First Responders

Cliff and Bev Roers Korkowski were the first to respond to the call for donations to the Larry Sass Scholars fund. They are pictured above with their nine grandchildren at last weekend's outing near Nisswa.

"I'm glad to see the fund being set up," Bev writes. "I think it's important to remember those who have passed, especially from our class. We are the lucky ones....alive, healthy (except for those aches and pains now haunting us!), and enjoying time with our families and friends. Thanks for getting it up and running."

Lorlee Bartos came in a close second to Bev, even though Lorlee has difficulty remembering Larry. Can somebody prod Lorlee even though we already have her dollars? Let's see, I think he went to Released Time at St. Mary's when you did, Lorlee.

Who's next one to support the Larry Sass Scholars program? trailboss@swpub.com

Larry Sass Scholars Fund seeks donors

A committee to honor the memory of Larry Sass, a classmate who met an untimely death this spring when he suffered a heart attack and fell from his roof, is seeking pledges for a scholars fund.

The fund needs to raise a total of $206 to include Larry in the Alexandria Area Education Foundation alumni membership (a $206 contribution for School District 206).

"Larry may not be the first classmate you think of when it comes to a scholars fund," a committee member said. "But we think his pluck and determination are most worthy of note. He contributed much to the unique character of our class and represents its distinct individualty as well as anyone."

Sass is fondly remembered for his pugnacity, his bright red crew cut and his high-energy antics.

If you'd like to support the Larry Sass Scholars and see Larry's name included with the other philanthropists of Jefferson High, send no money, just send a pledge to donate an amount to trailboss@swpub.com. When we get $206 in pledges, we'll turn the pledges over to the the Alexandria Area Education Foundation for collection.

Herdan reports on McPhee, Overly, Bobby Vee

John Herdan writes:

TB, -- Since I have my name and picture on the blog site with an official title, I figured I had better get to work here.

First of all, if you love rock and roll and you're around St. Joe next week we have a great party going on. Tuesday, July 3rd is the big concert with Bobby Vee singing his great string of hits from back when we were kids. The concert is held in the parking lot at the St. Joe Church two blocks south of the Holiday Station in downtown St. Joe. Four bands will be playing with a great fireworks show right after Bobby Vee finishes. Interestingly, my son's band, The B-Team All-Stars opens the show at 6:00. This concert drew 12,000 people last year and the kids are pretty nervous.

The big 4th of July parade starts at 10:00 Wednesday morning. The parade usually draws around 25,000 people so come early to find a place to park and stay late for the parish festival with more live music all day. Interestingly, my son's band will also be in the parade.

If you come to St. Cloud for the big fireworks show on the 4th, come early as my son and myself will also be performing at the Freedom Fest Celebration downtown next to the library that day also. We will be playing from 3:45 to 5:00 with a 15 member big band. We will be followed by The Killer Hayseeds, who are a great band.

I took my family out for dinner the other night and was very pleased to see that the home lets Jim McPhee out on occasion. He not only recognized me but was pretty coherant. We were both with big groups so we didn't have much time to talk but I think he wants me to join him in retirement. Sounds good to me.

In March, my son Michael and I went to Moorhead to watch Rocori (where Mike used to coach) play Park Rapids (the 6'7" center is Mike's fiancee's cousin) in basketball. As they were warming up I noticed one of the kids had the name "Overly" on the back of his jersey. 30 seconds later Dave and I were deep in conversation. Dave's son Seth was one of the starting guards. (Rocori won) About three weeks ago Mike went to Bryce's graduation party in Park Rapids and ended up talking to Dave for quite a while.

The topic was the athletic accomplishments of Dave's and my kids. They are considerable with many state tournament appearances, a couple state championships, college basketball, football, and track. Dave was pretty puzzled and was kind enough to point out that neither he or I accomplished squat in sports. In fact, I was recently elected to the Cardinal Athletic Hall Of Shame. The have my picture hanging in a janitors closet near the gym.

That's it for today from St. Cloud!

John

The picture is my son David playing one of his saxophones with his band at a recent family wedding.

Big Parade in Alex; Cub shoots it

23rd Annual Vikingland Festival
Although the temperature was forecast to be in the mid-90's (which seems usual for this event), a beautiful day in the low-80's, with a mild breeze, greeted the 21 competing bands this year. This year's grand marshals, radio personalities Patty Wicken and Dennis Anhalt, led the parade, followed by the Alexandria Marching Band. At that point, however, the cub reporter had to bolt for home, stopping for tonic water along the way, in anticipation of afternoon guests.

In a previous assignment, Obert produced the photo at right of U of M President Robert Bruininks, his wife Ruthie, and Alexandria Mayor Dan Ness in Sixth Avenue Wine & Ale, co-owned by Ness's wife, DiAnn, his son Barry, and Kierstin Mann. Ness is an alum of the Alexandria Class of '57, Obert believes, but did not check out. He also did not find out what Bruininks was doing in town.

(Personal note to the cub reporter from blog editor: The press pass you were issued is supposed to help you get closer to the action. Today I cropped out enough backs of heads along the parade route to keep a barber working for a year. Also, most of your work lately seems to involve you or your wife drinking wine. I must remind you that alcoholic beverages are no longer allowed on your expense account, even if you are interviewing the Alexandria mayor, the fact that he owns part of a liquor store not withstanding. How did he get the license? Sorry if I am a bit cranky today, but my shingles are acting up.)

Cub has alibi

Obert's most creative work comes when posting an alibi to the editor. Here's his latest:

I apologize for the crappy Vikingland pix. I recognized at the time they were substandard - but I forgot my "blog" credentials and crabby people along the sidewalk kept yelling at photographers to get out of the way!! And it was quick in and out for the parade.

We got home late the night before from an all-day adventure to New Ulm (Herman the German), St. Peter (Gustavus), and S. Minneapolis (college buddy's (on the right) 60th b'day party). The out-of-the-way trips to New Ulm and St. Peter occurred as a result of unsuccessful attempts to meet up with the HQ in Minneapolis before the birthday party.

- Cubbie

p.s. Bruininks was in town to have his picture taken with Ruthie - the mayor thought it a good photo op for himself as well.

__________

Editor responds: Nice Shirt, Tom -- TB

Don't know Ness. Is he a boomer? Eliott's son?

Today's mailbag
To: Trailboss
From: Cubbie

Thanks from Kathleen Pohlig.

----- Original Message -----
From: Kathleen Pohlig
To: 'Tom & Ruth'
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 2:03 AM
Subject: blog
Hi Tom and Ruth, Thanks for coming to the party at Cherry Street last night and for the photos and info you included in the blog. That is really cool and sure will help spread the word! It was great to see so much enthusiasm and support at the party and we’re really excited about opening on Saturday!

Kathleen

P.S. from the Cub: Last night, Mayor Ness reported that he recently discovered the blog and has become a fan. I told him I was trying to track him down during the January "Where's the blog?" era, but, as a politician, he was obviously trying to avoid pesky "media" coverage.
---------
Can't say as I blame Ness for becoming a blog fan. Where else could you see pictures of Paul Donley in a book store? -- TB

Willy's Corner Bar now a book store. What?

Remember Willy’s Corner Bar on the SE corner of 5th and Broadway? Well, the newest incarnation on that site is Cherry Street Books, which had its "sneak preview" tonight. With the opening of Bella's on Broadway in the near future, hope springs eternal for the resurrection of downtown Alex!

Photos: Ruthie with Cherry Street Books owner, Kathleen [Haining] Pohlig, Alex class of '66 (and current chair, board of directors, Alexandria Area Education Foundation); "sneak preview" browsers, Paul and Merry Donley; Ruthie @ the outdoor coffee tables (with Mike and Deb Odland exiting the facility).

What's happening to this old town o' mine. . .

John Herdan send this from the Echo Press

Imagine an entire empty block on Broadway between the Legion Club and 10th Avenue. And kitty corner the old funeral home is gone too. Lots of changes in Alex right now.Dazzling developments

By Erin Klegstad, Staff Reporter
Alexandria Echo Press
06/15/2007

Take a drive through the heart of Alexandria and the surrounding lakes area, and you’ll probably notice one thing: Business is booming.
Residential developments and businesses are popping up all over the place.
“It’s a reflection of the faith people have in the local economy,” said Mike Weber, Alexandria city planner.
Assistant city planner Marty Schultz agreed. “We’re fortunate to have development across all industrial, residential and commercial [zones],” he said.
The development growth spurt is also a sign of the population increase the city has been expecting. It’s projected to be around 11,500 when population estimates are released in July. At last count (April 2005), Alexandria had a population of 11,043.
Although the building projects aren’t as large as those during record-setting 2005, the development mix is strong and diversified, Weber said.
It ranges from new development to re-developmen t of older buildings to some areas of mixed use.
Like many communities, residential housing is a bit slower than last year, although the city has had a “pretty good start to the season in single family building permits,” Schultz said.
The housing that is being built, however, is exactly what “we’ve been looking for,” Weber said. It includes more townhomes and higher density and more clustered developments.
Here’s a snapshot of the many building projects going on in the lakes area (keep in mind the list is far from exhaustive).
• A 13,000-square-foot “neighborhood center” located near China Buffet and Super Wal-Mart has seven storefronts. Two of them already have occupants – Jimmy John’s sub sandwiches and Great Clips.
It’s a prime development location, said Troy Hocum with GOT Properties, developer of the property. “That seems to be where everything is happening,” he said, adding that they’re pursuing national brand tenants to occupy the rest of the building.
• A 13,000-square-foot trucking terminal will be built near Apol’s Harley-Davidson by Heritage Transport.
• Dakota Supply Group will be constructing a 30,000-square-foot facility on County Road 45 just north of Morton Buildings.
• The former K&K building at 123 3rd Avenue East was demolished to make way for a $1.9 million two-story office/retail complex. The 11,246-square-foot facility will be home to the Alexandria construction management/development firm, ORB Management, along with other professional office and retail lease space.
• The Broadway block between 9th and 10th avenues is getting a facelift with the construction of a 14,820-square-foot Walgreen’s as well as 11 three-level luxury townhomes (facing Fillmore Street). The existing buildings have been either razed or moved to make way for the new construction. The developer is Gendell Partners Alexandria, LLC.
• Third Avenue between Lake and Kenwood streets is also being upgraded. The developer, Silver Maple Investments, LLC, will remove several blighted commercial buildings – a former gas station with contaminated soil, an auto body facility, an auto repair shop and an old warehouse – and two housing rental units.
In their place will be a 130,000-square-foot mixed-use, five-story facility that will be used for retail and office space. Residential condominiums are also a possibility.
The $8.2 million development will encompass the entire block.
• The former Garden Center (503 Hawthorne Street) is home to two new businesses – Noonan Sports Specialists and Adventure Alley Child Care Center.
Noonan Sports Specialists is a 4,000-square-foot strength and conditioning facility that caters to all levels of athletes from youth sports to collegiate players.
• Cherry Street Books is set to open sometime during the next few weeks. Located on the corner of 503 Broadway (the former Lee’s Chop Suey location), the bookstore will feature books for readers of all ages, comfortable reading chairs, gifts and coffee by the Daily Grind.
Owner Kathleen Pohlig couldn’t be more excited. “I’ve just always wanted a good bookstore,” she said. “I hope it’s a place where people can feel very welcomed.”
• Also coming soon to downtown Alexandria is Bella’s on Broadway (next door to Yesterday’s antique shop), an Italian restaurant that’s an expansion of Glenwood’s Café Bella.
Choosing to open here seemed a “natural fit because Alexandria has been really supportive of our Bella’s in Glenwood,” said Carrie Thompson, who owns the restaurant along with her husband, Grant.
The restaurant – scheduled to open in mid-July – will feature the building’s exposed brick and intimate, private booths, similar to Café Bella.
• Glenwood State Bank will be opening a branch office, located at 2221 South Broadway (the former Big Gallon), in Alexandria this fall.
• State Bank and Trust will be beginning construction on a new facility, located at 1001 Broadway (formerly Petermeier’s Funeral Home). The bank is currently located at 1121 Broadway.
• Lakeview Park, first addition, is a development located between Birch and McKay Avenue and will feature 22 townhomes.
• Thirty-one townhomes will be built in the Fairgrounds Villa, a development located west of Willow Drive, north of Latoka Drive and south of the Viking Speedway. The attached townhomes will each have three bedrooms and two bathrooms on two levels and will sell for between $180,000 and $190,000.
• There are a handful of large developments in the county as well. The final plat of Sailor Crossing was just approved by the Douglas County Board. The development is located near Pike Road and County Road 120 and will have 44 single-fami ly homes. Twenty-four single-family homes will be built by East Moe Road NW in an Elk Lake development.
The final plats of both The Woods at Miltona and Pine Haven are soon to come before the board. The first has 44 single-family homes and is located on 131 acres along Highway 29, just north of Jim and Judy’s gas station. Pine Haven, located on about 160 acres along County Road 42 and Prairies Road (just south of Carlos Corners), will have 75 single-family homes.

Clair helped Sara get first hound

Hi,
I got my first dachshund from Clair Morrison when we were entering 5th grade. I started thinking about how old "Fritzy" would have been today and it made me totally depressed. Anyway, he's partly responsible for my obsession with these wonderful hounds.
Sara Sevey

Deception unmasked, reporter victimized

Security was tight today at the Larry Holverson retirement and bon voyage party held in the bowels of the Echo Press building in downtown Alexandria, Minnesota.

Threats against the honoree were not being ignored. Senior Security Chief Clair Morrison ( photo of hard-looking guy - right) vowed that no one would penetrate the Green Zone just east of Broadway.

Holverson, seen by most as a hard-working, mild-mannered sports reporter of 30-plus years of service, has been using the job as cover for his true obsession: culturing a dandelion-free yard.

This deception was unmasked recently when Pope County Tribune publisher John Stone (see the photo taken in front of the newspaper darkroom/uni-sex bathroom/spa) came to the stark realization that no one, but absolutely no one, could actually deal with the parents of high school athletes for 30 years and survive.

This sober conclusion and the subsequent investigation forced Holverson into retirement.
Investigators discovered that Holverson hasn’t actually written a news story in 10 years. He has simply recycled old stories from back issues. He was able to pull this off because after 20 years of service, Holverson’s credibility was so high, his command of Cardinalese so great, that no one questioned that the story they read in the newspaper didn’t exactly match what they might have seen in the Cardinal gym or ballfield. It was close enough, the newspaper was probably correct, they assumed.
Meanwhile, Holverson has used all this free time to manage a front and back yard to rival "The Little Bit 'O Heaven."

So why the draconian security arrangements at the retirement ceremony?
Well, the Beer Softball League thugs, who think Holverson never gave them enough press or public recognition, vowed to give him a snuggy he would never, ever forget.
Fortunately, our cub reporter was able to enter the Morrison Green Zone by using cleverly designed Blogspot Press Credentials. Unfortunately, the evil softballers were also able to somehow penetrate Morrison's security. But, alas, they had failed to bring an accurate description of Holverson, mistakenly believing him to be bald and bearded.

The smile you see on Tom Obert, below, is the sad result of their mistaken identity.

Holverson files final Cardinal report

(Class of 66er Larry Holverson retired Friday as the Echo Press Sports Editor and from 38 years in the newspaper business. I like to think I helped Larry along some when he started out as a sports reporter for the AlHi Times. I was the sports editor then, Judy Blanchard was the editor-in-chief, and Black Pete was the advisor. Larry took over as sports editor in his senior year. Here's Larry's swan song. -- TB)

Lou Gehrig said he was the luckiest man on Earth the day he retired as a player for the New York Yankees.
I can honestly say that he was the second luckiest person.
Today is my final day here at the Echo Press after 33 years and 38 in newspapers overall, including five years at the Little Falls Daily Transcript.
It all started when I was in high school and through my career I have witnessed an amazing number of changes from the linotype setters to the computer.
Pages used to be put together with hot metal. Now pages are sent via e-mail to the printer.
The telephone was the early method of gathering event details.
There were many nights when the phone would ring constantly for at least 90 minutes. The latest call I ever received was at 1:45 a.m. Thankfully, that happened just one time.
The fax machine made things easier and saved time. Then e-mail came into existence to simplify things even more – if you could figure out how to use it.
Today there are probably around eight coaches that talk to me on the phone.
I miss not talking live to the coaches.
Photography has also been a big change for the better, going from big clunky cameras to 35-millimeter to digital.
Larry Scott and the late Larry Larson were very instrumental in my career.
We were known as the three Larrys. We were all Alexandrians and all had a passion for sports.
Scott has been the sports information director at Moorhead State University.
Larson gave me my first big break when he recommended me for the job in Little Falls and I was fortunate to get the position.
In September of 1975, I got another big break when Jon Haaven offered me the job here at the Echo Press.
It took me awhile to decide what to do but the opportunity to come back to my hometown was too good to turn down.
Jon was very supportive and one of my favorite things about him was that he let me do my job the way I believed it should be done and was always supportive.
His successor, Jody Hanson, has been the same.
I miss the small town schools. Some nights if it worked out right, I could get pictures of eight games, starting at Cyrus, going to Hoffman, Kensington and Barrett for basketball games and then, work my way back for boys’ games.
I owe the State Patrol, sheriff’s deputies and city police a great deal of thanks when I was on the road because some nights I had to use my heavy foot.
I was stopped just once in my career and I got by with a warning.
Now with communities pairing and sharing, I was lucky to get to two games a night.
Then there have been nights where we have gone on wild goose chases where I have sent photographer Arlan Anderson to a game in Parkers Prairie only to find out the event was in Henning.
There have also been nights when Arlan and I were at the same game, mistakenly, as I forgot who was covering what.
There have been a couple of embarrassing moments as well, but fortunately, not that many.
Like the night in Evansville where the basketball bounced off my shoulder and knocked the flash off its mount and all the batteries rolled onto the floor.
My good, close personal friend, Will Rogers, once said that if you find a job you love you will never work a day in your life.
That fits me to a tee (please don’t tell the boss, I will owe a good deal of back pay).
I love my job but more importantly I love the people I work with – from all of the coaches and others to our wonderful staff here at the Echo Press.
I have been lucky enough to witness many record breaking moments and many state champions, individual and team.
It has been fun following the professional careers of Gary Serum and Tom Lehman among others who have come close to making the big leagues.
Lori Mork will be the new sports editor. She has been my assistant the past 10 years and will do a bang-up job.
Coaches, students, support staff and teachers have all touched my life over the past. Thanks for 33 great years.
God bless each and every one of you.

Steve Froemming, Class of 1965

Our classmate, Steve Froemming, appeared at the 50th wedding anniversary of Dave and Carol Dittberner. Wonder if Steve still sings baritone in the choir? Tom Obert, who supplied these photos, says Steve, like most of Douglas County (the McCabes, for instance), is related (a nephew) to Dave and Carol. We're assuming the other photo the Cub supplied is of the Dittberners. The Trailboss isn't related so he's just going on gut instinct here. The Cub's work is certainly showing promise, don't you think? He's really starting to grow into his digital camera.

That's not all he's growing into, it seems:

Laid-back libations

Professor Doctor Colonel Tom Keihne enjoyed a glass with the Cub's Ruthie at the Sixth Avenue Wine & Ale during Tom's Memorial Day weekend visit to his folks.

(Photo by Tom Obert)

Sharon Stoltenberg Setterlund's father dies

Charles Stoltenberg, 89
Alexandria Echo Press

Published Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Charles Stoltenberg died on May 30, 2007, at the age of 89 years.
He is survived by his children, Wayne (Pam) Stoltenberg of Ramsey, Sharon (Rick) Setterlund of Alexandria, Diane (John) Wimberg of Elkhart, TX, Paul (Cheryl) Stoltenberg of Spicer, Nancy Walker of Denison, TX, Loren (Linda) Stoltenberg of Ramsey, and Janet (David) Moore of Magnolia, TX; grandchildren Lisa Lemmer, Barry Schon, Carl Stoltenberg, Bethany Reynolds, Alison Stoltenberg, Christina Graham, Kim Stoltenberg, Kelly Stoltenberg, Daniel Stoltenberg, Stacey Bachman and Aaron Stoltenberg; great-grandchildren Andria Bachman, Zachary Bachman, Samuel Bachman, Jasmine Stoltenberg, Alexander Lemmer, Brittany Flaherty and Katlyn Flaherty; brothers, Alfred Stoltenburg of Tyler and Fred Stoltenburg of Jackson; and special friend, Marion Stone, of Alexandria. Charles was preceded in death by his parents, wife Mildred in 1992, six brothers and sisters, and granddaughter, Jennifer Perez.
Charles Joseph Stoltenberg was born in Goodwin, South Dakota, on August 21, 1917, the son of Carl and Rose (Schweinfurt) Stoltenberg. The family moved to Tracy, where Charles attended high school and met Mildred Felt in 1936. After graduating from Tracy High School in 1938, he began working at the CCC camp in northern Minnesota at Gooseberry Falls for about two years. Charles married Mildred Felt in 1941. After their first child, Wayne, was born in 1942, Charles enlisted in the United States Army where he was sent to the European Theatre. Returning to Alexandria after the war, Charles began working at the First National Bank and then at Syvrud Motors as a bookkeeper for many years. He also worked as an insurance salesman for a short period of time before he became the Douglas County Veteran’s service officer. He continued in that position until his retirement in 1983.
Charles was active in many civic organizations. He was the commander of the American Legion where he was an active member for 60 years. He also served in many capacities for VFW Post 936 in Alexandria. Charles was a member of Calvary Lutheran Church and also served as a lay minister to Lutheran parishes in southern Minnesota for about 10 years and was active as a Boy Scout leader and a member of Golden Kiwanis. He enjoyed stamp, pens and coin collecting, golfing, square dancing, reading, fishing and travel. He will be sadly missed by his family and friends.
Funeral services were held on Tuesday, June 5, from the Calvary Lutheran Church in Alexandria, with Rev. Mark Astrup officiating. Music was provided by David Moore, Bruce Aga and Audrey Aga. Interment was on Wednesday, June 6 at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery with Paul Stoltenberg, Loren Stoltenberg, John Wimberg, David Moore, Earle Rundquist, and Richard Setterlund serving as casket bearers. Honorary casket bearers were Alfred Stoltenburg, Fred Stoltenburg, Herman Felt and Wayne Stoltenberg.
Military honors were provided by American Legion Post #87, VFW Post #936 and the Fort Snelling Memorial Rifle Squad.
Arrangements were with the Anderson Funeral Home, www.andersonfuneral.net.

Alexandria Beetles honor Hofflands' grandson

Greetings from the Land of Enchantmant!
We are so glad that the BLOG is up and running again. You haven't heard from us for awhile so we thought we would share some goodness with you and everyone who reads the BLOG.

Just to keep you all informed on our grandson, Nolan ( age 10 ) , who recently we wrote about in having this rare eye disease, Uvetitis (Pars Planitis), is on his way to Alexandria, Mn(he lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico).
The Alexandria Beetles baseball team is having a benefit-fundraiser for the Ocular Immunology and Uvetits Foundation in honor of Nolan.Nolan will throw out the "first pitch" on this Friday, June 8, 7 PM Beetles baseball game. Sara, (our daughter) and Alix (our grandaughter) will also accompany him as well.
The Beetles are giving so much per ticket to the foundation. Plus, they have given Sara tickets and t-shirts for her family for the event. Nolan is so excited. He just can't imagine 1000 people cheering him on when he is on the pitchers mound. Nolan recently had more eye surgery and more than likely is looking at another surgery fairly soon.
Nolan's friends and family here in Abq sponsored a car wash to help them raise money to support his trip to Alexandria for this special game/event in honor of Nolan. Nolan (and us too) have been so blessed as Nolan has been remembered well.
What is even more pleasing is that in all this support and effort we make more and more people aware of this disease. Hopefully, one day there will be a cure.
Therefore, if any of you are in the Alexandria area on this Friday, June 8th and want to see our grandson through out the first pitch and donate to a good cause, please go and cheer him on. Our daughter, Melissa and boys(from St. Cloud) will also be there. They will all be sitting at a table with reading information regard Nolan's eye disease.
So, if you make it to the game please give them a hug or hand shake and say you read about it on the 65ers Blog. You will also see an ad in the Alexandria Echo with Nolan's picture announcing the event/game fundraiser. Harland will be on his way to Canada that evening for his annual fishing trip, therefore, he will not make it for the "first pitch" but hopes to make his appearance for the fundraiser before heading off to Canada.

But, to even sweeten the pie, a classmate, Sara Sevey and her husband Jim, had a fund raiser also for the Uvetis Foundation in honor of Nolan for their Super Bowl Party . Sara did it up right and made Nolan feel so special. However, Nolan was unable to attend that event. Sara and Jim Sevey started this support and donations for Nolan and it continues to grow. As a grandparent, it feels so good for so many people to care about your own.

We just wanted to share with you our blessings and encourage anyone in the Alexandria area to go to the Beetles game and help donate towards a good cause.

I am sorry I don't have any beautiful pictures right now to share, but just imagine in your head this little boy who has encountered so many eye surgeries and disappointments with his disease, walking up the the pitching mound at the Beetles game and throwing that "first pitch" and all those fans cheering him on........... and by the way, Nolan is a pitcher and or catcher for his little league baseball team here in Albuquerque. So, this will be BIG stuff for him!

Thanks for listening.......it is always great to share wonderful stories.

Always, Carolyn & Harland Hoffland

Softballers go down... eventually

Results from the weekend…
SOFTBALL
Alexandria 6 Annandale 4
The Alex Cardinals needed to win the first game to keep their hopes alive of going to State and they did just that coming from four runs down to top Annandale 6 to 4. Things looked bleak but the Cardinals started a rally with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. A single by Jordan Tavierne, a walk to Brenna Burgau and Dani Bany loaded the bases with no one out. Mack West then singled scoring Kate Gearman pinch running for Tavierne. Burgau scored on a ground out which put us down 4 to 2 but that would be all the scoring in the fifth. Then in the sixth Alex scored four more runs. Ashley Holmes walked to lead off the sixth, and Teclaw singled to score Holmes. Tavierne walked and Burgau singled knocking in Teclaw to tie the game. After a sacrifice bunt by pinch hitter Gracie Bruzek, West singled in the go ahead runs as pinch runners Kate Gearman and Laine Hanson scored. The Cards held on to win. Bany pitched 7 innings giving up 9 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts to pick up her 18th win of the season.

Annandale 6 Alexandria 4
Everything came down to this one game to go to State. Alex won the flip of the coin and was the home team. Annandale would come out and score a run in the top of the first but Alex answered immediately when Sam Dale hit a long homerun over the centerfield fence to tie the game 1 to 1. Alex would take their only lead of the game in the bottom of the second scoring a run to go ahead 2 to 1. A base hit by Teclaw and an RBI single by Bany scored that go ahead run. Then the disastorous 3rd inning hit when Annandale scored 5 runs on 6 hits and a walk to move ahead 6 to 2. The Cards would once again answer scoring 2 runs to close the gap to 6 to 4. After that neither team scored in the last four innings though Alex had three more scoring threats but just couldn't come up with the big hit. We battled to the end and never gave up but Annandale was able to hang on and win. Bany pitched 7 innings, gave up 12 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. I am very proud of this team and what they have accomplished. They finished 18-8 overall, 3rd in the Conference, North Sub- Section Champions and Section runner-up. It was a fantastic season. Thanks to all the fans who supported us this season. It was much appreciated.
GIRLS TRACK
Lady Cards Perform at Section 8AA Track and Field
The Lady Cardinal Track and Field team sent 9 representatives to compete in 11 events at the Section 8AA meet on Saturday and they finished 7th out of 16 teams, scoring 39 points. I could not be more proud of this group of young ladies for their tremendous efforts and performances on Saturday! These ladies recorded 11 personal or season best performances out of 15 opportunities in this meet.
The Lady Cardinal track and field team will be sending Rosey Erickson to the State Meet on June 8 and 9 to represent their team in the 100m and 200m dash. Erickson placed 2nd in the 100m in a time of 12.88 and won the 200m in a time of 25.84, a personal best, to earn her way to the state meet for the second year in a row. Last year, Erickson raced in the 200m and placed 10th, just missing finals.
Annie Trebelhorn placed 4th in the 100 hurdles in a time of 16.83 and 6th in the 300 hurdles in a time of 47.10 and 10th in the High Jump clearing the bar at 5’ 00”, all three performances were personal bests for Trebelhorn. Kate Ellison placed 8th in the 800m run in a time of 2:27.60, a season best performance. Jamie Piepenburg placed 5th in the 3200m run in a time of 11:46.44, a personal best. Stealing the spotlight on the day was the 4x400 relay team of Annie Trebelhorn, Rosey Erickson, Katie Roos and Amy Briol. These four ladies went after the very fast relay team from St. Cloud Tech and challenged them for the top spot and the chance to go to the State Meet in the event. All four ladies ran personal best 400m splits and nearly ran down the talented team from Tech. Although they did not catch the team from Tech they did run a very fast 4:05.63 time in the 4x400m relay and that was good for 2nd place. The 400m splits for the ladies were Trebelhorn 62.16, Erickson 58.56, Roos 62.86 and Briol 62.05; awesome job ladies!
Katie Roos also recorded a personal best in the open 400m dash when she ran nearly 2 seconds faster then she has ever run before recording a 1:02.76 in that race.
The ladies performed incredibly well and did their team, school, and community proud!
BOYS TRACK
Section 8AA at Sauk Rapids

The Alexandria men’s track and field team competed at Sauk Rapids on Saturday at the section 8AA meet and captured 4th place overall, qualifying 3 to the state meet.
Sophomore Drew Paradis took 1st place for the Cards in the 3200m run with his outstanding time of 9:42.58. It was Drew’s personal best time by over 2 seconds and it will be his first trip to the state meet held at Hamline University.
Senior Ben Wilson ran to a season best time of 4:26.01 as he just missed being a section champion by 3/10th of a second. Ben challenged the lead and battled right down to the wire dropping 6.5 seconds off his season best. Ben will compete for the second straight year in the state meet 1600m run.
Junior Jack Trebelhorn qualified to the state meet with his last jump of the competition to recapture 2nd place by ½ inch. His jump of 42’ 3.5” was just enough to earn his first trip to the state meet.
Full results to the section meet can be found at www.isd47.org/track/results and going to the state high school league site www.mshsl.org and going to the track information will give you a time schedule of events and the seeds for the state meet at Hamline on Friday morning and Saturday morning.

Attn Boomers: Did you plan for this?

Why Stan is afraid to retire. . .

Just when you thought you had enough saved up to pay for water, now this.