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One of our own wins an award, Packer and Viking fans in Iowa?

MATT SILVER

Publisher

This past weekend, we grabbed the family and headed down to Iowa. Why would anyone want to go to Iowa? It turns out that my grandmother on my mom's side turned 90 last weekend. Normally we would pile into my small SUV and drive directly to Iowa while trying desperately not to pull our hair out. This time, Chuck Olson of Koehn Auto was kind enough to loan us one of his conversion vans from the lot. We picked up my brother and his friend and headed south. Having never driven a conversion van, I wasn't sure what to expect. All I can say is wow. My kids were in the back seat and I couldn't even hear them fighting!

At the birthday party, we were definitely the outcasts. You see, everyone in that side of the family is from Iowa and are staunch Packer fans, so they growl when they see Minnesota plates pull up. The purpose of the party must have outweighed their undying loyalty to the green and gold, because we were greeted with smiles and hugs.

My grandmother was in pure bliss with around 30 great-grandchildren of all ages wanting to spend time with her. Unfortunately for my son, out of those 30 great grandchildren, he is one of only two boys. All in all, it was a wonderful time had by all even if we had to celebrate with Packer fans.

Every now and then it is nice to hear that someone you know has won an award. This time it happens to be one of us. Richard Hjort, whom many of you know writes our field notes on our front page, along with his wife Marlys, have won the prestigious John Campanius Holm Award. The award is given to only 25 accredited weather observers per year. The Hjorts have been reporting weather records for over 22 years and have a consecutive daily report that has amassed 8,124 days. We congratulate Richard and Marlys for their accomplishments and hope you enjoy reading their field notes as much as we do.

With all of the rain and wind we have had recently, the DNR has asked us to remind fishermen to please avoid ice fishing locally. The ice is now at dangerously thin levels on most lakes and venturing onto them could mean putting yourself at great risk.

Thank you so much to all who have responded to our early subscription renewal. The response has been terrific and we really do appreciate your continued support. To all who have not taken advantage of our early renewal campaign, you may still take $1.50 off of your annual subscription by using the coupon on the top of page 2. Please clip the coupon and mail it in along with your payment and we will get you updated in the system. Please make sure that your mailing label is attached to the coupon.

In the next two weeks, we will be mailing our renewal notices to all who have not yet renewed. All subscription are due by May 1 of each year. If by chance your renewal notice and your payment cross in the mail, please don't worry, it takes us a short time to get caught up with all of the mailed renewals.

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