After taking photos at the De Soto Graduation Friday night, and going to some graduation parties on Saturday, we celebrated the unofficial start of Summer at the Stoddard Memorial Day parade. The parade was lead by a color guard from the Stoddard Legion and a unit with a group of vets on board. (After the parade these vets became part of a color guard for several graveside services to honor our war dead.) I heard later that De Soto High School freshmen Matthew Boardman and Pearl Sikora played “Taps” with the traditional echo at the graveside memorial services. I remember playing the echo my best friend Kim Klauer at Cassville back in the day. I recall it as a moving experience.
The Memorial Day parade also included the De Soto High School marching band, the Stoddard/Bergen and Genoa fire departments, an ATV unit representing the Wisconsin DNR, the Stoddard Food Bank, St. Matthew's Lutheran School, 16 classic automobiles and trucks (a couple were classics when I was growing up), the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts, Stoddard Lions and Lioness, and more. We talked with many friends and got some great ice cream at Hood Scoops Ice Cream Shop grand opening for the summer. (I had a double scoop - one of strawberry cheesecake and one of some decadent chocolate and caramel and nut in a waffle cone. The Pigtown Fling string band was playing some foot stompin’ bluegrass outside. I just remembered that I forgot to mention that the Vernon County Sheriff’s Department had several officers helping out too. Thanks to everyone who made this annual event go.
On Sunday the 28th, Ellen and hit the road early to Valley View Mall, not to shop - thank you very much - but to catch a bus to Milwaukee and a Brewers game. The sun was shining when we left La Crosse, but it was raining pretty good when we pulled into the parking lot at Miller Park. No worries at Miller Park except for a soggy tailgate party. The sun did chased us down by game time. It was nice to see and catch up with some of our friends onboard including Derek Trussoni along with half-a-dozen of his family. Ellen visited with Mary Beal from La Crosse. Ellen knew Mary from working at Gundersen Lutheran. We got see a great game with a good pitching performance by Jimmy Nelson and a grand slam by Domingo Santana bringing over 40,000 to their feet and almost literally blowing the roof off. The Brewers won 9 to 5. If you have not made a trip to Miller Park - and you like baseball - do it. The place is beautiful place to see a professional game and there are no bad seats. Worth every penny.
Ellen’s birthday used to be on Memorial Day every time until they changed Memorial Day to a Monday to make it a three-day weekend. She said she shares a birthday with her Grandma Hauk and the family used to celebrate their birthdays together. She and I celebrated her birthday with a breakfast of my specialty breakfast sandwiches with eggs, cheese, bacon or sliced brat on a toasted bagel. Then I went up to the shop and got my surprise for her. I got the desired look on her face when she realized I had a kayak paddle. Who says I don’t listen? She told me how during her cardiac therapy someone suggested she should get a kayak because she liked rowing so much. I overheard her telling someone that she always wanted to try one. Nailed it; when Ben was home to turkey hunt, he and I picked out a red kayak at Cabelas; it has been “hidden” on our friend Andy Beitlich’s farm. Now we need some calmer and warmer water so she can get it broke in. We celebrated her birthday with lunch at the Waterfront. We had a gift card from Coulee Connections Alternative School for being Santa and Mrs. Santa a few times. We had an awesome lunch. She had salmon and I had a Reuben made with smoked brisket instead of corned beef. We had hoped to sit out on their patio but the wind and cold were more reminiscent of the North Pole that would have liked. (Oh, we weren’t cheating on real favorite place for lunch, The Thirsty Turtle either as Chad and Meg were off getting sunburned in Mexico.)
We did have a great lunch at the Thirsty Turtle when my sister, Diane and her husband Dan visited after attending the La Crosse Central Memorial Day ceremony that Friday. Their granddaughter Tess sang in the choir that gave us all goosebumps with their rendition of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. At the Turtle, Chad was his usual jovial self, that is making jokes and flirting with the women; Meg’s cheeseburgers and fries are the best.
Ellen managed to get her garden in last week - even under attack. She told about seeing a buck walking around up by the tobacco shed and in her garden one morning last week. She said that something ate the tops off of her basil and that there were large deer tracks near the onion plants. When he heard about it, Mountain Man Ben replied, “That will be some well-seasoned venison!” We shall see. I am suspecting some bunny burglars too. I may have to look into lethal means of protecting our summer bruschetta makings.
Neighbor Gregg Sikora came over one evening so we could see and photograph the huge brown trout he caught nearby. It was 21 inches long caught on an ultra-lite pole on 2-pound test line with a 64th oz. jig and small chunk of night crawler. He was beaming. He said this was the biggest inland trout he ever caught. He reminisced that he got it at the spot that he would set his late father up every May along the creek. That picture was in last week’s Broadcaster.
Scout has been chomping at the bit - or more appropriately, her foot, to get out and run around as she recovers from her foot surgery. Unbelievably, she doesn’t usually pull the bandage off of her foot, even after all day or night in the kennel. We’ll both be happy to get her out for walks again. (She pulled the bandage off in the kennel when I went out to feed her right after writing the above. Go figure.) She gets the stitches out this week.
On Saturday, June 3, El and I went up the ridge to the Vernon County Dairy Breakfast at the Tim and Lisa Servais farm. The morning was cool, but the sun flirted with the clouds and blue sky. The setting was perfect with towering trees framing the Servais’ yard, front and back and beautiful red and white farm buildings behind huge white tents. We walked in from one of the hayfields-turned-parking-lot with our old friends Tom and Priscilla Thibodeau. He declared, “The farmers should be in charge of this world. The farmers and the teachers, not the politicians. If everyone had enough to eat and a good education, there would be no more war.” Maybe so. Later, Tom gave the blessing. The Stoddard Legion Color Guard presented the Colors and our niece Tes and the Servais’ daughter Sabrina along with other members of the La Crosse Central Robed Choir sang The National Anthem. There was plenty to eat and learn and do for everyone. There were wagon farm tours, kids’ activities and a petting zoo, a dairy princess coronation, a display of antique tractors, door prizes (I WON!) and even a live radio broadcast. Anyway, I have to mention the food: we had a great farm country style breakfast with pancakes and syrup and butter, scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, cottage cheese, milk, yogurt, coffee and more. Oh yeah, they had ice cream for breakfast dessert. We visited with many friends including Congressman Ron Kind who introduced me to a legislative aide to Representative Tammy Baldwin, and I talked with Lee Nerison as well. Ron always remembers me and Ellen. He met her back in the day when he was first testing the political waters at a meet and greet at our neighbors, Dick and Judy Swantz’s. He said how much he loved this setting and how he had worked on his relative’s farm as a boy. I couldn’t agree more that the setting was perfect. The sun started coming out and the temperature started rising, but the breeze on the ridge and the shade trees made it tolerable.
Until next time, get out - fishing season is upon us, and I have plans for a trip to Shell Lake and Jag Lake this week. Enjoy.
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