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I hope you had a fantastic Memorial weekend and you had a chance to take in one of the many services offered Monday. I attended the service at Fairview Cemetery in Lindstrom where my parents reside.  I was absolutely blown away at the number of people that came out and sat in the pouring (yes pouring) rain to pay their respects.  I have been attending these for almost 20 years now and this was easily one of the biggest turnouts I can remember.  Thank you for coming and to the Veterans who put on the services, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I’m sure they don’t hear that much, but I know we all appreciate it and you.

The one page I hate laying out each week is the obituary page.  Every year I see more and more friends in the obituaries.  This week is definitely no exception.  We lost two very important parts of our newspaper family last week.  Jim Jordal who has had his article “Winds of Justice” in our paper for what seems like forever. Jim was a good friend to the paper and even had our editor as a student,  when she was in high school at Hopkins Lindbergh.  Jim will be sorely missed by us and the many lives he touched when he and his wife Mary resided here for decades.  

The other part of the family we lost was one that is near and dear to my heart. Ellen Glenna passed away last week.  Ellen was our advertising sales person for decades and was the one who was instrumental in me following in my father’s footsteps after he passed away.  I was a terrified electrician who spent exactly zero minutes in the newspaper field.
The first few weeks after dad’s passing I would just come in and pay bills and sign checks.  I had no intention of becoming publisher, not in the least.  It just so happened I was laid-off as it was a slow time in the trades. Ellen called me in and basically talked me into taking the job.  She said among the staff, they knew almost all of what to do and they would teach me.  Here I am 19 years later.  Over the years Ellen became a second mother to me, always checking in on our family and trying to include us in their family functions.  I know I wrote a lot just now, but I can’t find the words to show how much I thought of Ellen.  She will be missed. She already is.

Last week we reported in the Shafer City Council story that County Commissioner Chris DuBose was seeking re-election for District 2.  It should have read DuBose is running for District 2 Commissioner— in a newly-drawn district.   It is  Commissioner Rick Greene who is running for re-election.  
We bought an old pontoon when we finally moved to our current house.  Someone should have told me I bought the wrong boat. We should have bought a sail boat with all of this wind.

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