Nation of Texas reports in. . .

Lorlee Bartos writes:
Well, we are up to six confirmed cases now, three of which are in Richardson, (the first suburb north of Dallas), where they have closed a couple of schools. I have my emergency stash of good books and am prepared to stay home to read them if it comes to that.
Governor Good Hair -- as he is called -- continues to embarrass most of us and we are hoping that he will personally secede to Mexico.
Below is a link for you to check him out -- up close and personal. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2009/04/when_did_governor_rick_perry_s.php

Hey Lorlee, You Okay?

Texas reported three cases of swine flu yesterday. Thankfully, none reported in your city, Dallas. Everything alright there, Lorlee?
Fortunately, it appears that before your governor secedes Texas from the union, he was able to request 37 thousand courses of swine flu treatment from the nanny federal government of the United States.
Hope it gets delivered before Texas departs.

George Bale, 82

Alexandria Echo Press - 04/23/2009
George Bale, 82, Alexandria, died April 23, 2009 at Knute Nelson Memorial Home.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, April 29 at 11 a.m. at First Lutheran Church in Alexandria.Visitation will be Tuesday, April 28 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Anderson Funeral Home and one hour prior to the service on Wednesday at the church.
Arrangements are with Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria; www.andersonfuneral.net.

Natalia Obert, 86

Published Friday, April 17, 2009
Natalia “Tommy” Josephine Obert, 86, Alexandria, died April 14, 2009.
Natalia was born March 7, 1923 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to Tollef and Ragna Thompson. Her family moved to Worthington when she was very young. In Worthington, she acquired a reputation as a tomboy, and thus her lifelong nickname of Tommy.
The Thompson family eventually moved to St. Paul and then Minneapolis, where Natalia graduated from Marshall High School.
She met John Obert in Minneapolis. They were married in Dallas, Texas on May 12, 1944. After John graduated from the University of Minnesota, they moved to Alexandria where John began his 18-year career with the Park Region Echo. Natalia was actively involved with DFL politics and the League of Women Voters during that time.

The family moved to Arlington, Virginia in 1966, where John began a 21-year career as a political press secretary and speechwriter. After John died in 1987, Natalia moved back to Alexandria, and to old friends.
In Alexandria, she loved playing golf and bridge – and lunching with the ladies. She never met a filet mignon, rare, that she didn’t like. She unsuccessfully attempted to teach her children in the ways of fine dining – that one should always order two martinis before even looking at the menu. She was also unsuccessful in teaching her children how to dance – “Feel the beat!”
She was successful, however, in teaching her children tolerance, progressive politics, a love of University of Minnesota athletics and the Twins (maybe not so much the Vikings or Timberwolves), and a love of reading.
Natalia is survived by her four children, Tom and wife, Ruth, of Alexandria, Gretchen and husband, Mohamed Chighali, of Washington, D.C., Chris and wife, Janet, of Stafford, Virginia, and Cameron and wife, Karen, of Mounds View; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
The family has requested that donations in Natalia’s name be made to Knute Nelson Nursing Home, Outreach Food Shelf, or Alexandria Education Foundation.
A celebration of life service was held Saturday, April 18. Honorary urn bearers were Tom and Mary Kay Obert, Ted and Pearl Wahler and all the neighbors of Le Homme Dieu View.
Arrangements are with Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria; www.andersonfuneral.net.

Hail Victoria Heights!

The largest gathering of Victoria Heighters of the 60's (and earlier) since . . . well, the 60's!!
Left to right: Larry McCoy, Cam Obert, Laura McCoy, Shelly Karnis, Karen [Nyvold] Hedine, Chris Obert, Jay Nyvold, Gene Karnis, Perry Dyke, Kathy [Sherry] Skadsberg, Gretchen Obert, Dorothy Dyke, Tom Obert, Paul Dyke.

Hey Lorlee, Tom. . .

Are you Texans still with us? You won't be needing a passport to come to the next reunion, will ya?

Tommy Obert dies

Natalia (Tommy) J. Obert, age 86, of Alexandria died on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at Knute Nelson.
A celebration of life service will be held 3:00 PM on Saturday, April 18, 2009 at the Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria.
Visitation:Visitation will be for one hour prior to the service on Saturday.
Our sympathies to her son, Tom, and other family members.

Baseball opener, battle of the seasons

It's April in Minnesota, sun happens to be shining at the moment, but not so much you'd actually want to play baseball outside today.
Thank goodness for the dome?

It is spring time in Texas, no doubt about that, so our dear classmate Lorlee Bartos obliges us with her annual floral salute from her Dallas garden, while we thumb through the latest Tom Obert "Ice on Lake Darling" offerings and try to cheer up.

-

Yes, it's Monday morning in Minnesota and it's always hard to know exactly what the week will bring. We're more than ready for it to get started.

Good luck to all of us...

and to the Twins.

Fifth grade teacher

Sorry to hear about Bob Hawkins. He was my fifth grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary. He loved to talk about baseball in class. That's the way I remember him, and the fact that he played for the Clippers when they used to get packed houses.
Jim Van Amber

Bob Hawkins dies

Bob Hawkins, who most members of the Class of '65 remember as an elementary school teacher and Clippers baseball catcher, has died.

His longtime friend, Paul Donley, writes:
I am sorry to inform you that Bob Hawkins passed away last night from a massive stroke. He was living in Burnsville in an assisted living complex. Bob's son called me this morning to let me know and asked that I pass along the information to folks who would remember Bob. There will be a private family-only ceremony. An obituary should appear in the Echo and Tribune sometime next week.
As many of you know, Bob was a life long friend and I shall miss him greatly.

Alum sends flood report from Moorhead

As of today, we remain high and dry.
I am back to work today after 8 days at home. The Concordia Campus closed, asking students to sandbag and then sending them to their homes when the National Guard arrived.
One of our servers rec’d water damage so the ITS Center is struggling to get that up and running.
Brown Hall (dorm) is the only building that rec’d water & sewer damage. As I walked across campus this morning, I saw two dumpsters filled with furniture.
When my kids come home for Easter I told them to bring a U-Haul. This mom has moved wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, hi-school and college year books, newspaper clippings, sports awards, etc. for the LAST time.
Donna Podratz
Office Manager
Parish Nurse Center
Concordia College

History exam

Everyone over 40 should have a pretty easy time at this exam. If you areunder 40 you can claim a handicap.
This is a History Exam for those who don't mind seeing how much they really remember about what went on in their life.

*** Get paper & pencil & number from 1 to 20.
****Write the letter of each answer & score at the end.

1. In the 1940s where were automobile headlight dimmer switches located?
a. On the floor shift knob.
b. On the floor board to the left of the clutch.
c. Next to the horn.

2. The bottle top of a Royal Crown Cola bottle had holes in it. For what was it used?
a. Capture lightning bugs.
b. To sprinkle clothes before ironing.
c. Large salt shaker.

3. Why was having milk delivered a problem i n northern winters?
a. Cows got cold and wouldn't produce milk.
b. Ice on highways forced delivery by dog sled.
c. Milkmen left deliveries outside of front doors and milk would freeze expanding and pushing up the cardboard bottle top.

4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of chance?
a. Blackjack
b. Gin
c. Craps

5. What method did women use to look as if they were wearing stockings whennone were available due to rationing during WW II.
a. Suntan
b. Leg painting
c. Wearing slacks

6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn'ttell whether it was coming or going?
a. Studebaker
b. Nash Metro
c. Tucker

7. Which was a popular candy when you were a kid?
a .. Strips of dried peanut butter.
b. Chocolate licorice bars.
c. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.

8. How was Butch wax used?
a. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up.
b. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing.
c. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust.

9. Before inline skates how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?
a. With clamps tightened by a skate key.
b. Woven straps that crossed the foot.
c.. Long pieces of twine.

10. As a kid what was considered the best way to reach a decision?
a. Consider all the facts.
b. Ask Mom.
c. Eeny-meeny-miney-mo.

11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940s and 1950s?
a. Smallpox
b. AIDS
c. Polio

12. "I'll be down to get you in a ________, Honey"
a. SUV
b. Taxi
c. Streetcar

13. What was the name of Caroline Kennedy's pony?
a. Old Blue
b. Paint
c. Macaroni

14. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?
a. Part of the game of hide and seek.
b. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores.
c. Hiding unde r your desk and covering your head with your arms in anA-bomb drill.

15. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?a. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
b. Princess Sacajawea
c.. Princess Moonshadow

16. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests werehanded out in school?a. Immediately sniffed the purple ink as this was believed to get you high.
b. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window.
c. Wrote another pupil's name on the top to avoid their failure.

17. Why did your Mom shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?a. To keep you out of mischief by licking the backs which tasted like bubblegum.
b.. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various householditems.
c. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos.
18. Praise the Lord & pass the _________?
a. Meatballs
b. Dames
c. Ammunition

19. What was the name of the singing group that made the song "Cabdriver" a hit?
a. The Ink Spots
b. The Supremes
c. The Esquires

20. Who left his heart in San Francisco ?
a. Tony Bennett
b. Xavier Cugat
c. George Gershwin
----------------------------- ------------------------------
ANSWERS
1. (b) On the floor to the left of the clutch. Hand controls popular inEurope took till the late '60's to catch on.
2. (b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?
3. (c) Cold weather caused the milk to freeze and expand popping the bottletop.
4 . (a) Blackjack Gum.
5. (b) Special makeup was applied followed by drawing a seam down the backof the leg with eyebrow pencil.
6. (a) 1946 Studebaker.
7. (c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water.
8 (a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.
9. (a) With clamps tightened by a skate key which you wore on a shoe string around your neck.
10. (c) Eeny-meeny-miney-mo.
11. (c) Polio. In beginning of August swimming pools were closed movies andother public gathering places were closed to try to prevent spread of the disease.
12. (b) Taxi . Better be ready by half-past eight!
13. (c) Macaroni.
14 (c) Hiding under your desk and covering your head with your arms in anA-bomb drill.
15. (a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.
16. (a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink to get a high.
17. (b) Put in a special stamp book they could be traded for household itemsat the Green Stamp store.
18. (c) Ammunition and we'll all be free.
19. (a) The widely famous 50's group The Inkspots.
20. (a) Tony Bennett and he sounds just as good today.
---------------------------
SCORING
17- 20 correct: You are older than dirt and obviously gifted with mentalabilities. Now if you could only find your glasses. Definitely someone whoshould share your wisdom!
12 -16 correct: Not quite dirt yet but you're getting there.
0 -11 correct: You are not old enough to share the wisdom of yourexperiences.