing it either.

Shelby Doble, Program Coordinator for Volunteer Services of Carlton County has asked me to announce that the Carlton County Council on Aging Pot Luck will be held on Monday, May 22, 2006 at 11:30 AM at Grace Baptist Church, 601 - 14th Street, Cloquet.  Please bring a dish to share!  (Salads, hot dishes, desserts, etc.) Beverages and table service (plates, cups, utensils) will be provided.  For any questions, call 218-879-9238.

Today, May 9th, as I sit and type the news, it’s my Mother-in-laws 89th Birthday.  Elizabeth Hanson was born in 1917 and has enjoyed a long and mostly healthy life.  She is now a resident at the Villa Vista since her back gave out and she can’t walk much at all.  Her family held a Birthday party for her at the Villa on the 9th and many friends and family attended.

This reminds me that whenever you have a chance, please stop in and see our wonderful residents at the Villa.  Many of these folks were very vital to our communities in the past and they should be given the honor and respect that they so deserve.

Perk Peterson is now a resident at the Villa Vista.  So are Oliver Wydra, Gladys Clark, Hilda Nivala and her sister, Mary McAllister, Ray Holm, Betty Holm, George Balsness, Hulda Hill, Helen Maki, Doris Collman, Walter Martin, Wally Strand, Esther Broadway, Betty Johnson, Ann Rentola, and Elizabeth Hanson.

There are over 50 Volunteers that will be honored at the Annual Volunteer Breakfast on Tuesday, May 16th at 8:30 AM at the Villa.  So, if you are a volunteer at the Villa Vista, THANK YOU!!

Then, there will be an OPEN HOUSE Ice Cream Social at the Villa on Friday, May 26th at 1:30 PM.  Come and enjoy the residents and staff as they up-date the public on the changes that will be taking place at the Villa this fall and winter.

School is quickly coming to an end.  There are only 15 days left as of this writing.  School gets out on June 1st.  The Track, Baseball, and Softball teams are busy with games and events.  Baccalaureate will be held on Sunday, May 14th Bethany Lutheran in Cromwell.  The Senior Class Trip is on May 21-23rd, Senior’s last Day is May 25th, and Graduation is on Friday, May 26th at 8 PM.

The last day for the After School Program is on May 18th.  The gals who run this program certainly have done a wonderful job with our students.  If you or your kids have ever used this program, please thank them for a job well done!!

The last day for OPEN LIBRARY is also on May 18th.  Please check your homes for library books so they can be inventoried for the end of the year.  All Library Books and materials are due on Friday, May 19th.

The PTA will be holding a FIELD DAY at the school on June 1st.  Grades 3-6 will have their field day in the morning and K - 2nd in the afternoon. Parents, Grandparents, etc. are welcome to attend.

There are only about 30 PTA Cookbooks left, so if you want some, come into the school quick.

The Cromwell Harvest Fest is asking for old cheerleading, band, and choir uniforms to be used at the Harvest Fest.  Also, if anybody would want to play their instrument that they played in high school, please contact Judy Koivisto at 644-3752 for more information. Have you seen the cell-phone ad on TV that has the guy standing in front of a urinal going to the bathroom?  Do we really need to go into the bathroom to sell products?  How disgusting!  But I guess this type of advertising works, because I noticed it.

That’s all the news from Lake Rememberthetabako’s and Hello to all the seniors in the Class of 2006!