alexandriacardinals

[Famous Alexandria landmark that’s a photo op for all out-of-town visitors.]

We had to search for it on day 2.  Three Havens store is under new ownership and is now called Sunnie’s.  The sign was no longer out front.  But since we were there, I decided to take Scott out to Tolena Point – and on that route we found the sign now standing behind the store!     🙂

This was Wednesday – the day we had originally planned for the trip “up north.”  But the weather forecast indicated gray and chilly with the possibility of rain.  Of course, it never rained.  [Editor’s note:  I don’t ever remember so long a stretch with so little rain.  The drought is really . . . droughty.]  So, we did some local stuff.  I took Scott here while the ladies headed to Ron’s Warehouse.  We would meet them there later – hopefully after their shopping was done!

[Editor’s note:  (What, again?)  Some may be wondering about my choices for the article photo.  Where you usually see my smiling, charming mug, you have been treated first to Rooney Mara and now to Ana Marie Cox.  The supervisor always lets me know when one of my “girlfriends” is on TV.  I always ask, “Which one?”  Rooney and Ana are just two of them.  🙂  ]

[On the way to Tolena Point with Scott.]

[On the way back from Tolena Point with Scott.  This, and the one below, are of Lake Le Homme Dieu, of course.]

[Gray, but no rain.  Aaarrrgghhh!]

[It has been said one cannot be a true or honorary Alexandrian until one has been to Ron’s Warehouse.  Here Scott gets his indoctrination tour.]

[The ladies scour the fabric aisle.]

[Scott on a mission with restroom key in hand.  He did purchase duct tape, boxer shorts, a 6-hp weed whacker, and a fine outdoor dining room set.]

[Scott, ever alert to his surroundings, noticed on his first trip to Vacationland USA this place called Sauk Centre that wasn’t too far from Alex. He is a BIG Sinclair Lewis fan, has read all his books, and is now planning on reading them all again in chronological order.  The place was closed on their first trip here; it was open on this day and we had the place to ourselves.]

[Vickie and Scott share a moment with America’s first winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.]

[Where people have come from to visit the Sinclair Lewis Interpretive Center.]

[There were even some from Ft. Wayne!]

[Main Street]

[Sinclair Lewis stuff.  Are school kids today required to read Main Street?]

[First we watched an introductory video . . .]

[Then introduced ourselves to the star.]

[More of the star’s stuff.]

[I didn’t recall that this was Lewis’s quote.  I’ll find further use for it!  😉 ]

[You’ll always find this photo at the Palmer House (coming up), so I was familiar with it.  Still an amazing shot for the time.  It’s Sauk Centre in 1901 – so it must have been shot from a balloon.]

[A December-May romance, Sinclair?]

[Sauk Lake, for no other reason than it was available.  But Greystone Golf Course, designed by Tom Lehman, is photo center on the West side of the lake.]

[The Palmer House – it’s haunted, it has warped floors, it’s historic.]

[Here ghost, here ghost.]

[A photo I found . . . interesting?]

[Heading back home through West Union . . .]

[And it’s famed sculpture garden.]

[A final photo op stop at Ron’s.]

[She said she didn’t know the “creature” was there until she saw the photo.  😉 ]

Next – we head north!

Hi!  Yeah, we’ve been “away” for a while.  Company.  Here.  And while we’ve been “here,” we’ve heard from other people who have been “there.”  We’ll get “there” some day, they’re all on the bucket list.  But for now, we have responsibilities “here.”  Lotsa stuff to cover “here.”  The “there” above was provided by Roogggggg, the recently retired and regular traveler writer from the East coast.  It was on his Banff trip – soooo, it’s either Banff or Lake Louise.

[Rog subsequently advised it’s Lake Louise – and did not chastise me for not knowing the difference.  In keeping with the “there” theme:  Reading you from Siena Italy. ~ Diane OB]

But back to our story line . . . oh, with this quick stop.  As you recall, I missed the 2nd home volleyball game – without a written excuse from my mother.  But the staff photographer has returned this year – despite now being an empty nester – and provided coverage of the Sartell game (below) and in a later by-line:

It was a sign.  Company had arrived from Indiana with strict instructions they wanted to cruise the entire Chain of Lakes.  Well, those you can get into by pontoon.  The forecast for the morning (Tuesday) after their arrival called for high winds with temperatures possibly approaching 90.  Although they would be here the rest of the week, better the devil you know.  We decided to make a break for it!

[The supervisor said, “Follow my lead!”  (And who am I to argue?)]

[It looked like a fishing contest coming out of Arrowwood.]

[And it didn’t look like 90-degree weather as Scott, Vickie, and Rita were dressed for fall.]

[So, we looked for another sign.]

[The signs were good.]

[We waved to the Seveys as we cruised the West side of Lake Carlos.]

[The weather looked iffy again as we looked back at Darling.]

[Then there was another sign over the Clint Eastwood chair.]

[Heading north toward the state park.]

[Then we saw some fall color – red Adirondack chairs!]

[The shorelines were ominously quiet . . ]

[The supervisor and Scott were determined to make it!  The marina at Arrowwood was closed for the season; and we subsequently learned, so was Carlos Marina.  We were monitoring our gas mileage!]

[Land-ho!  Carlos State Park at the North end of Lake Carlos.]

[It’s potty time!!]

[Let’s eat!  Rita displays a fine sample of her “chopping!”]

[The Long Prairie River exits Lake Carlos on its voyage to the Mississippi.]

[Our excursion entered Lake Le Homme Dieu from Carlos, still with mostly overcast weather, and when we reached Tolena Point . . . an eagle!]

[It took several shots at maximum telephoto from a bouncing pontoon – some were not too bad.]

[And into Le Homme Dieu Bay – we were on our way to Bug-A-Boo Bay to wet our whistles.  Oh, and to go potty.]

[Past Beryl and Don’s . . .]

[And a couple nice lake homes . . .]

[Vickie and Scott were enjoying the ride – and the homes show.  They have a cabin on a 300-acre lake near Ft. Wayne – and with their sons, Brian and Kent, water ski all summer.]

[After the eagle sighting, we ran into some loons – our state bird.]

[It’s available!  🙂 ]

[Mom’s old association.]

[Another loon.]

[And another nice lake home.]

[Bug-A-Boo Bay!]

[Another loon.]

[Crack Moby Obie mates spring into action!  The weather is clearing!]

[The Hi, we’re here! photo op.]

[Hurry!  We gotta pee!]

[We love Lucy!  Who knew Bug-A-Boo was her home base?]

[Now truly a summer day – seek shade.]

[It was a Tuesday afternoon – after Labor Day – we had the place to ourselves.  Such is the way of life in the northlands.]

[Another Alaskan Amber please!  Small – we’re on a boat!]

[Work has begun on the renovation/reconstruction of the old Wharf across the street.]

[While Vickie attempts to cross the street . . .]

[The others prepare to cast-off.  Getting hot now!]

[We’ve begun circling the South shore of Le Homme Dieu.]

[These “kids” are new . . .]

[But we know the house . . .]

[It has a great entry view from the road . . .]

[And a great view from lake – we believe it’s available, too?  😉 ]

[Kinda what you think of when you say Alexandria lake home . . .]

[And a whole different take on Alexandria lake home.]

[The far side of the lake – the highlands – you can see downtown from there!]

[Really warm now – the ladies have gone into full-time tanning mode!]

[The home of – way back when – Alexandria’s first millionaire (or so he was described).]

[Kiwanis Beach, or so it was back in the day.  We called it Bare A** Beach then, for reasons self described in the title.]

[We have to cross the entire expanse of Le Homme Dieu (1,700 acres) to get back to Carlos (2,500 acres) and then home to Darling (1,000 acres).]

[Rita thought it a good time for a nap.]

[Scott was the driver most of the day – the last house before the Le Homme Dieu-Carlos channel.]

[Not a bad place or vessel.]

[Approaching the channel – the ladies are barking out instructions.]

[A short dash through the South end of Carlos, into Darling, and almost home, we sighted (or saw) a great blue heron on Noel and Tina’s dock.]

[We think he was picking out furniture for the missus.  Not a bad day – an eagle, some loons, and a heron!  🙂 ]

[Some color along our shoreline.]

[Dangerous Dan’s]

[Home, Sweet, Home.  A six-hour cruise through three lakes!  Company loved it.  A beautiful day.]

Of course, it’s not all peaches and cream.  The supervisor went down to the Moby for clean-up the day before – we hadn’t used “her” for almost 2 months again.  I heard shouts of “Tom, Tom” coming from the lake.  I was up top, washing windows because the house had just been power washed, readying for re-staining.  I hollered down, “What?”  (Well, I couldn’t think of anything else to say?)  The response was, “There are bees on the boat and I’ve been stung twice!”  Mr. Maintenance to the rescue!  Yup, there were lots of them – not bees, but yellow-jackets, wasps, hornets, those small, fuzzy, yellow and black flying insects with stingers.  The drought has made them worse than ever this year.  They are everywhere!  We could see they were flying in and out of our live well – also a two-person settee.  They were able to get in and out under the lift up seat.  There were too many for a full frontal assault.  We retreated back up the hill – to wait for dusk!  We went back down at night fall, both armed with a can of insecticide (we would rather have tried to capture, and rehabilitate, them, but time was against us).  We snuck up, lifted the seat, and commenced firing.  There were gazillions of them.  We kept firing as we retreated out of the Moby and back up the hill to the house.  Ruthie was hit two more times – I was injury free until . . . I was washing my hands in the house when I felt something on my back – sting!  Then one was on my forearm – sting!  Somehow they had followed (OK, probably were carried) me into the house!  We went back down early in the morning – it was still pretty cool.  We slowly lifted the seat and began pulling out lifejackets and seat cushions.  Dead insects everywhere.  A couple layers down – the hive, a big one, with live warriors!  We fired our cans again – and ran away as fast as we could again.  That evening we went back down – it was a sorry sight.  Signs of the massacre were everywhere.  The next morning Rita went down with us – we used dust pans like shovels to clean up the aftermath.  Most of the lifejackets were ruined – they had “eaten” into them.  What was the old slogan about the happiest day in your life and boats?

[We wrapped up a lovely first day at SAWA with friends and Uncle Willie’s Gut Bucket Blues Band.]

Next up:  The continuing saga of “We had company . . .]

How many of you were aware that on a clear day you can see Mt. Osakis from Alexandria?  On August 30, we were on the 13th tee, which looks to the East (as many do concerning things of enlightenment), and lo and behold, directly behind the green you can see the snow covered mountain in the distance!  Well, maybe you had to be there?

As long as we’re at the AGC, here’s a visual update on the construction of the new No. 7.

[Dar Hentz and Al Grundei approach the 6th green, from whence one can see the construction project.]

[Just south of the 9th tee, on the practice range, is the “muck” burying site – the stuff being dug out of the bottom of the old 7th hole water hazard.  There may be golf balls in there from the 40’s!]

The kids arrived from Indiana on Saturday, the 1st, in the wee small hours of the morning.  They awoke around noon, ready for the rest of their pilgrimage to the “up north” property.  We loaded the back of the supervisor’s pick-up with more supplies, including a trundle bed we have had in the lower level since day one – but we’re happy to start downsizing.  I wanted to go to a book signing at Cherry Street Books before they left.  So I hustled into town to meet Jay Tunney, son of former heavyweight champion, Gene.  Jay has written a book about his dad and his friendship with George Bernard Shaw.  I bought his book which he graciously signed, “To Tom:  A pioneer in the forward march of the human spirit.  Good luck, Jay Tunney”  🙂  We had a brief chat for I had to run – we learned we both spent time in Okinawa, me from 1970-72.  He said he was there 20 years earlier than that!  Gee, I don’t think he looks that much older than me?

[The kids came up this time in their Smart Car.  We were looking forward to driving it around for the week they had the pick-up.  The supervisor subsequently reported the car has been a real “guy magnet” for her.  Yeah . . . 😉 ]

[And away they go!]

[They have subsequently reported the clearing of a couple hundred small trees on their property on the space they want to build their “green” house.]

[Green acres is the place to be . . .]

[Before they left, they gave me a title-appropriate birthday present.  Yes, it’s still coming (at this time).]

[Then it was on to the winery for Patchouli – their last performance in Alex this year.  😦  Photo by local groupie, Bill Hortenbach, at a previous performance.]

[Our arrival coincided with the wedding photos.  Yup, it seems (and probably are) weddings there every weekend.]

[Winery staff and big Patchouli fan!  🙂 ]

[Julie . . .]

[with the smile . . .]

[that “lights up the room.”]

[Bruce, guitarist extraordinaire and artist . . .]

[He did the label for the winery’s latest, “Aurora,” made entirely from grapes grown in the Carlos Creek vineyard.]

[Friend Judy Berger visits with Bruce between sets.]

[Grape drops keep falling on my head . . .]

[The set.  (That’s Bruce’s art on the wall.)]

[The venue.]

[On the way out, the wedding in the woods.]

Julie provides the lead in to the video, one of my faves, “Hide”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvV_fRRwVvI

What a gorgeous video!!!  Great job!!!!!!!!!! Love Julie’s new blouse and smiles!!!!! Thanks for the link!!!!!!!!!!!!  ~ Sue Elliot (Patchouli fan & blog contributor)

The next day we could tell summer was coming to an end.  The “fun bunch” wanted to go for a pontoon ride – they told us to be on our dock at 5:00.  Well, I hadn’t been down to the dock in two months (OK, a couple of quick trips) – there was much new to see.

[We lost a couple of lakeside trees at the end of last summer – probably as a result of the high water then.  A lot of lakeside trees died last year.  We recently had them felled into the water to provide habitat.]

[Breaks up the shoreline, too.  🙂 ]

[Dangerous Dan’s]

[The supervisor, in charge of all she surveys!]

[There goes a waterskier.]

[And here comes a waterskier.]

[The Moby wonders, “Will I ever be used again?”]

[Our lakescaping has matured and now looks good in the rip-rap (well, we think so!).]

[Cattails are a nice touch!  😉  ]

[Protecting the lake from run-off.]

[The house has since been power washed in preparation for staining.]

[The supervisor’s New England asters – the little purple things.]

[Any sign of our water taxi?]

[HERE THEY COME!]

[Over the bounding main.]

[Let the festivities begin!]

Meanwhile, the very next day . . .

[Yup, it’s your aging correspondent, making the rounds in the cute little car.  We dropped by Camp Ballantine to say goodbye to Mary and Crazy Dave who were leaving the following morning – the first of the snowbirds to leave.  They had an excuse – something about a European cruise, as if that could compare with cruising beautiful Lake Darling!]

[Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!]

The next day, the long predicted birthday finally arrived . . .

[Roy is putting on the full court press – he wants us to come visit him in Hawaii, not that we’re averse to that!  😉  ]

[Must have been a golf day, too?  Oh yeah, it was – the boys sang Happy Birthday to Larry McCoy and me!  🙂  ]

[Check on No. 7 progress . . .]

Now the birthday?

[This was five years ago – remember the photo.]

[The attendees then . . .]

[This was Tuesday!  Why, yes, the shirt is 5 years older!]

I thought I was looking in a mirror, hee-hee. That was a fun little gathering 🙂 ~ Shelly;  Congrats on reaching another milestone.  Enjoy every day.  It must be true what they say about older people – they do not like to get rid of older clothes.   You need to update.  ~ Fitz

[The attendees.  OK, it was Shelly’s (right) birthday, too.  We grew up about three houses apart in Victoria Heights.  She is much younger than me (obviously).]

You’re looking GREAT, Tom! But, I’m confused. Are you 60 or 65? And you had a  “rainbow cake” and didn’t invite ME?!!  I’m hurt.  Happy Birthday and many, many more. ~ Linda; Happy Birthday Tom!  You look great. Hope you had a great day!  ~ Mary VK; HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU OLD @#$%! 🙂  ~ Marnee’; You’re still a puppy in my dog years.  Hope it was sweet.  ~ Doug

[I think these people were on the pontoon the previous day.]

Happy, happy. Looked for something to send you for your birthday by ordering over the internet since it was your 65th but hard to find something for someone who has everything. Did you have a good time last night? ~ Gretch; Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday, Tom!  ~ Carmen; Sweet!  Happy Birthday!  ~ Karen M;  You look fabulous.  I am determined to dig up some old photos, knowing how much fun it is to see our images way back when. But then I’ll have to get a scanner, etc. etc.  Anyway, Happy Birthday dear Tom!  And many, many more!  ~ Liz; More handsome!  ~ Cousin Barb;  Two cakes. You must be special! Happy birthday!!  ~ Mayo;  Spring chicken!! ~ Sue; Neither – hope you had a great day – with all that cake how could it have been bad!  ~ Sis Karen

[They were!]

…and the Burl Ives impression is getting better … ~ Marcus; WHAT? No presents this year! Have you been BAD! No, the punctuation is not wrong! Hah! ~ Rita; You haven’t changed a bit. You’ll have to share the secret with the rest of us.  Hope it was happy!  ~ Anne; Happy Birthday! I had a card but I’m so zonked out on pain medication [recent surgery] I’m lucky I know my own name.  ~ The Nanner

[Nice of the “music boys” to check in on us!]

Happy Birthday Tom! Hope you had an excellent day and evening!  ~ Greg and Val  🙂 ; Happy Birthday Tom, Thank you for the invite to celebrate the Sept 4Th Birthdays.  I can’t convince Larry he should celebrate.  Enjoy the evening anyway.   ~ Laura; Here’s wishing you a fabulous birthday celebration!  Sorry to have to miss this cheer tonight. We’ll be there in spirit and will raise a glass to you!  ~ Amy

[Pontooning tomorrow?]

[Woo-woo!]

[Ta-ta till next time!]

[Editor’s note:  Volleyball moms have subsequently provided the information missing in the original publication (see bottom).  Corrections have been made throughout.]

The high school sports season has begun!  And already I’m only batting .333 on coverage.  The blog needs more staff (and as we’ll see at the end, we did get some much appreciated help).  I had every intention of covering the volleyball season opener against Marshall last Tuesday – afterall, Marshall is the defending state champion and are ranked No. 1 in the state in our class this year.  But as noted in the preceding story, a senior steak fry and putting contest (the abbreviated name) got in the way.

[This, and the top photo, are of the JV and frosh games.  Because they were playing when I unleashed my camera.]

Things I have forgotten (or at least didn’t think of at the time) . . . well, the list is obviously too great to be comprehensive here, but:  The gym at this time of the year is like walking into a steam bath, the players were constantly fanning themselves for relief (“I can hardly wait for the new high school”);  I didn’t understand a single word that came out of the PA system (“I can hardly wait for the new high school”); the progam did not include all the players and had some numbers wrong (“It’s a good thing I still recognize many of the players”); what am I going to do next year when Shanee’ has finally graduated and I won’t have Marnee’ to help guide me; and don’t you just love it when an old guy grouses?  Anyway, Roger Riley was the only other Super Fan (as far as we know) and he left after the 2nd game for an ice bath.

[In the JV game, I recognized Wensia Johnson (14) from the track team.  She’s a freshman this year and went up with a double block below.]

We were playing Rocori.  We were the more experienced team, but they had a height advantage.  In fact, for lo my several years of following the sport, this is the shortest team I can recall.  We usually have at least a front line of 6-footers, but this year, according the following roster, we don’t have any players that tall.  It happens – I’ve been a 6-footer all my life.  Now the measuring device in the doctor’s office says I’m only 5’11,” but I am requesting a recount.]

[Little known fact.  A Central Lakes Conference home game cannot begin until Bob Cunniff and Wayne Elton have met a center court.]

Let the warm-ups begin – a chance to identify players, scout the hitters, and marvel at their elevation.

[I can’t tell who this is – seems likely I could never have blocked her shot.]

[Senior setters Nicole Canavati (2) and Allie Noetzelman (1) are at the net.]

[Jessica Burns, senior OH]

[Allie shows setters can spike too!  🙂 ]

[Natalie Watkins (7)]

[Amanda Christianson  (5), junior RH.  We know Amanda can get in the air – she jumps center for the basketball team.]

[We’ll be seeing her all year – she plays softball in the spring.]

[Liz Schultz (9)]

[Looks like Jenni Wild (3), senior OH.]

[Amanda Haack (11)]

[Could it be No. 8?  Tara LeBrassuer, senior MH]

[Emily Kuennen (13), junior MH]

[Liz Schultz (9)?]

[Adrianne Wensman (4), senior MH.]

[There’s our Shanee’ (6), senior libero.  Will have her 6th year of varsity hockey this year!]

[C’mon Spartans, show me what you got!]

[Did I mention it was parents’ night?]

[Coach Becky Schlichting introduces the team, who are overcome with excitement.]

[One time coach who has moved on to a stellar career as a spectator.]

[Coverage from the MSM.]

[Allie had something to say but as noted earlier I have no idea what?]

[Hooray for mom and dad!!]

[Team introductions.]

[Coming soon to a theatre near you!]

[The brain trust.]

[Player introductions.  Amanda Haack (11).  Each player does a quick step out and wave as they are introduced.  Sitting miles away in the stands sometimes their move is even too quick for my ultra hi-tech camera and they blur.  I will include those that come out pretty good and try catch everybody in later games.]

[Allie, No. 1]

[Jenni, No. 3]

[Natalie (7)]

[Jenni and Shanee’ ready for the opening serve.]

[Amanda (5) and Adrianne (4) ready at the net.]

[The libero gives instructions.]

[Shanee’s ready.]

[Allie’s ready.]

[Adrianne’s ready.]

[Jenni belts one.]

[Amanda causes great harm to the ball.]

[I’ve often wondered – why do people think it’s a good idea to try to block one of these blasts?]

[Speaking of blocking . . .]

So Roger and I were just sitting together in the stands, minding our own business, when the thought occurred to us.  We were playing so good at the beginning we were afraid of the possible golf syndrome – if you birdie the first hole, you’ll have a bad round.  The team was blocking, setting, and killing about as well as could be done as they raced out to a big early lead.

[Another hit by Amanda.]

[A blocking wall is forming.]

[Looks like a stuff!]

[It’s Amanda.  But if numbers were license plates, the police would pull them over for improper non-display (yeah, it’s the same for all the sports).]

[Looks like a dink by Jenni.]

[Deploy!]

[Good job!]

[Adrianne serves.  All-in-all I thought we did a good job here – not too many faults.]

[Oy, this floor is hard!]

[Cel-e-brate!]

[Taking her “cue” from Michael Jordan!  😉  ]

[OK, let’s close this out!]

Oh, the score.  This was the 1st game.  The 2nd game was similar.  We were well ahead at the beginning of the 3rd.  I was heartened – I had an “appointment” to meet the supervisor at 8:30, it was date night afterall, and it was looking good.  Then the team entered a different dimension.  Total confusion reigned the rest of the game, and we lost 25-20.  Uffda is the only appropriate response I can think of.  I had to leave . . . with a promise from the on-site stringer that she would let me know.  We won the 3rd game handily!

[Preparing for game 2.]

[Adrianne and Amanda discuss strategy . . . or their book reports for English?]

[Shanee’ and Jenni play patty-cake.]

[Is it out?]

[I think I’ll go over here.]

[Allie sets . . .]

[Jenni ties . . .]

I think we’ll be fun to watch this year.  It’s an experienced team.  The lack of size will probably hurt us in the long run.  But . . . as long as we all have fun!

The team was in a tournament over the weekend, and here’s the report:

The girls played well today [Saturday].  They ended 2-2.  The beat Hill Murray (hail Mary) and Holy Family but lost to Waconia and North St Paul.  Always nice to beat the privates!  🙂  ~ Marnee’

Football began Friday night.  We were hosting St. Cloud Tech.  I had every intention to be there.  I forgot we had a big event in Wendell . . . yes, Wendell (downtown below).

Thanks for the delightful photo tour.  There is a lot of memory, knowledge and wisdom in that home.  ~ Jamie

Yikes, I hope they have fire insurance. ~ Gretchen

Thanks for sending me this.  What an inspiration. ~ Cousin Barb

I Love this guy!  We need to get a visit to him on one of our visits north. Someone who actually has more books than Danny and me!   And a popcorn machine in his library?  My hero. ~  Jami

We did not make it back in time for the game.  We lost, 28-13.  Probably my fault.  But we did receive a stringer report about the freshmen game on Thursday (Thanks, Jim!):

Drove past the football field yesterday shortly before 5, noticed some activity, and thought I’d check it out.  Turned out to be a frosh football game with St. Cloud Tech.  Left after the 1st half with the Cardinals leading 42 to 8.  Kind of hard to tell at that level if Alec was that good or Tech was that bad.  Not a lot of apparent speed on either team, but Alec had pretty good size.  Couple of the hometown boys really stood out with their size and athletic ability.  If the roster they handed out was correct, one was Jeremiah Burnham, a running back and really good linebacker and the other was a tall, well-built quarterback named Tyler Thompson, who had a really strong and fairly accurate arm.  They reminded me of Mike Steidl and Norty Blanchard when they were freshman. (Mike probably played for the U when you were still there, and Norty went on to play wide-out for North Dakota State) One other fairly tall, skinny-legged kid scored on 3 long runs and had another called back. I think he was a Noetzelman.  Kind of brought me back to my old days as a junior high coach here in the late ’60s.  As a super fan of all things bright and Cardinal, I thought you might be interested.  ~ Jim Pohl

Volleyball corrections:  Hi Tom,  You were so nice to take these photos and email them to me!  Thank you!!!  🙂  We actually bought a nice camera a year and a half ago with the intention of buying a long lens, so that we could take great pictures of our daughter playing volleyball and our son playing hockey.  We haven’t purchased the long lens yet, and I think that I only brought the camera once last fall.  We need to get to work on that before the volleyball season is over! Thanks again,  ~ Amy W.

Hi Tom,  I very much enjoyed reading your blog!  You have such a great sense of humor!  🙂  Not only are the roster numbers incorrect, but we really do have a shorter team than what the roster shows, Allie, Jenni and Natalie’s heights are a bit off, but I’m sure Jenni is going to get taller before the season is over.  The jersey numbers are correct from #1 through #6, after that the varsity roster sheet is incorrect.  You may have already been updated by Marnee’, but if not, here are the correct player numbers: 5 Amanda Christianson; 7  Natalie Watkins; 8 Tara LeBrasseur; 12 Jessica Burns; 13 Emily Kuennen; 14 Danielle Strater; JV1 and dressing for Varsity are: 9 Elizabeth (Liz) Schultz; 11 Amanda Haack  ~ Amy

#9 is Liz Schutz not #10 as I stated and yes Jessica Burns is #12,  Liz and Amanda are JV players that dress Varsity.  Emily Kuenen is a Junior.  ~ Marnee’

We played in the Eden Prairie tourney this weekend and finished 7^th.   We won 2 games which is the most in Shanee’s 3 years on varsity.  We beat Hill Murray and Holy Family.  It’s always nice to beat the privates! J  We lost to Waconia and North St Paul.  We played our best game of the season against Hill Murray.  Oh, #7 is Natalie Watkins,  #8 is Tara,  #11 is Amanda Haack,  #10 is Liz Schultz.  We got new uniforms and the numbers were wrong.  ~ Marnee’