Cancer survivor Lorlee Bartos on Dallas TV

Below is the copy for a health segment for the Dallas ABC affiliate. Here is the link to the station's web site. Our classmate, Lorlee Bartos, a breast cancer survivor, was featured on it. http://www.baylorhealth.com/healthinformation/healthsource/2007/October/10-01-mon.htm
The doctor is her oncologist -- the one who scared the heck out of her this summer with 5 tests in 3 weeks to prove she did not have a recurrence -- So much for no stress!

Stress Causes Cancer Cells to Resist Treatment
Relax…it could help you fight cancer. A new study finds emotional stress can actually cause breast cancer cells to grow stronger, even resist treatment.
LORLEE BARTOS
Breast Cancer Survivor
“I always was a gardener, I do gardening now and I do it more… it relieves my stress.”
DR. WINTER
It’s not just a hobby… according to experts, the time breast cancer survivor Lorlee Bartos spends tending her flowers is helping her stay cancer-free.
DR. JOHN PIPPEN
Oncologist Baylor University Medical Center
“We’ve always been suspicious that higher stress can lead to disease processes such as activation of cancer, but there’s some new research out there that shows there really is a scientific basis for this.”
DR. WINTER
It has to do with the hormone epinephrine which sharply increases in response to stress—and is also now believed to make cancer cells stronger—even resistant to treatment.
DR. JOHN PIPPEN
“Basically what this is doing is keeping the cancer cells alive and giving them an advantage.”
LORLEE BARTOS
“I keep reading those studies… and it just reinforces me in my resolve to continue.”
DR. WINTER
It’s important news not just for breast cancer patients say researchers—but for all women since chronic stress is now believed to be one of the risk factors for developing the disease.
DR. JOHN PIPPEN
“I feel that patients that have effective strategies to reduce stress typically do better and feel better than those that do not.”
LORLEE BARTOS
“Once you get out there… it’s amazing… it takes you over and you forget about everything else.”
DR. WINTER
For Baylor Health Care System, I’m Dr. David Winter.
ANCHOR TAG
It’s not just hobbies but regular exercise that researchers say is an effective way to manage and reduce stress.

Another Spud-mashing by the Cardinals

By Tom Obert
Cub Reporter
The Section 8, No. 1 volleyball seed, Alexandria Cardinals opened section play tonight with a 23-25, 25-13, 25-10, and 25-21 win over the Moorhead Spuds.

The Cards started slowly in the first game, probably tight in their first play-off game (the Spuds handily beat Brainerd on Wednesday while the Cards had a bye), and gave up the last four points to lose it. Then they played like a No. 1 seed in the next two games, winning both easily. Then in the 4th game, the Spuds rushed off to a big early lead, forcing the Cards to make a big comeback. Next we will play either Big Lake or Elk River at a neutral site.

The Cards were led by their big front line of 6'1" junior Ariel Carlson, 5' 11" sophomore Angela Christianson, and 5'9" junior Sam Dale (the one player who never comes off the court); the back line stars tonight were 5'5" junior Greta Wood (who was player of the game with 23 points from her serve), 5'6" junior Valerie Smith, 5'7" senior Maggie Snyder, and 5'5" senior Kailynn Strater; sophomore players to watch will be 5'10" Jacque Brown, 5'4" Katie Brown . . . and, of course, Annen and I sat with the proud grandparents of 5'10" Sam Trumm (Jack and "Jenny") and 5'8" Emma Sieling (Dave and Carol (who suffered through every point) Dittberner).

Explanatory note from the blog photo desk: The cub reporter rushed home to file his story and then looked at his photos. Unfortunately, the team photo of the victorious Cardinal volleyball squad was totally obscured by a fan. He did manage, however, to properly photograph an unrelated comic sumo wrestler who had nothing to do with the story. Faced with a Hobson's choice, the desk presents both photos for your amusement and shall continue to wonder where he squandered the photo school tuition.

Too young to shop?

Never.

Grandparents know that there aren't many things more fun than buying something new for the baby. Emily, above, doesn't seem to mind and she's just 16 months.

Dangerous substances have entered our home

under cover as "treats for the Halloween kiddies."

Theoretically, the cellophane on this package should be unbroken until October 31. Last year we had seven trick-or-treaters come by our "adult" neighborhood. Halloween is a week away. I hope we have something to give them. -- TB

Red Rock Lake, Hoffman

1968 Jefferson High graduate Donna Crouse Podratz sent this picture of Red Rock Lake near Hoffman. This is the view from her living room patio. Donna, who works at Concordia College in Moorhead, is chums with Harland Hoffland's wife, Carolyn, our New Mexico correspondent who hasn't written to us lately. How about a report on the pepper harvest?

2 old broads play 4 hand

These ladies are not drying their nails. They are talented pianists and one of them, Betty Larson Butcher, (right) graduated from Jefferson High in 1965. She was musical then, of course, playing the trumpet, singing in the choir, performing piano recitals. She lives in Arkansas now, but spends summers in Alexandria, in her childhood Elm Street home. She and husband, Perry, purchased and refurbished it recently.

This summer Betty practiced hard for her concert, she practiced this fall until her arm went numb. But the concert went well. Read the clipping below for details and the basis for the crass blog headline.

Perry and Betty will be in Alexandria for a couple weeks around Christmas.

Four Hands Trump Two
Duo Brings Classic Literature to Piano Performance
By Becca Bacon Martin, Callboard Editor
Claire Detels and Betty Butcher have been friends for most of two decades – and it’s a good thing. When they sit down at the piano, they have to prove four hands are better than two – and they have to be of one mind about it.
“Tension can arise in a performance if you’re not on the same page,” admits Detels, a longtime professor of music at the University of Arkansas. “The Beatles didn’t stay together, you know.”
Instead of stress, Butcher finds pleasure in the four-hand piano duets she plays with her old friend.
“My life turned upside down when my husband (Perry) had a stroke,” she says. “I can’t commit to theater anymore; it takes too much time. But I continue to sing with the Good Shepherd Singers and the Master Chorale, and this fits in well. It’s just a real joy.”
The music Butcher and Detels will play Sept. 23 at the Arts Center of the Ozarks doesn’t sound anything like the recital duets everyone knows from childhood. Detels, who is a great scholar of classical music, explains that four-hand piano arrangements were the way the common man of the 18th and 19th centuries heard the symphonies of the masters like Mozart and Beethoven.
“The piano has been around since 1700, but initially it was smaller than it is now – just five octaves,” she explains. “In the 18th century, as it became larger, it became possible for two people to sit at it and play duets together.
“There are pictures of Mozart playing duets with his sister!”
Detels says piano manufacturing “just exploded” in the 19th century, and “a whole lot of middle-class people had access to pianos who rarely would have heard a symphony orchestra. That’s how people got to know the classic literature.”
Detels and Butcher met when Butcher was a student at the UA and Detels was teaching there. Both studied with piano virtuoso Alan Chow, and they “just got in the habit of playing four-hand piano literature.”
“We started performing a couple of years ago and decided to go professional,” Detels says. “Now we’re on the Arkansas Arts Council touring roster, so we’re going to rev up and do even more performing.
“People seem to love it,” she says of the music she plays with her friend.
“I think they identify with some of the sillier aspects of playing four-hand, like the cross-hand activity, and there’s a real joy to chamber music when you see chamber musicians really together.
“We call ourselves “Two Old Broads Who Play Four-Hand,” Detels adds, “so we like to have a little fun as well as play the really fine music. When you’ve got two butts on one bench, it’s bound to be entertaining!”

Perry and Betty Butcher in their Alexandria home on Elm Street.

Sunseeker

A Canada Goose headed south today. (Photo by Stan Rolfsrud)

Sunset over Agnes, red maple on Darling

For the first time in a week or so, a sunset was visible, albeit for a brief time, over Lake Agnes last night. This morning, the Norwegian red maple on Lake Darling needed no sunshine to contrast brilliantly with its fading neighbors. (Photos by Tom Obert)

What's happening in this Ole town?

By Tom Obert
Business Reporter
If you drive around Alex these days, you soon realize you can't swing a slab of lutefisk without hitting a mini-mall under construction. This is either an insidious Communist plot, not unlike the fluoridated water scare of the '50's, or a sign of the next great Minnesota metropolis.

The mayor (seen here cavorting outside the AAAA theatre during intermission of the Mikko Cowdery shindig) has confirmed what is quite obvious to the naked eye - the city is the fastest growing rural micropolis in the state.
So while the nation is suffering from the worst housing recession since WWII, in Alexandria - the hospital and 3M have scheduled major expansions (3M's has begun), the existing Target will be torn down to make way for a Super(?) Target, a Hampton Inn is going up next to Garden Center, two new banks and a savings & loan are under construction, the new Walgreen's exterior shell is almost completed, a Bennigan's is under construction next to the mall, Carlos Creek Winery and Geneva Golf Club are for sale (in both instances because it is time for their founders to slow down and enjoy the good life), Miltona Golf Club is undergoing a major renovation/expansion, Arrowwood has plans to build nine (or is it 12?) more 4-unit log condos, to go with the four already in existence, and three 4-story apartment-style condos, the 2nd and 3rd Avenue demolitions have mostly been completed opening up more property for development, downtown has two new businesses in Cherry Street Books and Bella's on Broadway (others have done exterior renovations), the AAAA Theatre has started a fund drive to renovate its exterior, and the mall is under new ownership so changes are expected there. Being a person of limited memory capacity, I have probably forgotten others - not to mention all the housing additions going in around lakes Jesse, Bergen, Laura, et al (though many have slowed recently due to the housing market in general).

A local business demographer noted that the only thing that was holding Alex back was the condition of its schools - that until recently, many businesses looking for new or additional locations would by-pass Alex for surrounding areas (e.g., St. Cloud) with newer schools. Now that the school bond referendum has passed (and particularly if the high school one does in a couple years), he expects Alex will really take-off. You already know, of course, that if you want to cross or make left turns onto either 3rd Avenue or Broadway, at any time of day, you better go to a controlled intersection. As Denny Sherry (yes, the HQ's dad) used to say, "It's time to move to Elbow Lake; Alex is getting way too big!" Nevertheless, the mayor continues to say, "We are blessed to live here."

Hizzoner, the Alexandria Mayor, a '65Roundup blog fan, responds:

Tom,

You are great. Yup, we are really growing. The Target store will be 133,000 square feet, about 40,000 more than the present store, but it will not be a "Super Target". That probably means it won't have a full grocery line.

The new Whiskey Creek Steakhouse formerly known as the Country Kitchen, The Dunn Bros. Coffee Shop,and the developments on third Avenue at both Hawthorne and Lake Streets are mind boggling.

This growth has put Alexandria on many companies radar screens. We don't know which ones, but don't be surprised to hear some new names in the near future.

I think "News Newbie" fits you better than cub reporter. You have graduated.

Dan

Cardinals end season with victory

By Tom Obert, Cub Reporter

The Cardinals beat Fergus Falls 38 - 13 last night at Fergus in the final game of the regular season. That made their season record 5 - 3, which garnered a No. 3 seed for the section 8 - 5A playoffs. It appears, therefore, that they will open the sectionals at home next week against Bemidji, a team they beat in the season opener 22 - 0.

(Editor's note: The verb "to garner" would have long vanished from English lexicon, were it not for its consistent use by prep sports reporters. It's a beautiful, descriptive term from a bygone era, so much more elegant than the vulgar "to get" in common usage. Now picture our cub reporter addressing his wife thusly: "Ruthie, my pet, I'm motoring downtown to garner a loaf of bread.")

The game did not command the same level of state-wide attention as the Edina - Wayzata game. As noted by columnist John Millea in this morning's Tribune, that game was a "battle between the haves and the have-mores" and "had people talking all the way from Tiffany & Co. to the Jaguar dealership." Millea certainly has we out-staters at heart!

Soccer

The girls soccer team just finished their best season ever and received a No. 3 seed in the section. Though they lost in the second round to No. 2 seed Elk River, we congratulate their accomplishments. And now, of course, soccer stars Abby Williams and Kathryn Del Zoppo can turn their full attention to their senior years with the hockey team.

Volleyball

The volleyball team routed St. Cloud Tech this week, thus earning a share of the conference title. Tech was one of 2 teams that had been tied with the Cards for 1st place. The team finished the season on a roll, so big things are expected in the sectionals. This is a young team that should be even better next year.

Now, turning to the weather. . .

Finally, after a summer during which we may have received 3 inches of rain between May and September, I can report that the rain gauge on the SW shore of Lake Darling has reported almost 9 inches of rain since the end of September. In fact, we have not seen the sun here since last Saturday, and we're not expected to for at least several more days. As a result, the small maple tree we planted in the driveway 2 years is now in fine fettle before winter sets in.

Jon Susag, Dave and Dick's brother

Jon Susag , age 64, brother of Dave Susag and Dick Susag of Alexandria, died Friday, October 12 in Minneapolis. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, October 18 at the Nokomis Park Chapel, 1838 E Minnehaha Parkway at 11:00 with Internment following the services at Fort Snelling. Reviewal will be held Wed, October 17 from 5-8 at Nokomis Park Chapel. Washburn-McReavey Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Ten Commandments was at the State

Mikko Cowdery's St. Paddy's Day for Snowbirds tonight. This is the interior of the Andria Theatre. A lot has changed since we saw "Goldfinger" here. It is smaller now.

The horror. The night sweats.

Terrified Holmes City pumpkin perspires in anticipation of imminent slashing.

Watch this video; hear John sing

Here's the YouTube video featuring the dedication of the Lake Woebegon Bike Trail. You may recall that classmate John Herdan wrote a song for it. It is featured on the intro to this video. Click twice on the forward button below. Oh yes. Be sure you have your speakers turned on. This isn't the tenor I remember, but it's John. Enjoy.

Cardinals overwhelmed by big Warriors, 33-7

By Tom Obert
Cub Reporter
Brainerd 33, CARDINALS 7. Man-for-man, the Warriors were just too big, too strong, too fast. Not much else to report.

------

Whoa, not so fast, Cubbie. Any word on Erc Aga's grandson? TB

Les was an inspiration, not really a member

The late Les Engstrom's wife, Sue, sent a note to the blog today.
Stan, I read the wonderful memories of Bryce Lundeen on your '65 website, and need to let you know that Les wasn't really a member of that Lake Darling ski team. Les , Chuck Tyson, Dave Anderson did have a ski team (club?) here in Alex when they were in high school - and even held a sanctioned tournament here - maybe on Lake Agnes or Henry? They had a slalom course and ski jump on Lake Darling near the Golf Club.
When the Lake Darling ski team was organizing, I remember Les trying to teach them how to wind up their ski ropes so they wouldn't get tangled just as an act was taking off! Les and the earlier club might have been an inspiration for Lake Darling Team, but I don't think he ever performed with them.
Wonderful memories. Bryce was awesome - a real dare-devil!
Sue
Thanks, Sue. We're still seeking photos of that dashing 60s ski team. May require a field trip by the trailboss.

Can't read it? Click on it.

Hey Ole! Watch it wiggle, watch it jiggle!

The trailboss says: My sister, Solveig, lives and works in Silicon Valley. She's busy getting ready for a month vacation in Belize, but she had time to drop this note to me about a virtual encounter she had recently with an inline skate enthusiast who saw her vehicle in the company parking lot.

Solveig writes:

As you may know, I have a LeRoy, New York, "Birthplace of Jello" license plate holder on my van. Yesterday that van was parked on the Oracle parking lot in Pleasanton. A note was placed under the windshield wiper, requesting my relationship to LeRoy and signed by a Dan Kibler.
Solveig

On 10/9/07, Solveig wrote to Dan:
We stopped at the Jello museum on a road trip and bought the license plate holder, along with a pair of boxer shorts that said "Watch it wiggle, watch it jiggle," for our son.

I am from Alexandria, Minnesota, the Birthplace of America. I have returned many times to look for a license plate holder that would be the perfect complement to the Leroy holder, but alas, the Runestone Museum is not as enterprising as the Jello Museum. The staff at the gift shop and the Chamber of Commerce are polite to me, as all Minnesotans are, and say it is a good idea, but they do not make the license plate holder.
Clearly there are no doubts about Leroy being the birthplace of Jello, but some have doubts about Alexandria being the birthplace of America.
Bob Dylan was a believer, but didn't think Ole the Viking, a statue once displayed at the New York World's Fair, is an appropriate representation of the noble history. Perhaps too jestful, as is the Jello museum. If interested, read about Bob and the Vikings at
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/14/news/trminn.php?page=1 .
Solveig

Daniel Kibler wrote:
Man, that's a great article. It's also amazing that I have so many connections to it. Besides being a Dylan and U2 fan (not near as obsessed as the author), I've spent many nights in Red Wing and Hastings, working at the Prairie Island power plant. I never made the connection between Highway 61 there and the album. I've also been to Duluth, skating in the North Shore Inline Skating Marathon. Lastly I saw Big Ole at the New York World's Fair in 1965!
Jell-O was indeed invented literally 5 doors down the street from the house I grew up in and where my mother still lives. Most of the male relatives of my parents generation worked at "The Jell-O" at some point in their lives as did many of my neighbors. My grandfather and great uncle both worked there for more than 30 years. It was a real trauma to that little village to have the plant close and move to Dover, DE in 1964.
I don't think the Bob Dylan ever stopped by but I remember Bobby Kennedy speaking in front of the American Legion campaigning for the Senate.
Four years later he was dead.
I'll be back in Le Roy for Thanksgiving and will surely visit the Museum. One of the docents is the mother of one of my high school classmates, so I always get to catch up on her activities,
Thanks for sharing the Birthplace of America story and I hope you get back to Le Roy sometime.
Cheers
Dan

Solveig responds
How absolutely fun! Six degrees away, indeed! What are the odds of you seeing my license place holder since I as rarely as possible come into the office! Hope you like that PeopleSoft HRMS stuff. I work on Campus Solutions.
I love the Jello story, which underlines the importance of marketing.
If you have a great product, or even not so great product, the success depends on a gimmick. Jello played a huge part in my Minnesota childhood and subsequent coming of age, when I learned that a salad is actually about vegetables, not Jello.
Perhaps we walked past your mother's home, because I loved the neighborhood and insisted we take a walk.

Perhaps your classmate's mother was our tour guide who pointed out the jello-ometer instrument or who sold us our Jello souvenirs, such that you should see it in the Oracle parking lot. Afterwards, we fortified at the charming little D&R Depot Restaurant; I do hope you take your mother there once or twice.
I've never read Liz' book on CA inline skating, but next time my Minnesota nephews visit, we can check out your website for the latest venues. Good to know. I personally am not a potential patron since I'm not even safe on a bike. amd so currently pursue water sports for a softer landing.
Enjoy your trip down the jello-brick road,

Solveig

Jerry Deleski gives us a legal update

Allstate Insurance functionary Jerry Deleski and his son, Brian, pay close attention to the laws governing citizen activity. Their agency may be called upon from time to time to indemnify their insured from the unintended consequences of laws still on the books, particularly in the State of Minnesota. A recent review of these laws has turned up the following actual statutes presently in effect.

Our concerned classmate, Jerry, has sent these along to us with a special note: "Stan, please see that Obert pays close attention to the last item on the list. JD."

Laws of Minnesota

• A Blue Earth, Minnesota, law declares that no child under the age of twelve may talk over the telephone unless monitored by a parent.

• A Minnesota tax form is quite thorough. Some would say too thorough. It even asks for your date of death.

• A person may not cross state lines with a duck atop his head.

.• Any person over the age of 12 may have a license for a handgun as long as he/she has not been convicted of a felony.

• Citizens may not enter Wisconsin with a chicken on their head.

• Clawson: There is a law that makes it legal for a farmer to sleep with his pigs, cows, horses, goats, and chickens.

• Every man in Brainerd, Minnesota is required by law to grow a beard.

• Grand Haven: No person shall throw an abandoned hoop skirt into any street or on any sidewalk, under penalty of a five- dollar fine for each offense.

• Hibbing: It shall be the duty of any policeman or any other officer to enforce the provisions of this Section, and if any cat is found running at large, or which is found in any street, alley or public place, it shall be the duty of any policeman or other officer of the city to kill such cat.

• In Duluth, it is illegal to allow animals to sleep in a bakery.

• It is illegal to sleep naked.

• It is legal for a robber to file a law suit, if he or she got hurt in your house.

• It used to be legal in Minnesota to sell rolled candy on Sunday, and illegal to sell flat candy. The wafer people have gotten this one repealed.

• Minneapolis: Red cars can not drive down Lake Street

• Minnesotans are forbade from teasing skunks.

• No man is allowed to make love to his wife with the smell of garlic, onions, or sardines on his breath in Alexandria, Minnesota. If his wife so requests, law mandates that he must brush his teeth.
---------------------------------------
Update from T. Obert:
Trailboss: Tell JD that Ruth's sister came to town yesterday, and we're taking her to Bella's on Broadway tonight. Garlic breath will certainly be an issue. Usually, my legal issues involve sleeping naked with a chicken on my head.

Here's the Susan Vass resume

"I've been married so long, I am on my third bottle of Tabasco sauce...."

Susan Vass

Remember Baumbach Drug? Remember Susan Baumbach? The 1964 Jefferson High grad has made quite a name for herself. Last Friday she was back in her hometown to entertain at the Alexandria Education Hall of Fame lunch.
Here's what her web site says about her:

Susan Vass is a woman who knows how to laugh at life. Called both “a young Erma Bombeck” and “a female Jay Leno”, Susan has helped audiences “laugh their way to good health” in over 2,000 appearances from coast to coast.
With her roots in stand-up comedy, Susan has opened for such national acts as Robert Goulet, Andy Williams, Lee Greenwood, The Smothers Brothers, Doc Severinsen, Jay Leno, and Joan Rivers.
She is a veteran of countless television and radio appearances, including Rosie O’Donnell’s “Standup Spotlight”, PBS’s comedy special about Minnesota comics, “Land O’Loons”, and National Public Radio’s “Prairie Home Companion” with fellow-Minnesotan Garrison Keillor.
She is the author of a best-selling humor book, “Laughing Your Way to Good Health”.
Famous for her squeaky-clean, corporate-appropriate comedy shows, she has literally entertained car salesmen at breakfast and nuns the same night!
ALL Women Can Relate To Susan!
With over four decades of actual experience as a female, Susan easily turns her vivid imagination and powers of everyday observation to the lighter side of womanhood She co-produced and headlined in the wildly-successful comedy revue "What's So Funny About Being Female?" which ran five nights a week, five months of the year, for five years straight in the popular Dudley Riggs' Theatre in Minneapolis.
One of Susan's specialties is Women's Health Day events for hospital women's centers, and she has delighted sold-out audiences from Connecticut to California, from Louisiana to North Dakota, from New Mexico to New York, and from South Dakota to South Carolina.
As a wife and mother, Susan is a natural crowd-pleaser at "spouse" events. But, because she is a businesswoman (and has worked as a retail clerk, secretary, childcare provider and night-shift typesetter), she also understands the needs and stresses of women who work outside the home.
But NOT For Women Only...
Q: Our event is all or mostly men. Will THEY relate Susan’s humor?
A: ABSOLUTELY! An inveterate tomboy since childhood, Susan lives in an all-male family, and knows what makes guys laugh. She has played such predominantly all-male groups as the American Meat Institute (butchers and meat producers), Honeywell Solid-State Engineers, Honeywell Military Avionics, International Conference of Scientists and Engineers of Montreal, Parsons-Brinckerhoff Engineering Firm and Health Care Financial Managers Association (for example).

"Some are saying you are the best banquet entertainer in 20 to 30 years--as long as they have been coming to these annual bashes."
Gary L. Larson
Minnesota Funeral Directors Assocation

Odds 'n Ends from the Cub

• Danielle "Roadblock" Justice has NOT yet decided on a college. Her mom, Sue, said she wants to go someplace where she can play immediately, even if she doesn't get a scholarship.


• There will NOT be a Courtney Walsh Girls Hockey Holiday Tournament this year - drat! Our kids from Indiana are coming up for Christmas, and we were all hoping to go to that tourney.


• The girls hockey team plays at Breck, Saturday, December 22, @ 3:00 - may be a good place to meet the kids when they come into town.


• This year our girls tennis and soccer teams beat St. Cloud Tech and Moorhead, respectively, for the first time ever. Abby Williams and Kat DelZoppo, our hockey stars, scored the goals in a 2 - 0 win over the Spuds this week. Makes one realize girls sports are still relatively new.


• The cub's neighbor, Dan Nelson, drove this year's Hall of Fame honoree, Bud Peterson, in his Jaguar. He's looking for a buyer of the '89 convertible. Only 800 were made.
  
• 
  Tom Akenson squired the Class of '67 and '68 around town Friday during the homecoming parade in his antique fire engine. The cub reporter was the sole representative of the Class of '65 in the parade. If Byron Peterson would have shown up with the Main Street drag machine it would have created a stir. Maybe some other time.
• 
  

  Note from the trailboss: Not to be critical, not to boast, but a look at photos of the float entries provided by the cub causes a moment of nostalgia for the time when the Class of '65 won the best float trophy three years in a row. One of those years John Herdan hosted the construction in his garage.

  

  Lots of fun, lots of time. "Grind Glenwood," "Fergus Otter Fall," great themes from the past! Looking at the examples sent by our photographer, looks like we still might have kicked some serious butt!

  
  
  

Homecoming, 2007

Rosemary Grundei and Gladys Drexler, Alexandria Class of '38.

Sons are Joe Drexler, '65; Doug Drexler, '67; and Al Grundei, '67.

They are riding in Al's '57 Chevy.

(Photo by Tom Obert)

Cards romp to Homecoming win, 30 - 6

Reporter too tired to await Streakers
By Tom Obert
Cub Reporter
OK, it wasn't a surprise: Alexandria - 30, Little Falls - 6.
The Cards came out a little flat but after a couple of series got their ground game going. The offensive line took over and by halftime the Cards led 24 - 0.
A BIG concern is that sometime around the end of the half or the beginning of the second, our 304-pound right offensive tackle, Bryant Pearson, suffered a knee injury and didn't play the rest of the game. We certainly hope it's not serious.
The Cards received the second half kick-off and in only three runs from scrimmage scored again to make it 30 - 0. Substitutes played the rest of the game.
To paraphrase Snoopy, it was a dark and foggy night. Since it had already been a long day for some of the older alumni - from the Hall of Fame luncheon, to the homecoming parade, to tailgating before the game, and then the game - we have to admit to leaving the game at the end of the 3rd quarter. We were taking a chance - a major reason for Ruthie's appearances at these games is the possibility of seeing a streaker!

The Cards are now 4 - 2 overall (close losses to Sartell & Willmar) and play a strong Brainerd team at home next Friday.

You may click on the photos to enlarge them if you like. Below are the captions sent by the cub reporter to go with the photos. They are actually more interesting than the photos, but the editor is also tired, wants to go to bed, so, gentle reader, please sort them out yourselves. Thank you.

Pic 56: Tailgating at the game;
Pic 57: That is indeed Clair Morrison in the right side window of the press box;
Pic 58: Alum footballers introduced at halftime;
Pic 59: The homecoming court;
Pic 60: A continuing tradition - the girls volleyball team dons full football attire and aids the cheerleaders. Here they walk off at halftime with the scoreboard showing the Cards 24 - 0 lead.

Homecoming 2007 -- Donley and Vass

Alexandria Education Association Executive Director Paul Donley with his class of '64 classmate, and the Hall of Fame luncheon entertainer, author comedian Susan [Baumbach] Vass.

Happy Birthday, Herdan Twins!

John Herdan writes: Our twins, Jennifer and David turn 18 today, October 5th! This is a picture from homecoming night. My daughter managed to make it through homecoming without getting injured. [David chipped a bone in his thumb and injured a ligament. He's in a cast.]

Trailboss

Lorlee adds her fall photos to our album

Well, I have some fall photos from Minnesota as well....
My niece -- LuAnn's daughter -- got married on Sept. 22 at Lutsen, on top of the mountain. One photo is from a rainy day -- the other from an absolutely perfect day.

Legendary skier, adventurer Bryce Lundeen dies

Bryce Lundeen, 61, died in a bicycling accident on the Central Lakes Bike Trail in the tunnel underneath Nokomis Street in Alexandria Saturday morning.
Lundeen, of Alexandria, was biking on the trail when he lost control of his bicycle, fell and hit his head on the pavement, according to police. He died at the scene.
Lundeen was not wearing a helmet and was discovered shortly after the accident.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Alexandria. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. on Wednesday, at the Anderson Funeral Home and for one hour prior to the service at the church. Lundeen, formerly of Columbia Heights, is survived by his wife, Cyndi, and sister, Carolyn. In lieu of flowers, memorials are welcome in the memory of Bryce Lundeen, and will be used for numerous charities.

Lundeen has always been a legendary figure to many boomers in Alexandria. John Herdan has these memories:

Even though Bryce grew up in the cities, he was a part of the summer lore of Alexandria. If he had lived in California, he would have been the classic blond, pefectly-tanned surfer.
In Alexandria, he was the ultimate water skier. He was one of the first people I ever saw water ski barefoot. He was, if I remember right, the first person ever to go off a jump barefoot.
One of the most amazing things he could do was lie on his back on the beach and when he hit the water come up skiing on his bare feet. He skied with the water ski team at city park, which included lots of people we all know but I won't start to name because I know I'll forget somebody.
We worked together at Lakeland Realty in Alex nearly every day for 15 months. He drove a great big Chevy convertible and had the first car phone I had ever seen (1978). With all the crazy death defying things I saw him do, I couldn't imagine that he would die riding a bicycle. RIP Bryce.

John

(Members of the water ski team that John does remember are Linda (Engstrom) Akenson, Tom Akenson, Terry Akenson, and Denny Spaulding -- who may be living in Paynesville now. If you know names of any other members, send them to trailboss@swpub.com. Does anyone have a photo of the water ski team, with Bryce in it, performing? We would love to publish one. Kathy Aga Lee remembers that the late Leslie Engstrom, '61, was the one who really got the team organized.)

Summer's end, Alexandria, Minnesota

Autumn Album by Tom Obert