alexandriacardinals

October 3

[Margaret and Jerry . . . still mom & dad to all of us!  But it’s nice when they also bring along Mary and Ellen, their own progeny.]

[I did not go home after the football game . . . I might have felt the urge to change my attire.  I figure the Super can dress for both of us.  Would you believe my entire wardrobe is over 20 years old (The Nanner is disqualified from this event because of proprietary disinterest)?]

[The accoutrements . . . ]

[The sign-in and hugging vestibule.  I do not believe hugging was permitted when we were in high school?]

[Time to PAR-TAY!]

[Annie O’Flynn and Al Lieffort, of Salty Dog fame, stand guard while Erik Schultz diddles with his electronic thingee.]

I’m going to go with maiden names throughout because the yearbook didn’t know what their married names would be?

[John Herdan to Bob Helie (and Mrs. Helie), “Still trying to solve that Boolean algebra problem from Mrs. Halvorson’s class?” ]

[Stan Rolfsrud and Dianne Hoffman discuss the importance of oral hygiene.]

[This golf club is really 100 years old?]

[Tom Ellis and Dave Serie are pondering the qualifications of their photographer.]

[Robin Kochie, Mike Gillespie, and Kathy Josephs all appear to be on their high school playing weights.  Disgusting!  Ruth Helie, my fellow volleyball and basketball fan, sneaks in from the right.]

[Ted Ording got Marilyn Olson’s purse more than once, Kathy Sherry’s several times, and Serie’s was off charts.]

[Kathy, please!  Rodney Dangerfield was wrong – you would not have looked better before electricity.]

[Jane Johnson and Louie Ley . . . doesn’t get much better than lookin’ good!]

[Older homo sapiens gather to plug the gaps in their collective memories.  I believe the main players are John Kloehn, Paul Nokes, and Russ Bey.]

[Spouses from another class, perchance?]

[Judy Seppanen and Barb Kloehn share fond memories of chalk dust and other such educational materials.]

[Can you name that tune?   Oops, I guess it’s not a video.]

[“Scoop” Bartos zeroes in on Jerry Lanigan, Steve Froemming, and Kathy Schultz.]

[Barb Kloehn prepares for her “State of the Class” Address.]

[The reunion ramrod, Bev Roers!  Thanks again, Bev.  If you could find all but 4 classmates, I’m recommending you for such a position with the FBI – you can get training right here at the ATCC!]

[Mike Gillespie, one in a series of great Cardinal golfers.]

[Help, I need somebody?]

[Joe Drexler and . . . Joe Drexler (on the name tag?).  Joe had previously walked the parade with me twice, making him the leader in the clubhouse.]

[Throngs of people comparing Medicare coverages . . . ]

[Joe and Robin . . . did they go through the line twice?  😉  ]

[Ramona Froemming, we shared a lot of classes together.  I didn’t think I was that smart?]

[Lonnie and Lonnie Thornton – he’s still the tallest guy in the class!]

[Barb and Gary Schulke – hadn’t seen Schulk for a long time.]

[Karen Schjei and Mark Benson, thanking them again for all the previous reunions.]

[Karen and Judy Blanchard – Judy was the original cub reporter with the high school and later with the Echo, then we were almost neighbors in the D.C. metro area.]

[Jack Seltz and Sue Graves – I always remember Sue beat me a 9-hole golf match and I thought, why didn’t we have girl sports?  Sue was a terrific athlete.]

[Paul Nokes, an intruder from Terre Haute, Indiana, and Van Eastlund.  Thanks for keeping an eye on her guys!]

[Two guys I go back to the age of the dinosaurs with (I know, don’t end a sentence with with).

[The eagle man from Wabasha, Tom Ellis and Eleanor, bookend the Louie Leys.]

[John Kloehn, Cathy Bakke, and Gail Hanson, the t-shirt lady.]

[I’m sorry, I’m blinded by the light.]

Editor’s  Note: Lorlee and I stood on opposite sides at the end of the chow line, alternating shots.  So, if you don’t see yourself here, we hope Lorlee got it.  I had a couple of questionable quality because I don’t like to use flash. Here Lorlee and I shot at the same time so it looked like I flashed.

[John Kloehn, with a fine display of a healthy meal.]

[The David Overlys.  Wait, what is this, the David Overlys?  Sounds like the society page for the Echo in the ’50’s.]

[Lorlee, did you get this?]

[The Di Ann Marquettes – I guess it can go both ways.]

[Pat Collins, the most gold stars at the reunion lunches?  🙂  ]

[Bob Helie and his brother-in-law, Bud Anderson.  Bud and Ruth are at all the games, and Bud is currently working to build another storage building for our Outreach Food Shelf.  I’m sure Bud would not be averse to receiving a few donations.]

[Oh, oh, Lorlee and I pulled the trigger at the same time again.]

[The Gregory Schmidts, another “new” member at the reunion lunches.]

[Ellen!!  See the first picture on the page!]

[The Teresa Wadsworths, another major cog in the reunion machine.]

[Tom Kuhne, displaying the etiquette of sharing learned through the auspices of School District 206.]

[Pete Forster, happily sharing the mashed potatoes spoon with Mr. Kuhne.]

[Kathy Josephs, a regular at the lunches coming all the way from Brainerd, allegedly another lakes area destination.]

[Wanda Meyer, obviously a person of refined tastes – she likes my letters to the paper?]

[Russ and Jean Bey . . . Russ and I grew up together in Victoria Heights, now we’re growing old together on beautiful Lake Darling.]

[I liked the photo.  Lorlee’s response: The real reason is that Stan Rolfsrud, Darrell Williams and I went to grades 1-4 together at the Oak Grove Dist 24 Country School (before my parents sent me to Catholic school). The 4th member was Carol Navratil Leaunart who didn’t come on Saturday night.]

[Chris Lindquist]

[Shari Plato, an interloper I believe, and Jeanne Huberty, a 65er]

[Charles Stark, our basketball center – if you guess Bend, Oregon, you win a cookie.  Betty Pederson asking him to pick up the pace!]

[Known far and wide as Kathy and Kathy!]

[Sharon Erickson, I believe she said she left Alex in the 8th grade?]

[The Lynne Spellmans, looks like a Christmas Card photo to me.]

[Jane Johnson . . . ]

[With Dave Serie close behind.]

[The John Herdans, a/k/a, the Music Man.]

[The only “kiss cam” shot – the Charles Braunschweigs.]

[The Tom Toenjes’s, the driver of the “bus” and the luncheon storyteller.]

[The Hank Fabers, another well-known Music Man.]

[Steve Froemming, known as one of thousands of Dittberners in the 5-county area.]

[Lorlee is . . . well, Lorlee.  🙂   ]

[Our band, the Salty Dogs, the one yet to be introduced is the Boy Tenor, Tom Mulder, on the far right.]

[This is classmate Barb Kloehn Pyle, wrapping up our reunion, a tour de force remembrance of the life and times of the class of ’65. It was funny, touching, poignant, remarkable . . . and if we would have known before she started, something we should have videoed for a permanent place in the school archives.  This is the perfect place to end.]

[Many thanks to Kevin and the staff of the AGC for a super event!]

[And thanks to our teachers.  Without the knowledge you shared with us, I would just be typing random keys on my wife’s Facebook page!]

A final sing off from our reunion band, the Salty Dogs, with their favorite song:

What this woman wants, with all due respect for S. Freud, is for men to stop asking that question and to realize women are human beings, not some alien species.  They want the same things men want.  ~  Diane White  [Editor’s note:  A quiet place to enjoy a fine cigar with a glass of port?]

Up next:  The aftermath . . .

October 3

[After the parade I assume many went home for a nap, for those who walked they may have gone home for a massage and a hot tub.  Then there was us.  I’m still not sure how many of the Class  of ’65 went to the football game, but all of this crowd went to the “stadium” for the tailgating party . . . burgers, dogs, chips, cookies, and pop!  Great!  All we needed was maybe a soccer scrimmage on the adjoining grass field for entertainment. Then the Super, Brad, and me stayed for the game against the Rocori Spartans.]

[I scanned the incoming crowd for classmates, but only saw the Johnsons and Kiehnes leaving.]

[The team warms up . . . ]

[The band warms up.  They were on the visitors side of the field undoubtedly in anticipation of a full house on the home side.]

[Then the Cards burst onto the field.  We had great expectations for we were on a four game winning streak, averaging about 40 points per game.]

[‘Twas a beautiful Saturday afternoon for football.  But if you look three photos up, you can see the flag whipping.  About a 20 mph’er right into our face the entire game.  And combined with the sun, at game’s end I looked and felt like a piece of jerky.]

[The Spartans kick-off . . . ]

[Through the end zone.]

[The first play, a handoff to junior Micah Christenson (22) for 4 – 5 yards.]

[Then junior Jaran Roste (1) tries a pass.]

[Roste hands to Christenson for a nice gain up the middle.  One of our difficulties throughout the game was that we were only able to get Micah “in space” a few times.]

[Jaran under pressure and particularly so late in the game.]

[Jaran had a nice hole, as did Micah, but the quarter ended with the Cards down.  The Spartans had a long sustained touchdown march on their first possession.  From then on the Card defense probably had their best day, particularly against the run.]

[Did he or didn’t he hand off to Christenson on these two plays?]

[Did someone lose a contact?]

[Roste appears to be throwing a long bomb . . . ]

[And here he’s throwing a strike to the Cardinals’ version Wes Welker, senior Aarin Willander (88).  Aarin later in the game made a great downfield catch on a 4th and long situation.]

[The Cards scored and then got a successful 2-point conversion to take an 8 – 7 lead.]

[Do you know her?  High-fived her when she marched past with the tennis team.  She has been featured many times on the blog.]

[Homecoming royalty]

[Anything going on over there?]

[The Cards led 15 – 14 going into the 4th quarter, which has been our best quarter all season.  This time, however, we committed 4 turnovers in the final 12 minutes and lost 24 – 15.  We repaired immediately to the golf club to pick up our spirits with the reunion.]

[Later we discovered it was the worst (well, at least tied) sports weekend in Minnesota history: Our Cardinals lost their homecoming game, the Gophers were humiliated, the Twins were swept, the Vikings lost, and the Lynx blew home court advantage in the WNBA finals!  It was saved by our reunion!]

Here’s the game video from Joe Korkowski and the Voice of Alexandria dubbed, “The good, the bad, and the ugly.”  Though we played too sloppily to win, you can see we have some offensive weapons:

Last night, October 8, the Cards won at St. Cloud Tech, 33 – 15, to finish the regular season 5 – 3.  We are the 2nd seed in the section and will have a first round bye then will likely host Bemidji a week from Saturday.

When I have one foot in the grave I will tell you the truth about women.  I shall tell it, jump into my coffin, pull the lid over me and say, “Do what you like now.”  ~ Leo Tolstoy

Up next:  Continuing . . .

October 3

[We began the day by taking Brad to his first breakfast at Travelers Inn in over 50 years . . . like most of us, it’s amazing how much he looks like his dad now.]

[Another beautiful crisp early fall day in Vacationland USA as we sauntered onto the fairgrounds to find our position in the Homecoming Parade.  Our first encounter was with the football team.]

[Next up was the Hockey Association – they’ll be lacing up the skates pretty soon now.  We have high expectations for both the girls and boys teams this year.]

[And here we are . . . after all those years soloing in the parade, it was nice to have company!  😉   ]

Once we got Brad situated on the back of a float, he felt obligated to present the following two photos from his perspective:

[Of the latter, “she who will not be named” proclaimed this individual would pass as a homeless person in D.C.  😉   ]

[Lorlee is . . . well, Lorlee!]

[I mean, c’mon, seriously, they can’t be old enough to be in my class?  For those of you keeping score at home, the maiden names are l-r:  Cathy Bakke, Dianne McCarthy, Kathy Schultz, Betty Pederson, and Lynne Spellman.  Now how would I remember that?]

[Tom Toenjes photographs his charges before he starts towing them through town with his 1941 Farmall tractor . . . I believe it was for liability purposes.]

[The Class of ’48 is always there . . . with the irrepressible Virg!]

[Let’s roll!]

[Serie, are you sure you know the route?  This car doesn’t have GPS!  OK, trying again from memory:  Cathy Bakke, Mid-Winter queen; Kathy Sherry, Homecoming queen; Judy Seppanen, salutatorian; Lynne Spellman, co-pilot; Dave Serie, chauffeur.]

[St. Mary’s, as I recall.]

[Cheer-oh-cheer for Alex . . . ]

[Hall of Fame grand marshals (yup, one “l”) and Homecoming king and queen.]

[I’m glad I got Joan here since I missed her at the luncheon!]

[More royalty . . . ]

[Do you know “Louie, Louie”?]

[Cardinal spirit . . . ]

[Damn kids!]

[More kids, but at least Al brings his mom along – she’s class of ’38, which I believe was the record holder at the event.]

[Cross-country?  Basketball?  Crocheting?]

[Hockey . . . with hockey moms!]

[The Falls Flyer]

[And the Class of ’65 is on the move!]

[Ladies and gentlemen, the parade has left the fairgrounds and is heading down Fairgrounds Road toward downtown Alexandria!]

[And there’s our other “float” and the rest of the parade leaving the fairgrounds.]

[The walkers are looking good . . . we’re all on Medicare, you know!]

[And then we hit Broadway, where classmates realize I wasn’t pulling their collective legs when I said this is always the biggest parade of the year.]

[Our fans pour out onto the street!]

[’65 is still alive!!]

[A quick body count . . . we haven’t lost anyone off the “floats” yet.]

[Truly big time, we’re being covered by Geraldo Rivera!]

Ooops, that’s really Joe Korkowski from the Voice of Alexandria and here’s Joe’s video of the parade – the Class of ’65 makes our appearance at about the 4:00 minute mark:

[Sometimes when you turn the camera on while looking through the eye piece, you accidentally change the setting – here to the “blue light special” mode?]

The Super was stationed at 8th and Broadway with the parties below and contributed the following from a fan’s perspective:

[Merill Kiehne, Linda Johnson, and Pam Mathison]

[The Grand Marshals]

[Let’s play football!]

[The Seriemobile from our class almost snuck by her!]

[Woo-woo for our class as Professor Doctor Colonel Kiehne hastens over for a shot of the sideline fans.]

[Then Little Mayo Johnson sauntered over for an exchange of shots.]

[Kathryn LeBrasseur, deservedly outstanding senior citizen]

[Their home invite is this Saturday beginning at 9:00 at AAHS; the cross-country team hosts the big Lions’ meet at Arrowwood Saturday morning as well.  High school sports at their finest!]

[And that wraps up the Super’s contributions.  She allegedly tried to get one of her knight in shining armor, who almost toppled over onto the hard pavement posing, and the shot allegedly didn’t come out?]

[Now we’re gonna stretch it out a bit with the big lens – love that depth of field.  And to let you know marching at 49 degrees is still too hot!  🙂  ]

[The dip between 7th and 8th provides a nice perspective . . . except during a heavy rain when it floods!]

[By now my cub reporter duties had caused me to fall a block behind my group, but I was still a block ahead of the next group.  I was a parade unto myself?]

[We’ve taken on the turn on 15th heading toward where the old high school was . . . following the girls’ tennis team.]

[And we’re done . . . showing a fortitude beyond our years, Tom, Greg, and I then walked back to town to meet up for the football tailgate party at AAHS!  🙂  ]

Wives are people who feel they don’t dance enough.  ~  Groucho Marx

Up next:  Continued . . .

October 2

[Homecoming weekend now begins Friday at noon with the Hall of Fame induction luncheon.  The inductees this year are . . . ]

[And a big congratulations to all!]

[And because Homecoming this year just happened to coincide with the Class of ’65’s 50th Reunion, we were joined at our table by classmate Professor Doctor Colonel Tom Kiehne and wife Pam Mathison, from Austin, Texas – and Viv Annen, from Lake Le Homme Dieu, a longtime attendee of this event.]

[The Super shows how we were able to find our table.  🙂  ]

[The high school carolers dropped by for a little pre-nosh entertainment.]

[The Super with Bob “Weakie” Annen, a native New Ulmer who has transitioned nicely after about 18 years in Cardinal Country.]

[“Your Worship” Mayor Ness and Doctor Woolliscroft.  Apologies to Ms. Larson, who I will see again soon at whatever meeting, but I just had my snapshot camera and not all photographic attempts were successful.  Regarding “Your Worship,” I was one of I assume several who nominated him, and when I first met him as mayor I asked if I should address him as “Your Honor” – he said he preferred “Your Worship,” so I liked him immediately!]

[Our entire table also included classmate Brad Anderson, who we gathered from Barnesville, and Tom’s dad, Merill.  We were generally well behaved.]

[And then I always enjoy “catching” Jill Johnson performing her duties as the school’s communications director.  Can you name her subjects?]

[And then, after school let out that afternoon, thanks again to Cindy Hughes, Adm. Asst. to the Superintendent and School Board, and Troy Wunderlich, Asst. Principal, for setting up a tour of the new high school for the Class of ’65 (now in the absence of good ole JHS). The kids call the new school “AAHS” (think “Oz”) for Alexandria Area High School.]

[We had a good turnout of maybe 40 65ers for the tour . . . ]

[Such a good crowd that Asst. Principal Wunderlich (left foreground) was ultimately joined by Principal Chad Duwenhoegger (left background, black shirt), the Minnesota principal-of-the-year.]

[Professor Doctor Colonel Kiehne found a science classroom mindful of his as a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Texas.]

[The Common Area]

[The library . . . ]

[Boy, I wish we had one of these meditation and latte booths when we were in high school!]

[As a local, I have been to the new high school on more than a semi-regular basis. Therefore, my highlight from our class tour was the discovery that the library contained my biography!]

[Now down to the Common Area, past the wall of contributors.  Many of the “extra features” of the school were made possible through private contributions.]

[The principal about to lead us from the common area, cleared for the homecoming dance, to the performing arts center . . . ]

[The 1,000 seat auditorium is probably the highlight of all tours.]

[The band room, with extra features as in the choir and orchestra rooms.]

[The volleyball team was practicing in the 5-court gymnasium.]

[Our evening began with a quick stop – a beer and pretzel – at the Maritime Museum for Octoberfest.]

[Then back to Broadway Ballroom for the school’s Jeans & Jewels annual fundraiser.  At our table was previous Hall of Famer Bob Rader with his wife Vonnie.]

[Another big crowd for the games and silent auctions.]

[Greg Trumm, the current president of the Education Foundation, asks us all to continue our support.  For a mere $206 per year (for School District 206), one can be a member of the 206 club.]

[The Super, once again, found success at the silent auctions!  Oy!]

[The last event of the evening was a class pizza party at the Alexandria Golf Club.  Thanks to Diane and Bonita for setting this up.  I was a late arrival and pooped out early, but like Arnold mumbled something to the effect that I would be back.]

Women are quite unlike men.  Women have higher voices, longer hair, smaller waistlines, daintier feet and prettier hands.  They also invariably have the upper hand.  ~  Stephen Potter

Up next:  Days 2 & 3 (p.s.  For those who have returned home again, the upcoming weather forecast for Vacationland USA is for the 6th consecutive beautiful weekend, with temps in the 70’s!)