| Past OHS golfers join former Coach Bangs on the links |
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Posted: Sunday, October 18, 2009 10:54 am
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This past August, a group of Owatonna High School alumni golfers gathered at the Owatonna Country Club to share old times with their Coach Keith Bangs and to play a round of golf. The gathering was organized by Keith’s wife Jane and the event will be held yearly from now on. Keith sent me a list of the golfers that joined him that day. Four dads also joined the 14 former OHS golfers for the day. Alumni golfers that played and the year they graduated included Scott Kostelecky and Andy Hackerson (1986), Cory Schultz and Greg Bangs (1987), Jake Anderson (1989), Jason Ianfolla (1996), Nick Lewis (1997), Dan Struss and Dan Bishop (1998), Riley Hoffman and Justyn Dow (2004), Brent Krueger (2005), Dusty Hafstad (2007), and Alex Risberg (2009). Dads that joined the group included Greg Krueger, Frank Lewis, Wally Risberg and Steve LaVallie. Keith told me that next year’s event will be held on Friday, Aug. 20, at the Owatonna Country Club. “It was a great time. I saw a lot of kids I haven’t seen for a long time and was able to catch up on their lives. A lot of golfing memories were passed between us that day.”
Help for students exploring careers
It’s important these days to do all we can to assist students in fulfilling their selected careers. There’s a group in town that is addressing that need. It’s known as “Owatonna C.A.R.E.S.” (Career Alternatives Reaching Every Student). This group invites the community to an Owatonna Town Hall meeting this Thursday, Oct. 22, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Owatonna Junior High cafeteria. Parents, students, business leaders, employers, grandparents and other community members interested in developing projects to help student with career exploration are invited to attend. For more information, you can contact Brad Running (507) 390-4785; Kathryn Larson (507) 444-8857; or Olga Knapp (507) 444-3744. This C.A.R.E. Town Hall Initiative is being funded by a $15,000 grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.
Medford senior event
Medford Senior Care Connection will host their annual Senior Fair at Trinity Lutheran Church in Medford this coming Tuesday, Oct. 20, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Steele County Public Health will be issuing flu shots and senior citizens will find many resources available to them. Also being held that day will be the monthly noon meal and fellowship from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the church basement. Cost is $7.50 for adults, children 6-12 at $3.50 and five and under free.
National recognition for VFW Poppy display
The Owatonna VFW Post 3723 Buddy Poppy display received top honors at the national convention held in Phoenix, Ariz. The local post entered their display consisting of 5,117 buddy poppies constructed by Auxiliary members Dorothy Eaton and Judy Hemze. Jim and Sondra Rowe were in attendance to set up the display for judging. It took a total of 149 hours to complete the display, which was a replica of the Liberty Bell. Each poppy, used on the bell, had to be painted three to four times and ironed flat to adhere to the form. The scaled-down version of the Liberty Bell, including the long crack, even had the distinct sound of the bell ringing. The title on the display read, “Let Freedom Ring.” The display was awarded third place in the national competition as well as the only Program Director’s Award presented, which is a great honor. The director’s comment was that Owatonna’s display portrayed the best patriotic theme.
Trudy Pierce, local VFW Ladies Auxiliary president, said, “We were honored to have been asked to enter our display as only the first place Buddy Poppy entry in each category (from each state) are invited to enter competition on a national level.”
Wild turkey feed
This next Sunday, Oct. 25, a delicious wild turkey dinner will be served at the United Methodist Church in Owatonna. The turkeys are raised by Lyle Bohlman. Cost remains at $10 with children under 5 free. There will be two seatings, one from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and a second from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Reservations are requested by calling 451-4734.
SeniorPlace breakfast
This Sunday, Oct. 25, the Owatonna VFW Post will hold a benefit breakfast for SeniorPlace. Tickets available at SeniorPlace, Kottke’s and from SeniorPlace board members. $5 in advance and $6 at the door.
SCHS German festival coming
The Steele County Historical Society invites you to enjoy a traditional German festival this coming Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Servicemen’s Club in Blooming Prairie. You’ll enjoy Steve’s Meat Market brats, sauerkraut, German potato salad and a vegetable with strudel for dessert. A speciality beer tasting will also be part of the evening and a “Meterwurst” eating contest will begin at 6 p.m. There will be music for dancing. Purchase a key for $5 and see if you can open King Ludwig’s chest where the grand prize is $500 cash. Four other prizes will also be awarded. The event is a fundraiser for the Steele County History Center. Tickets for the dinner/dance and the key raffle are available in Owatonna at Kottke Jewelers and the SCHS office as well as in Blooming Prairie from Johnson and Doerhoefer PA, B to Z Hardware, A Touch of Charm, Farmers and Merchants Bank, US Bank and the Blooming Prairie library. Sponsors of the event are Steve’s Meats, Tri-M Graphics, Dale and Austra Hanson, J and H Liquors and Leanne Hanson.
A challenge
An anonymous donor has raised a challenge to the residents of Blooming Prairie by offering a $5,000 donation to the History Center projects if the Oktoberfest fundraiser raises $5,000.
Meet the candidates
There will be two more “Meet the Candidates” sessions this week sponsored by the Owatonna Rotary Clubs. Tomorrow, Oct. 19, the noon Rotary invites you to hear the candidates for City Council wards. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. with a cost of $11 at the Owatonna Country Club. Tuesday morning the Early Riser Rotary Club will present the candidates for School Board. The breakfast meeting starts at 7 a.m. on the third floor of the fire hall. Breakfast cost is $7.
Fair district meeting
The Steele County Free Fair will be hosting the District One Minnesota Federation of County Fairs fall meeting this coming Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Holiday Inn in Owatonna. There will be sessions on beer garden operation, entertainment, concessions, livestock, grandstand attractions and superintendents. It’s a great way to share with other fairs in the area.
Seniors clean-up
This next Saturday, Oct. 24, is the annual fall clean-up sponsored by Healthy Seniors of Steele County. If you are a senior, 60 years of age or older, or a caregiver of a senior, you may have the services of a volunteer team come to your home to complete yard and garden work along with some light housekeeping projects. Call 475-1494 to make arrangements. Also, call that number if you would like to be on a volunteer team.
It’s a different law enforcement world
It’s a different world when it comes to law enforcement these days. It brings to mind the “old days” when the local cops were mostly local folks. Some of them had received very little training compared to what police officers go through today.
In my early days on the radio, my local newscasts always consisted of the accidents that had occurred the day before. I would call the police department and Nick Ciezmerowski, who was the “desk man” would read off the accidents and who was involved. Listeners were always interested in who cracked up their cars. Many of the cops in Owatonna were on foot patrol downtown and would always stop in to say hello to their business friends.
I can still see Bill Zupke standing on the corner of Cedar and Pearl watching the traffic go by. The “Mystery Man” program on KRFO used to drive Zupke crazy until he came up with the name of the mystery man. He would continually stop into the radio station with another name that he thought of and ask me if that was the right one. He’d even call me at home when he thought of another name. I enjoyed my associations with other officers including the likes of Tom Deml, Tom Ludford, John Kristoffersen, Dale McGuire, Rollie Sweet, Cy Yule and Chief Jules Stark. Of course, I can’t ever forget one of the friendliest cops I’ve ever known, Mickey Iverson. Mickey rode his three wheeled Harley Davidson motorcycle and emptied the money from the parking meters downtown. He loved shooting the breeze with everyone and always had a friendly hello. Mickey died on the job from a heart attack. Today, police officers are continually in squad cars and obviously deal with much more serious offenses than these cops of yesteryear did. No more standing on the corner watching Owatonnans pass by. I fondly remember them all.
Snow in October
When I woke up on Saturday morning, Oct. 10, and saw a dusting of snow on the ground and was met with freezing temperatures, it made me wonder if anyone can pass along remembrances of early snows in years past. My readers might enjoy hearing about those early snowfalls. If you have any recollections of early snows, e-mail me a note or give me a call. I’ll share your story with others.
Harpist plays for those less fortunate
Ten-year-old Abigail Hansen, daughter of Kari and Bret Hansen of Owatonna, has put her musical talents on the harp to benefit the Salvation Army in Owatonna. Abigail has made a CD of beautiful harp music and is selling it for $10. Nine dollars of each CD sale goes to the Owatonna Salvation Army. The CD is available at Tone Music, Terry’s Repair and the Salvation Army Thrift Store or by calling her at 455-1449. The CD was recorded at St. John Lutheran Church in Owatonna and includes two Christmas songs. Also, any organization wanting her to play for relaxing background music can call her to make arrangements.
Thanks to an old friend
The new Owatonna Hospital is now in operation. We can all agree that our hospital is now one of the finest in the state offering state-of-the-art care. A final farewell this week goes to the hospital on Oak Street… a facility that has offered care for us at this location since the early 1900’s. There have been many additions and renovations over these many years to try and keep up with the advances in medical care. Now, as we gear up in this beautiful modern health care center, it’s appropriate to recognize the loyal and talented staff of our hospital that provided the best care possible regardless of the fact that they had to often perform their services in a crowded and sometimes outdated facility. You deserve your new home. The old hospital will look lonesome with no activity around it, only to be replaced by a health campus that we can all be proud of. Thank you old friend for bringing us all those babies over the years, for lifesaving emergency services and for offering all of us a caring place to heal. It’s time now to rest knowing you served us all well.
Todd Hale can be reached at thalescff@ll.net or write him at 632 14th St. S.E., Owatonna, MN 55060.
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