Lynne Spellman Lommen adjusting to not working

Hi Stan,
I just sent my check in for the reunion. My husband, Paul, and I just sold our business in May and I am adjusting to not having to do anything……and apparently doing a good job of it! I’m excited about the reunion. Betty Larson Butcher and her husband stopped by a week or so ago and we talked about “Happy Days”! We are having lunch with Bob Watson and that oughta be good!!!
Paul Lommen (a native Alexandrian) and I were married in 1984 in Alexandria where we met. We put together a family of five children. I brought Samantha (now age 37), Melanie (now age 34) and Jason ( now age 27) into the new family and Paul brought Mike (now age 40) and Debbie ( now age 38)! The Brady Bunch! We now have six grandchildren. Samantha and husband, Anthony, and grandsons, Ford and Jack, live in Montreal, Canada. Jason and wife, Natasha, and grandson, Dillon, live in Ocala, Florida. Debbie and husband, John, and grandchildren, Amanda and Matthew live in Wilmington, Delaware. Mike and wife, Colleen, and grandson, Sam, live here in Alexandria and Melanie and her husband, Eric, (no children) live in St. Cloud. Whew!

Piracy is alive and well
Paul and I moved our family to the Florida Keys (Marathon) 50 miles north of Key West in June of 1987. I had been working for Bursch Travel Agency (remember Fred?) and Paul owned a business in Alexandria. So we set off on an adventure and it was! We started a new business called “Blind Factory” where we actually made vertical blinds, pleated shades, etc. Our business did very well and one main reason was the Minnesota work ethic in a third world nation (that’s the Florida Keys!) Piracy (is that a word?) is alive and well there, trust me.
We lived there for six years, built a good business and our dream house on the ocean. Then guess what? We wanted to come home. What was at the beginning “novel” living in the Keys became “get me back to Minnesota where everyone looks and talks alike!” Now mind you I could go on and on about all the things that happened there -- oh, I have to tell just one -- A friend of ours, Mike Perry, was down visiting and he came and woke us up in the middle of the night and said someone was out on the water and yelling in a foreign language. As it turns out, Cuban refugees had washed up in front of our house and were stuck on the reef. We called the Coast Guard, took pictures and got a story to the Echo Press. Anyway, we moved back to Alexandria in June of 1993.
We bought a house on Lake Le Homme Dieu and started a Blind Factory here (which as I said just sold). Paul has always been involved in Real Estate and partially involved in our decorating business.

Gilbert, Arizona
Paul and I are very interested and involved in politics and the church. Paul golfs five days a week. I haven’t figured out how to get over to the golf course yet. I like tennis but do want to relearn golf. We travel to see our children who are spread out all over! We bought a home in Arizona (Gilbert near Mesa – the fastest growing community in America right now). Last year was our first winter there. We will spend six months here and six there. I am going to freelance in window decorating while in Arizona and enjoy all the other things there are to do there. Paul and I like to hike in the mountains.
I am thankful to God for my many blessings. When I think of a class reunion I can’t help but think about our boys that went to fight in Vietnam. Bless them for their sacrifice. Bless those who never came back home.
See everyone soon. Oh and Stan, I can do the name tags. I’ll get Betty to help me! Bobby Watson, too -- right! Can you see him doing that kind of project? Send the list of all attending and whatever else I need to know, Stan the man!
Lynne (Spellman) Lommen