alexandriacardinals

Paul passed away on Tuesday, June 27.  As a man who survived 12 or 13 heart attacks, he gave life an incredible run.  He used to joke that he knew all the paramedics in the area, and their families, because he had been transported or flown to St. Cloud  hospital so many times.  He was a big man in so many ways and will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

May 18, 2009:  As previously noted, I have been “appointed” editor of this newsletter by our new president, Paul Donley.  Mr. Donley did this of course in the full knowledge that he would therefore not be responsible for a President’s Page.  Already showing signs of presidentiness!  ~  Me

The following was published in the Alexandria Golf Club newsletter in April 2009, an introduction of the new president to the membership.

Paul Donley, AGC president, grew up in Alexandria and graduated from Jefferson High School in 1964.  Although Paul was born in Minneapolis, by the age of three months he requested that the family move to Alex where he could become a big fish in a small pond.  The family acceded to his request.  His dad made Donley & Osted Plumbing and Heating an institution in Alexandria, and Paul did indeed become a big fish.

Though it pains me to admit this, Paul’s class of ’64 was a blockbuster class athletically, particularly when compared to the following year’s class, i.e., mine.  The guys in his class were considerably larger than those in the class of  ‘65 – I can only conclude from this that there must have been a food shortage in Alex in the 50’s and the town made a collective decision to emphasize the feeding of the older kids in the name of species preservation (you will find similar patterns of behavior among birds and higher mammals).  Anyway, Paul went on to become an all-conference tackle for the Alexandria Cardinal football team.

But Paul wasn’t just about brawn.  In fact, the most impressive item in his high school resume was being named president of the state student council.  In that position, Paul was able to parlay a couple out-of-state convention trips – not bad for someone who was a self-described small town plumber’s kid.

Paul matriculated to Concordia College in Moorhead, from which he graduated in 1968 with a degree in elementary education.  He continued his football career at Concordia and was named to the all-conference team.  As a freshman, he played on the Cobbers’ national championship team.

Paul began his career as a 6^th-grade teacher in Burnsville in 1968.  After teaching three years, he became the elementary school principal – the youngest principal in the state at age 25.  During this period, he found time to receive a Masters Degree in school administration from the University of Minnesota in 1971.  After eight years in Burnsville, he returned to Concordia for a year, before returning to K-12 education in Mounds View where he spent 18 years, ending as the director of operations.  He ended his career in Wayzata where he was the human relations director for nine years.

But enough about Paul.  Merry also had a distinguished career – 22 years as a teacher in Burnsville, plus she raised two sons (OK, Paul allegedly helped).  Theirs was a courtship that you only read about in . . . well, golf club newsletters.  They met at Concordia and got married two weeks after they graduated!  (Yes, I had the same thought – Merry obviously skipped several grades.)   Son Michael is 35 and played on a state championship football team for Burnsville – he and Chris have two sons, Jack, age 4, and Nick, age 2, and a baby girl is expected before this column hits the presses.  Son Scott is 33 and played hockey and was captain of the golf team at Burnsville – he claims to be a confirmed bachelor.

Upon his retirement, Paul whisked Merry, a big city girl from . . . The Cities, away from the bright lights to the lakeshores of Alexandria.  Merry appears to have made the transition with considerable help from quilting and golf.  Paul’s final claim to fame is that this summer he will compete in his 40^th consecutive Resorters’ Tournament – this is believed to be the record unless someone can produce DNA evidence to the contrary.

As president, Paul wants to focus on membership, both active members and recruiting new members, and to give a sense of ownership about the club.  He hopes the arrival of this newsletter coincides with the opening of the 2009 AGC golf season!

[Editor’s note:  On December 3, 2008 over steaming cups of Caribou coffee, club president-elect Paul Donley tendered the position of editor of the Alexandria Golf Club newsletter, and I, Tom Obert, rather foolishly, accepted.  Mr. Donley made this offer in full recognition of my total lack of professional credentials and extreme penchant for silliness. [Dame Judi Dench (74) recently proclaimed, “I get sillier as I get older.”  A great woman.]  I accepted in full recognition that the position doesn’t pay much – somewhat less than six figures – but I will have the opportunity to negotiate performance bonuses if I should ever be awarded a Pulitzer Prize or a Nobel Prize for Literature. Of course, we both know that Paul, no fool he, solicited for an editor to relieve himself of the onerous task of the monthly president’s column.  I expect to do full investigative reporting on such issues as why do all old men have the same funny-looking swing and how do “mature” women play 18 holes of golf in less than two hours.  And I eagerly encourage input from the membership regarding stories for the newsletter.  The “publisher” has requested that this be fun.]

A PHOTO ALBUM

August 31, 2010 with Merry

August 3, 2006 at the Resorters with his high school buddies Barry Bauer, John Fahlberg, and Darrell Maloney

April 18, 2007 with fellow board members and superintendent Donnacha O’Connor checking the course

October 24, 2007

April 16, 2008

April 18, 2008

April 16, 2009 first round of the year

June 13, 2009 at Cardinal Athletic Foundation tournament

August 22, 2009 club championship

June 16, 2012 Cardinal Athletic Foundation tournament with Dave Dittberner and Dave Rogosheske

August 28, 2012 at the Tuesday Senior League steak fry with Karin and Dave Berg

When he joined the “zipper” club

July 17, 2012

With school superintendent Terry Quist when he was named to the Education Foundation Board as, I believe, executive director

March 31, 2013 in the buffet line with the Super at the club

May 11

Halifax

[Continuing our tour of Halifax, picking it back up again at the Citadel . . . ]

[We have entered the Citadel, and here’s a little history I was not aware of at the time:  At the time of the American Civil War, Canada did not yet exist as a federated nation. Instead, British North America consisted of the Province of Canada (parts of modern southern Ontario and southern Quebec) and the separate colonies of Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Vancouver Island, as well as a crown territory administered by the Hudson’s Bay Company called Rupert’s Land. Britain and its colonies were officially neutral for the duration of the war. Despite this, tensions between Britain and the United States were high due to incidents on the seas, such as the ‘Trent Affair’ and the Confederate commissioning of the CSS ‘Alabama’ from Britain.

Canadians were largely opposed to slavery, the preservation of which was the main goal of the Confederate States of America, and Canada had recently become the terminus of the Underground Railroad.  Close economic and cultural links across the long border also encouraged Canadian sympathy towards the Union.  Between 33,000 and 55,000 men from British North America enlisted in the war, almost all of them fighting for Union forces. The conservative press in Canada East supported the secession and ridiculed the Yankees as lacking in morality.  There was talk in London in 1861–62 of mediating the war or recognizing the Confederacy. Washington warned this meant war, and London feared Canada would quickly be seized by the North.  (Wikipedia)]

[In other words, Canada became a country, at least in part, out of concern about being attacked by the good ole U. S. of A.]

[Tourists amass for the changing of the guard.]

[At the end of the drill, the lower-ranked guards had to remove their bayonets before entering a building for safety reasons.  The higher-ranked guards did not have to remove their bayonets allegedly because they were more skilled at the movement of sharp objects in tight quarters.]

[A display with a black powder rifle.  It made a heck of a noise, but he did hit the wall.]

[Soldiers quarters . . . I would have opted for a Motel 6.]

[The overlook from the top of the Citadel – its cannons could cover the river.  And that’s Georges Island out there.]

[These are not ship masts – they were used to display different color flags/banners for communication up and down the river.]

[Inside the Citadel from the surrounding wall.]

[Our boat’s down there somewhere – Georges Island is just to the left of the tall white building.]

[I like men in uniform!]

[I like women in uniform . . . ]

[She gave us a commentary about the changing of the guard.  I wanted to bring her home too, but I was already rejected concerning Anne of Green Gables.]

[Now how does that kilt song go again?]

[OK, we’re heading down hill from the Citadel . . . ]

[There’s the river, where we assumed our ship was still berthed.]

[Halifax Town Hall]

[St. Paul’s Church, the opposite side of the plaza from City Hall]

[Art]

[This just for our Hawaii host.]

[We’ve made it to the bottom – now where?]

[Aha, a Tim Horton’s!  You may recall way back in Montreal we tried a smoked meat sandwich.  Well, this was our last day in Canada and we had yet to have a Tim Horton’s doughnut or . . . poutine!]

[The poutine came first – we found a restaurant on the waterfront where the server said they would whip up a batch for us!]

[And there it is – french fries covered in brown gravy and melted mozzarella cheese (the ‘true’ recipe uses cheese curds, we were told, but one makes do).]

[Yum, one order for 3 was more than enough!]

[From the Super.]

[Well, we were in Canada . . . ]

[And this is where we ate.  Our server was a hoot.  She had just returned from a vacation in Cuba – then I realized that’s no big deal for Canadians.  I asked if she brought back any cigars.]

[Then back to Tim Horton’s for dessert – The Super caught us ogling.]

[Tummy’s full, we began the river walk back to the ship.]

[We all play [sic] in a yellow submarine . . . ]

[Reetz braves the elements.]

[The Super and I acknowledge our heritage.]

[The ship is in sight . . . ]

[We have walked the metropolis of Halifax and found our way home.  And cooler weather is really great for long walks.]

[A last sculpture piece as we near the ship . . . ]

[Our last dinner in Canada . . . ]

[I can’t remember?]

[I’ll be glad when we finally disembark the ship . . . I can’t eat another bite!!]

[Looks good, whatever it was?]

[A monkey was hanging around when we got back to our room.]

[And yet we still had enough energy for a musical interlude . . . ]

[Of course I can’t remember the group’s name, but we enjoyed listening to some old time rock ‘n’ roll.  We would be back in the States by morning.]

We’ll explain the appeal of curling to you if you explain the appeal of the National Rifle Association to us.  ~  Andy Barrie

Up Next:  U.S.?

May 11

Halifax

[Editor’s note:  The delay in reporting on the Canada trip was engendered by another trip to another foreign country – Indiana.  While I had hoped to continue the Canada blog while attending Mini-University at Indiana University, the rigors of academia prevented me from doing so.]

[Halifax was our last stop in Canada.  And it’s a big city.]

[Halifax the capital of the province of Nova Scotia. The municipality had a population of 403,131 in 2016, with 316,701 in the urban area centred on Halifax Harbour.  The regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996: Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and the Municipality of Halifax County.  This urban area is the most populous on Canada’s Atlantic coast, and the second largest coastal population centre in the country after Vancouver, British Columbia. Halifax currently accounts for 40% of Nova Scotia’s population, and 15% of that of Atlantic Canada. Metropolitan Halifax benefits from a process of increased rural depopulation and corresponding urban growth in Atlantic Canada during the late 20th century—a demographic shift that was delayed several decades in the region compared with other parts of North America.  (Wikipedia)]

[Another scenic port entry . . . ]

[Georges Island (named after George II of Great Britain is a glacial drumlin and the largest island entirely within the harbour limits of Halifax Harbour.  The Island is the location of Fort Charlotte – named after King George’s wife Charlotte.  Fort Charlotte was built during  Father Le Loutre’s War, a year after Citadel Hill (Fort George).  The island is now a National Historic Site of Canada.  (Wikipedia)]

[That’s the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge in the background, built in 1955.]

[We’ve landed (obviously) and in our first venture off the ship The Biddies have discovered Samuel Cunard.  As you may have surmised, he is indeed the founder of the Cunard Line.]

[The Old Burying Ground was founded in 1749, the same year as the settlement, as the town’s first burial ground. It was originally non-denominational and for several decades was the only burial place for all Haligonians. (Wikipedia)]

[Saint Mary’s Cathedral Basilica]

[Self-identified – my favorite things!]

[As we were walking past the above building, we came upon the statue below – even from the back I recognized it as Churchill.  Obviously well done!]

[This was the old city library.]

[This is the new city library, a block away and across the street.  The Halifax Central Library opened in 2014, i.e., it’s brand spanking new.]

[Inside the new library . . . ]

[Reetz likes it!]

[The view from the roof . . . ]

[Of course, one of the joys of foreign travel is talking with the locals.  In this case it was made much easier by a shared common language.  We struck up a conversation with the white-haired gentleman sitting next to Ruthie.  He looked like a college professor, but as I recall he was a retired businessman.  Well, the conversation got fun – soon every one in the room was listening in and laughing with us.  And though this was an anteroom, it was still a library and a couple folks got up and left – I’m not sure if it was our fault, but I wouldn’t be surprised.]

[The discussion above was about the best way to walk to the Citadel – there on the hill top.]

[Out walking again past South Park – I don’t believe it had anything to do with the TV show.]

[But it was on the way to . . . ]

[The Public Gardens . . . ]

[The Biddies experiencing the joys of new discovery.]

[And away we go . . . ]

[This is a tree . . . ]

[And this is a gazebo surrounded by flower gardens . . . ]

[This is a Canadian bee . . . ]

[He says, “Buzzzz, eh?”]

[Oh yeah, I wasn’t going to use eh.]

[A nice sunny day would have been nice . . . ]

[But we’re enjoying it anyway . . . ]

[Just seemed like a neat shot.]

[And 6 photos by the Super in the park . . . ]

[We’re out of the park and heading to the Citadel.]

[It’s up there.]

[The plight of the walking tourist . . . ]

[The view of the city and the river as we trudge upward.]

[This would be our steep route back to the river.]

[And 2 more from the Super . . . ]

[We’ll end here for now – and pick up the rest of Halifax in the next posting.]

Canada is the only country in the world that knows how to live without an identity.  ~  Marshall McLuhan

Up Next:  Halifax, part 2