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What a beautiful weekend it was for Memorial Day.  Saturday was a little soggy, but Sunday was beautiful, and Monday was spectacular.  I attended the Memorial Day ceremony at the Franconia cemetery and it was beautiful.  I have been to that ceremony at least five times over my time here, and I have seen it grow from just a couple of families to well over 100 people or more.  As I drove home, I passed Fairview Cemetery in Lindstrom. It looked like they had a record crowd as well.  I wanted to personally thank all of the Veterans and the Boy Scouts who put these events on so we the public can pay an official homage to those men and women who have perished.  Thank you, if you attended one or more of these wonderful ceremonies.

Speaking of Veterans, I have some sad news.  Dorothe Stream has passed away.  Dorothe is one of the few women Veterans we have in our area, and she was a neat one.  I am a little biased about Dorothe because she was the grandmother of my best friend.  She was always so generous to all of us kids. She was our go-to for popsicles after a hard day of baseball at the pumphouse.  As many of you know, she was also a little fiery at times.  I always enjoyed that about her.  With Dorothe, you always knew where she stood on a subject.  She was a staple in Lindstrom forever and will forever be missed.  Every time I see a big Cadillac coming down the road with the driver barely looking over the dash, I will think of Dorothe.

A while ago, I wrote  asking for donations. Yes, I always am accepting clothing for the homeless, but this time I am asking for medical equipment.  The great people over at the 1st United Methodist Church in Lindstrom have a program that lends medical equipment to those who can not otherwise afford the equipment.  You have graciously given in the past and they are very grateful. They are now looking for a few items that I hope you can help donate.  They are in need of portable commodes, shower benches and wheelchair cushions.  If you or someone you know has one or more of these items and they are not in use, why not donate it to a great cause?  Please call 257-4306 to donate, or bring your items to the church or you can bring them here to the Press and I will make sure they get to the church.

So I was looking forward to a long wonderful weekend to spend with family, friends and around the yard.  On Thursday, I began seeing a bump on my chin.  At 45, having a pimple is still pretty common for me (not sure why), so I tried to squeeze it.  Nothing happened.  The next day the bump grew twice the size.  By Saturday, the bump had turned into two bumps side by side.  Sunday, I woke up and had no feeling in the side of my face and a new bump had formed between my eye and my ear.  I went to urgent care and they gave me a prescription for amoxicilian.  Monday came and and my face was terrible looking (I know, how could I tell it was more terrible looking than normal). So back to the hospital, and as it turns out, I have a bad case of shingles.  I have seen countless commercials on television about shingles.  I always got the impression it was for older people, I was wrong.  Here is my little tip for you.  If you have had chicken pox, the virus is dormant in your system.  You can avoid a very, very uncomfortable bout with shingles by getting the shingles vaccination.  as soon as I am over this outbreak, I am heading to the clinic to get mine.

Please remember to send us your fishing photos.  We would love to print them and let the community see what a good fisherman you are.

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