Stan & Kathleen Rolfsrud's Annual Letter

Greetings to friends and family,
Here's our news from the past year:

• We celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary with a railroad excursion to Manhattan, arriving at Penn Central Station for a week of exploring the island. We stayed in a hotel near the United Nations that appeared in the movie "The Interpreter." We took 400 photos of firefighters, the Statue of Liberty, cops, Times Square, taxi drivers, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, street vendors and so on. You're invited for a viewing anytime. We toasted ourselves at the Tavern on the Green in Central Park, just south of John Lennon's Strawberry Fields.
  
• Stan has been named President of Southwest Newspapers, a group of 10 publications in the Minneapolis suburbs. He served there as general manager for most of the past 30 years. His new position allows him a reduced workload and significantly less day-to-day stress, in favor of strategic planning and special projects. He works in a virtual office in our basement and attends occasional business meetings. Stan enjoys his new role; among other things, he's taken a few strokes off his admittedly high golf handicap.
  
• This summer we collaborated with Stan's brothers and spouses to buy a winter vacation home on a golf course by the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. We will spend most of January and February there, driving through the Texas "southern route." Stan's office will be electronically transplanted to Arizona. Hoover gets to go too. She's 13 now and rides well. . . we hope.
  
• Kathleen has joined the Texas Hold 'Em craze; she's hosted a number of tournaments with friends on her home poker table and has even taken a shot in some public events. Her handle, "St. Paul Katie," isn't recognized yet on the World Poker Tour, but there's time. She has a lot of fun with friends anyway. Will there be a poker league in Arizona? We’re All In!
  
• The kids, Missy, Marcy and Jenny, are doing great. They all live in the metro area so they'll be here for Christmas brunch along with significant others and our eleven-year-old "only grandson." That title will change soon though. Missy is expecting this spring and we're all very excited about the new arrival.
  
• Stan enjoyed organizing his 40th Class Reunion this summer, setting up a class blog for that purpose. The web site proved popular and is still getting participation and contributions from classmates who enjoy keeping up with old friends. Check it out at www.65Roundup.blogspot.com
  
• Kathleen and Stan (aka Mr. and Mrs. Claus) look forward to getting out the costumes, beard and wigs for their annual appearances around town. Mrs. Claus will be sporting a new green cape purchased this summer at the Renaissance Festival. The Santa visits are our connection to the innocence and joy children bring to the season. We think we receive more from the activity than the families do.

We hope all is well with you and those you love.

Stan and Kathleen