The Mailbag

From Tom Obert:
Dear Trailboss,
I haven't checked in for a while - Mom's had health issues (we're all at that age) but she seems to be doing OK now. I received an e-mail from Judy Blanchard, so she's aware of the blog site and reunion. Also received a phone call from Lorlee Bartos who was in town over the holidays. It was nice to hear from her - last contact was probably the 25th reunion.

We also had sad news yesterday - Les Engstrom, class of '61 (and thus only 61 years old) died yesterday from a stroke. Class members may not have known Les (as I did not until we moved back here), but I'm sure most knew the Engstrom family and his sisters, Carol and Linda, who were closer to our age. Our thoughts are with them. -- Tom Obert, Alexandria

Del Fladwood checks in
Sara Smith Sevey recently emailed everyone from the Class of '65 with a membership at Classmates.Com. Her efforts bore fruit Monday when Del Fladwood checked in. Del lives on Grand Ave in St. Paul and promises photos and a note soon. Great to hear from you Del! -- --Trailboss.

Joe Drexler has a summer home in Alex
Stan: I received a note from Sara Smith Sevey about the Roundup at the Corral in Nelson, BUT not before my mother had asked me if I had seen it in the Alexandria paper. Yes, I have been getting the Alex paper for at least the last eight years.
In 1996 we bought a lake home on the west side of Lake Osakis and spend about half our weekends there. The Corral is a place we visit often on Saturday evenings and, of course, the LOW CARB. breakfast brunch on Sunday mornings. I will send more info and pictures when I get more time. Thanks to everyone who has helped to get this all started and I will be in Nelson on Aug. 6, 2005. -- Joe Drexler, Hastings, Minnesota

Trailboss's Mom joins posse

Later Friday morning. . .

Hope everyone enjoyed turkey day. I spent mine in Mankato with 20 extended family members. My brother, Steve, is married to Nancy Sonstegaard (daughter to Teri and the late Buzz of Alexandria) and they always put on a big spread for the Rolfsrud side of their clan on Thanksgivings.
A highlight yesterday was a pre-dinner phone call from Knute Nelson where our dear mother today will check out to go home after an extended hip replacement/broken leg ordeal. Mom said Thanksgiving grace over Steve's speakerphone and, of course, we had to sing the Doxology back to her. (You had to be there.)
Anyway, while recovering at Knute, Mom met a kindly Knute employee, Gordon Peterson. Gordy is a Class of 65er, so, like a good mom, Beverly went ahead and queried Gordon on his upcoming class reunion at the Corral in Nelson. Gordon, who lives south of Garfield, hadn't heard anything of it yet, so the Trailboss got a maternal phone call implying somebody better do a better job of publicizing this thing for people who don't log onto the blog.
Okay, Mom. But there's lots of time left. We'll get somebody on it.
Maybe Obert could drive out to Garfield and give Gordy a cordial invitation when the time comes. And please, it's at the Corral in Nelson, not at Knute Nelson. At least not yet.

Trailboss Stan

Beverly Roers Korkowski's seven grandkids
After seeing her grandkids on the class web site, Bev sent this note to the Trailboss: "The picture of the grandkids just makes me smile every time I look at it.....most people try to have everyone smiling and looking good, when in reality, this is the way it REALLY can be!! Joseph on the far right started crying, then Evan (the curly blonde on the left) got scared and he started screaming, while Ellie on the right really didn't have a clue what was happening. The best part of this whole picture taking experience was that this grandma and grandpa were at their own house, recuperating from a week at the lake with many of them! --- We saw a former Jeffersonian last night while out for dinner in Champlin, Jerry Teeson." Alright, members of the Class of '65. Take up the challenge and send Stan YOUR cute grandkids' photo! We need some new material here. If you can't email it, snail mail it to Trailboss, 2355 Abbey Point, Shakopee, MN 55379. We'll get it up right away, with appropriate editorial comment."

Bev Roers Korkowski works down the "To Do" list

Hey, Stan:
I am finally tackling my "to-do list" and getting you the bio I promised weeks and weeks ago! With dad's recent death, and then a subsequent week with a 2-year-old grandson, I was lucky to brush my teeth and bathe! Memories were relived and made with both events..........

As many of those already responding have mentioned, it doesn't seem possible we'll have graduated 40 years ago. My mind, like Sara's, keeps tricking me into thinking I'm much younger, but alas, my body tells me otherwise! Cliff and I have been married for 37 long years (I'm just kidding, honey!). I met Cliff right out of high school at a cousin's wedding dance at the Algon Ballroom (remember that?). He was considered "the older man" (a whole 4-1/2 years!) and quite the dancer. We went out three times the first week, and after the third date, he told me he had met the girl he wanted to marry. Being quite naive, I asked who she was, thinking "why in the world are you dating me then?" When he told me it was me, I told him he was nuts as I had no intention of getting married for a long time. Long story short....we got married two years later with three little ones following in the next five years. (What we were thinking?)

Our three children are all now grown and have provided us with seven great little ones. Paul is 36, lives in Rochester, Minn. with wife Susan, and has Alex (7), Anna (6) and Adam (7 mos). He is our computer guru and keeps mom and dad's computers in top form. Jennifer is 35 and lives in Boca Raton, Fla., with husband Joe and Joseph (3-1/2) and Ellie (not quite 2). Jennifer is a second grade teacher and taking a year or two off to enjoy the kids. It's great to have a nice warm place to visit any time we want to hop on a plane! Lastly, daughter Amy (32) and husband Shawn also live in Rochester with Evan (2) and Isaac (4-1/2 mos). Amy is in her last year of a GI fellowship at Mayo Clinic and will have been in school for 28 years straight when she's done (God bless her!). For those of you who haven't had the dreaded "scope", I can always refer you!!!

First lady?
Cliff and I were hometown residents until 1988 when we moved to Winona MN (an absolutely gorgeous part of Minnesota I wasn't aware of) where Cliff became president of the Winona Technical College. We spent five wonderful years there before the state mandated mergers of many technical colleges, Red Wing and Winona being two of them. He got the job of merging the two as its president, but it was not a marriage made in heaven! We lived there for two years but it was a constant uphill climb as Red Wing wanted no part of being merged with Winona. Thankfully, the presidency of the Anoka-Hennepin Tech. College became available in 1995 and we moved to Andover, where we've been ever since. We never thought we'd wind up in the Twin Cities, but after only a couple of years, we knew this was where we wanted to stay. Cliff took a retirement from the MnSCU system after 30 years, and after a little more than a year of driving me nuts, he went back to work. He now manages a non-profit for Anoka County which deals with transportation issues for those in need, the largest percentage being single moms. He loves this totally different career and says he's planning to work a long time (thank you, God!)

Latin paid off
Other than having three babies in rapid succession, I did attend the Alex Tech right after graduation for the medical secretary program, which turned out to be a great fit. I worked at the hospital in medical records and then a medical clinic for almost 23 years, full and part-time, over the years and loved it. All those years of Latin were a huge payoff! Once we moved in 1988, I hung up the medical terminology and just played for a few years. Then I had a midlife crisis, thinking I must be missing out on something (???) and went back to school to obtain an associate degree in accounting. It sort of came by accident, but I found that it was a field I really enjoyed. Loved that everything always had to balance!! Even though I've never had a paying job using those skills, I've used that knowledge as treasurer for an investment club and loved every minute. And who else but an accountant mind would love to balance a checkbook??

My interests are many, maybe too many, and there's never enough time to get them all done. I love to play bridge and do so several times a month, many times driving 45 minutes to get somewhere in the suburbs. My golf game has suffered after a rotator cuff surgery, but I still enjoy going out--I'm just not that good at it! A book club keeps my mind active as well. The summer months are especially busy now that we bought a 40 ft. travel trailer that we keep in a seasonal campground right outside Nelson on Smith Lake. (I could crawl home from the reunion if need be!) We enjoyed it so much that we bought a 2nd trailer for our family and friends, and it has become known as the "guest house". From May 1 to October 1, we try to spend every weekend up there, usually from Friday to Monday morning. It's allowed us to see family and friends on a regular basis, plus it is so peaceful and relaxing. What more could one want??

I am eagerly looking forward to the class reunion and hope we have a fantastic turnout. Anyone wanting to check in with me before then can reach me at my home email address: ckorkow@comcast.net; would love to hear from anyone out there. Reading the blog has been great!

Sara (Smith) and Jim Sevey with their dachshunds, Winnie and Rusty.

Sara Smith Sevey -- After all these years, still 21

Here we are about to celebrate a 40th class reunion and it just doesn’t sound right. 40th! In my mind, I’m still 21.
After graduating, we moved to California and I started college. Within the first year, two events happened. First, our team was playing San Francisco City and all I heard was that O.J. was coming down. At the time I didn’t understand football so had no clue who this person was but after I watched him almost singlehandedly beat our team, I learned.
A few months later, students from Cal Berkeley started coming on campus to recruit for a big rally up there organized by a guy named Mario Savio who meant nothing to us. Again, I learned.
Flea collars
This was the start of the anti-war and drug scenes and things started changing overnight. Our first trip back to Minnesota was in 1967 and it was like stepping back in time. Here students had long hair, wore jeans, sandals and listened mostly to The Grateful Dead. I actually saw people (mostly guys) wearing flea collars. When we landed in Minneapolis, everyone I saw still had short hair and looked like we did in the early 60's -- but things would start to change there soon too. Still, it was a weird feeling.
I finished school, went to work and was introduced to the guy I married by a mutual friend. Ironically, neither of us liked this guy but it worked out, as we’ve been married for 31 years, have three children and three grandchildren who all live in the area so we see them all the time. Babysitting quickly reminds me of how old I am.
We’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1965 - mostly on The Peninsula which runs from San Francisco down to San Jose. Over these 39 years, it’s been interesting watching the 49ers during their heyday (prior to the current ownership!, but that’s another story), The Giants, Stanford football and basketball, the never- ending population growth, especially here in Silicon Valley, the ridiculous real estate market, THE TRAFFIC, the constant construction on San Francisco International Airport since I’ve lived out here, the earthquakes, O.J.’s trial and now Scott Peterson’s which is just up the road (Judge Clifford, where were you when we needed you out here!) and, of course, the politics ranging from Ronald Reagan to Governor Moonbeam (Jerry Brown) to The Governador today. Did I mention the TRAFFIC?
Doxie club
Besides babysitting, I’m working on getting my golf index down and my bridge master points up, although neither number is moving very fast. My husband is just getting back into playing competitive bridge so we’re having fun doing that although I consider any session a major success if I don’t have the Director called on me. I’m also getting more involved in a dachshund club in our area and am in the process of organizing a doxie contingency for our town’s annual pet parade next spring. I thought I was pathetic when it came to dachshunds but these people are worse. I guess that’s comforting.
My husband and I have been back to Alex the last few summers and have really enjoyed it. The lakes still mean a lot to me and some day we would like to have a summer home there which would give us more opportunities to see family, friends and maybe host some mini-reunions as well. For now, we’ll look forward to next summer and hopefully see a lot of people at the reunion.

Sara Smith Sevey

First entry in cutest grandchild contest.