Nunc dimittis servum tuum

Thanks and happy trails.

Gotta be sure

Your Friday sermon. Take nothing for granted.

Mom's tired mouse

56572 was born four years ago today. This almost makes 56572 a Senior Citizen in the blogosphere. 

287,166 visitors (Mom wore her mouse out) have opened 548,499 pages. 

Had we tried harder, we could have done better. 

56572@125 Eat, gab and sleep

56572 economic news

Jennie-O Turkey Store (18% of Net Sales, 9% of Total Operating Profit)

Operating profit declined 16 percent in the Jennie-O Turkey Store segment in the quarter despite an 8 percent increase in sales. Grain-related costs were $39 million higher compared to fiscal 2007. The increase in corn prices during the second quarter added a new layer of costs that were not fully recovered. Given the current market dynamics, we will be reducing our poult placements in our grow-out facilities by approximately 5%. We will also continue to pursue manufacturing efficiencies, customer and product rationalization, and pricing to improve profitability. Sales of value-added retail products continued to grow during the quarter, led by fresh tray pack, turkey burgers and marinated tenders. This helped offset softer sales of certain other value-added retail products, including pan roasts and turkey franks.

The missing mural

A 56572 artist is looking for a photo of the mural Larry Rostad painted in the mid '60s on the south wall of what used to be Lakeland Properties directly across the parking lot from the Liquor Store/Starman's Meats? We think it may have been on a 1960s postcard. Anybody have one with better resolution?

Indigo Bunting

Thank you Mr. Jordahl. This brightens an otherwise cloudy Monday.

A birthday gift for 56572

Twenty-five years later there are five of us still alive. We were eleven on the committee to write A Century at the Rapids.

This past week a copy of A Century at the Rapids sold for $5.99 after a single bid on eBay. There are about 300 copies of the book in original boxes in the PRPL.

75 Years of Progress is harder to find and could cost you up to ten times that.

A few of us met one time two years ago to talk about a book or a photo album for the 125th. Times have changed. The price of time rises faster than the price of a barrell of oil. Creating a Peliwiki and having everybody pitch in was discussed, but we are not there yet. I wonder what the medium will be in 2033. I don't expect to be here for it.

As a meager substitute for a 125th book I have scanned both 75 Years of Progress and A Century at the Rapids and have posted both on the Internet in a searchable Adobe .pdf format that anybody using the free Adobe Reader can download, read and search for free. For free is the way it should be, the way of the future. I doubt anybody owns the rights to these books so I just went ahead and did it.

For the time being one can only download each book, until I figure out how to get them to just open up instead. I hope all generations of 56572 folk will enjoy the access to this information that modern technology gives us. I hope the younger generations, those with so little time to give, will take time to get interested in and preserve local history.

Click here to download the books.

56572@125 Happy Birthday

One hundred twenty-five years ago this afternoon the village that eighty years later was to become 56572 was granted a corporate charter - the girls at City Hall are digging through the vault looking for it as we speak.

How and when did the locals find out?

Probably a day or two or three later.

It's doubtful there was raucous celebration on Broadway or West Mill one hundred twenty-five years ago tonight.

It's doubtful there will be any tonight.

As far as that goes not much has changed.

56572's Burger King

from 2 Resort Girls

The Grill Man Cometh
For those of you waiting for those mouth-watering burgers you might have to wait a little longer… With the unexpected weather the grill is still heating up for the summer season… Let Phil know that you are ready to lunch and munch when you see him around town-he’d love to know…

56572@125: Life without a firewall

Early this week the twenty-five year old brick wall marking the entrance to the west parking lot of E.L.Peterson Park was demolished. Drivers seeking a parking place need to see that behind the wall both parking and a park are available. Maybe they will stop and buy a six-pack and drink it somewhere else.

The downside of the decision to take down the wall is that it may mean an up-tick for sales at the Elizabeth and Erhard Municipals.

In addition to a brick and mortar library 56572 was one of the last towns in the territory to get a municipal liquor store. Neither was needed.

Buying habits needed to change. That took a while, forever for some of us.

Starman's Meat Market became the Liquor Store. There was a back door to the place. Discretion was guaranteed.

Then the makeover moving the entrance to the front door under a font nobody could read, a third color of brick, later a yellow awning with a Times Roman font big enough to catch way too much attention which was all together too much for some. Habits reverted.

Then in the early 80s came the wall. Discretion was once again possible.

Bob now knows you want that bottle in a bag. Double bag is even better.

Brings to mind the days of the setup and BYOB when in the backroom of Cer's one could rent a locker for one's bottle(s). The bottle(s) that went into the bag across the street, frequently came out of the BYOB locker but never out of the bag.

Nobody needs to know what we drink in 56572. Bob and Company are sworn to secrecy.

Will Bob soon decide to start using the back door once again? Will the new Liquor Store be designed with a back door, will the main entrance be 'round back? Two entrances maybe? McDonald's has proven the value of a drivethru. Are drivethrus even legal in Minnesota Municipals? Should be for Scandinavian tainted towns like this one.

All things one needs to take into account when dealing with Scandinavians who in certain things value their privacy more than you might guess.

Allow a native son this one indulgence: The Dakota Effect

The Dakota Effect
from The Monkey Cage by Lee Sigelman

by David Kranz in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader

What's the Dakota Effect? Well, it starts with the curious fact that North and South Dakota have sent many sons and daughters off to Congress, many representing other states. The 107th Congress included 15 native Dakotans - only six of whom actually represented their home states, Sigelman and Young wrote.

"If challenged to do so," they wrote, "relatively few Americans could find North and South Dakota on a map, let along correctly name, spell and pronounce the capitals of the two states."

Then it becomes even more harsh, suggesting that it would be hard to find anything interesting in the two states - except maybe Mount Rushmore. A typical Dakotan, they write, is "the fellow from Sioux Falls who loved his wife so much that he almost told her."

56572@125 Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Beauty is only skin deep? Hardly, when it comes to building facades. Under the carpet and pad might be a hardwood floor. Under the steel and vinyl siding of the last fifty years there might be brick even brick made right here in 56572.

Although many might be happy with what is happening this week at the old telephone office building at 123 South Broadway, we are sad. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust stories of life in 56572 are being sandblasted away:

The Writing on the Wall
by Roger Pinckney XI

PS The contractor has assured the owner that no historical etchings will be removed. Chill.

Gottenborg Chiropractic Clinic is born

The best birthday present 56572 could receive would be for somebody to pour cement. Dr. Gottenborg might be doing just that. Bravo David and Kim!

Who's next?

"Seventy degrees on Friday!"

Yellow Warbler.
Photo taken in Maplewood State Park, May 13, 2008.

Thank you Mr. Jordahl.

Velkommen Finn Haakon

The stork landed last week just outside 56572 last week to one of 56572's most prominent couples who were featured on these pages back on July 17, 2004 when the same stork landed in front of their house in town carrying a pink blanket.

And they named the boy Finn Haakon and if Finn Haakon wants to become King of America some day, knowing his parents, one could not put it past him. Velkommen Lille Finn Haakon.

Dotty's Bowling Alley Dressing

"This mild salad dressing was popular at our local bowling alley many years ago when they served meals," recalls Dotty Egge from Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. "Most everyone asked for the recipe. It's very good."

SERVINGS: 8

CATEGORY: Side Dish

METHOD:

TIME: Prep/Total Time: 5 min.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cups whipping cream
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Salad greens and vegetables of your choice

Directions:

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the cream, oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper; shake well. Serve with salad. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 2 cups.

Orange Sox 2008

IFF11: Sharing our heritage

Kristine Neu, Senior at PRHS, designed the 2008 International Friendship Festival logo. IFF11 T-shirts will be on sale shortly.

56572@125 Eight days and counting

On May 16th, 1883 the city of Pelican Rapids was incorporated.

I don't expect to see fireworks next Friday, no parade with a marching band, no speech by Mayor Wayne, no walking tour by the Town Historian Marguerite, no free coffee and no birthday cake. 56572 is laid back in a lot of things, celebrating is right up there on the list. I bet it was like that 125 years too.

Queen of the Rings (the red ones)

The purpose of the Concordia College Alumni Achievement Award is to honor alumni who have exemplified the ideals of Concordia College through outstanding service and leadership in their profession, community and church. These individuals have profoundly influenced the affairs of the world through thought, word and deed.

Dianne Kimm learned this morning that she has been selected as one of the 2008 winners of the Concordia College Alumni Achievement Award. Other 56572 Red Ringers who have been selected in the past were Al Siegle in 1999 and Judy Siegle in 2005. Dianne will receive the award during Homecoming 2008.

All of 56572 congratulates you Dianne. Bravo! Click here to send Dianne an email.

When the world came to Lake Wobegon

True story.

A young man from 56572 drove to Southern Otter Tail County yesterday to buy a truck from a private party. When he told the seller where he was from the seller said "We used to stop and get out of the car when we drove through Pelican. We don't do that anymore. We just drive through."

Last evening many 56572 residents gathered at the school to hear The Worner Report which says, in part, that one the causes of the school district's malaise is open enrollment, that people have a mistaken image of the school and the town that is not based on the reality as he sees it and that the solution is a stepped up public relations campaign by both.

I have new neighbors here in town. They bought the house of my neighbor of thirty years. We don't speak each other's language very well. I speak about as much of their language as they do of mine. Still we are neighbors who communicate by sharing food once in a while and recognizing one another if only by waving. They have kept the property up very well, in a way that the previous owner would be pleased with. I try to do the same. There is no fear factor or intimidation.

When one starts to fear one's neighbors it's you who has the problem, not your neighbor. Residents of Otter Tail County need not fear their neighbors in Pelican Rapids no matter what language we speak, what we wear or how different we look. The streets of Pelican Rapids are no more dangerous than those of Perham or Parkers Prairie, nor are the hallways of PRHS. It's just that the people using those sidewalks and hallways may be a bit different than those you are used to.

With the high price of gas may I suggest you take a day trip to Pelican Rapids? Start out at Historic City Hall, stop by an antique, gift, ice cream or coffee shop, walk in to Las Monarcas Supermarket or the Gar Gar Shop on West Mill, stop by the library, stay in town for lunch or dinner, maybe a soccer or a baseball game. Make a point of coming to the International Friendship Festival June 20-21.

You won't be crossing any borders, leave your passport at home. Just decide to do it, come here, find a place to park and get out of your car.

Who will help these girls get the dock in?

The Maple Beach Girls

Candy you won't find in Fergus ....or anywhere else on the planet

Set the GPS on your spaceship to:
46.571399° N
96.082951° W

Earthlings welcome too.
We now take Visa and Mastercard.

The Worner Report

The Pelican Rapids community is invited to attend a presentation on The Organizational Analysis Study done on the Pelican Rapids Schools by Roger Worner. The meeting will be held in the Fine Arts Auditorium on Monday, May 5th at 7:00. Roger will present his findings on the Pelican Rapids School District. Please make plans to attend.

Deborah Wanek, Superintendent
Pelican Rapids Public School
PO Box 642
310 South Broadway
Pelican Rapids, MN 56572
218-863-5910 Ext. 4001
dwanek@pelicanrapids.k12.mn.us
www.pelicanrapids.k12.mn.us

Excerpt from The Worner Report:

The Project Consultants assessed that Pelican Rapids School District #548 is in dire straits and has limited alternatives available—without the support of its community patrons and parents—to preserve and protect the quality and comprehensiveness of its programs and services.

The leadership (School Board and Superintendent) of Pelican Rapids School District #548 has operated a conservative, prudent, fiscally-responsible educational enterprise for years. It has made available to its student clientel an array of programs and services which, at worst, are average or, at best, above average when compared to the average of all like-sized Minnesota school districts and the average of all State of Minnesota school districts. At the same time, the school district has expended considerably fewer dollars per student than found in the average of all like-sized Minnesota school districts or the average of all State of Minnesota school districts. Furthermore, taxpayers have been asked to contribute substantially fewer dollars for school property taxes than patrons in the average of all like-sized Minnesota school districts and the average of all State of Minnesota school districts. Indeed, Pelican Rapids School District #548 does not have in place either an operating levy referendum or a school bond referendum.

Pelican Rapids School District #548 would appear to have been functioning most satisfactorily—by any standards—until student enrollment began to decline because of, presumably, declining birth rates and, most assuredly, resident student out-migration to neighboring school districts through the Minnesota Open Enrollment Options’ Program. Even then, the school district managed to accumulate a sizable General Fund balance—representing 30.2% of the General Fund expenditure budget—through the conclusion of the 2006-07 organizational year. However, that General Fund balance will be significantly eroded by the conclusion of the 2007-08 organizational year, and were it not for a substantial General Fund budget reduction in 2007-08 for the 2008-09 organizational year, the school district’s fiscal reserves would reach a perilously low level. Without one or more significant budget reductions in the future, Pelican Rapids School District #548 could anticipate falling into Statutory Operating Debt by the conclusion of the 2009-10 organizational year.

The precipitating causes of Pelican Rapids School District #548’s future fiscal condition are (a) the decline in student enrollment, (b) erratic, unreliable, and insufficient funding support by the State of Minnesota, and (c) under-funding of the school district by resident taxpayers.

The only alternatives of merit available to the School Board and Superintendent of Pelican Rapids School District #548 are to seek and secure substantially increased funding support for the educational enterprise from the residents of the school district and, simultaneously, arrest and, hopefully, reverse the out-migration trends of resident students to neighboring school districts through the Minnesota Open Enrollment Options Program.

Recommendation 1
Create a Blue Ribbon Planning Task Force to study the contents of Pelican Rapids School District #548 Organizational Analysis Study and tender advisory recommendations to the School Board and Superintendent on subsequent courses of action to preserve and protect the school district.
Recommendation 2
Institute a substantive reduction in the organization’s General Fund budget (at least $500,000) for the 2008-09 organizational year.
Recommendation 3
Prepare for and conduct a significant operating levy referendum in November 2008.
Recommendation 4
Prepare for and conduct a future school bond referendum to construct a new Pelican Rapids Middle/High School on an educationally adequate site.
Recommendation 5
Commission a study process which will result in the selection, appraisal, and purchase of a site for the location of a new Pelican Rapids Middle/High School.
Recommendation 6
Engage the services of Springsted, Inc. to provide the organization with financial advice and counsel as the school district proceeds through a time period which is financially troubling.
Recommendation 7
Interview audit firms (including the school district’s current school auditors) for the 2008-09 organizational year and select that firm which can provide the school district’s leadership with the most qualified expertise during a time period when the organization is facing significant financial challenges.
Recommendation 8
Investigate the possibility of establishing a Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Pelican Rapids and other school district cities and townships to secure, among others, more broadly-based collaboration among the governmental entities and school district and funding for the school district’s/communities’ summer recreation programs.
Recommendation 9
Study the merits of consolidating—under one administrator—all Community Education Services to insure maximal oversight, accountability, funding, and cost/effectiveness.
Recommendation 10
Survey interest in the creation of a school district, fee-based, cost/effective, school-aged child care program which would be located at Viking Elementary School.
Recommendation 11
Commission a Task Force of realtors and developers to develop a plan or options for the sale, re-purposing, or disposal of a (future) vacated Pelican Rapids Junior/Senior High School.
Recommendation 12
Engage the services of an independent third party neutral to guide a broadly-based Task Force of community patrons, school district leadership, parents, and school district staff members in the development of an organizational Strategic Plan.
Recommendation 13
Develop a plan of action for enhancing school district communication, marketing, and public relations to strengthen parent and patron support in and affiliation with Pelican Rapids School District #548 and, further, halt and, as possible, reclaim resident students who may out-migrate or have out-migrated to other school districts through the Minnesota Open Enrollment Options Program.

Master Woodcarver Wagstrom

Did Ellis Wagstrom carve this? Paper label on bottom says: "E. Wagstrom & Son, Wood Carvers of Fame, Pelican Rapids, Minn."

Under the weather

No matter how many legs we have all of us have been under the weather this weekend. Jordy a bit more than the rest of us. Sounds like he could use some cheering up.

Weishair Benefit

A spaghetti feed benefit for the family of Jessica Weishair of Pelican Rapids, Minn., will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 27 at Crossroads Corner, Pelican Rapids. The benefit will help defer some of the expenses the Weishair family has incurred since the bus accident that claimed Jessica’s life. Donations are also being accepted at Wells Fargo Bank, PO Box 644, Pelican Rapids, MN 56572-0644. For more information, call (218) 863-1200.

56572@125 The Golden Age of 56572

Blyberg Home Tour, July 12, 2008

Letter from the Editor

When covering funerals, we aim to respect wishes of the hurting
Matt Von Pinnon
Published Sunday, April 27, 2008

A recent letter to the editor accused The Forum of being invasive and irresponsible for photographing the family of Pelican Rapids (Minn.) High School bus crash victim Jessica Weishair outside her funeral at the school.

I can understand and appreciate that sentiment.

But it also affords me an opportunity to explain how our newspaper covers funerals and memorial services.

First, though everyone’s life is worth a story, we can’t realistically document every gathering to celebrate a life. We have to choose, and that’s not always easy.

Some people live public lives, and their deaths, followed by public memorials and funerals, are often of great public interest. We try to cover those.

Sometimes, just the opposite is true. Sometimes, the lonely funerals of people who quietly made a difference are newsworthy. Often, those are the most interesting.

And then there are the services for people who may not command our attention one day but whose deaths or manner of death thrusts their lives or the lives of their families into the spotlight overnight.

Think soldiers who die in combat. Think victims of violent crime. Think a teen at the cusp of adulthood taken in a tragic accident – a teen like Jessica Weishair.

Jessica’s death gripped an entire community, an entire region – partly because of the manner in which she died.

We at the newspaper didn’t race to Pelican Rapids in the aftermath to expose the family or the larger community.

Rather, we raced to Pelican Rapids because we cover that Minnesota community, and this was a story dear to the community and its neighbors.

We consider Pelican Rapids part of our backyard, as do many of our readers.

We try to cover the community in good times and in bad, something I’m not sure the other media who descended on the town following the bus accident can say.

After deciding we wanted to cover Jessica’s funeral, we contacted the funeral director in charge of arrangements, as we always do in these situations.

We asked the funeral director to convey to the family that we’d like to be present, if they were OK with that.

In Jessica’s case, the family said a reporter could attend the service, but they didn’t want a photographer inside the gym where it took place.

In this particular case, we did not further ask if the family wished for no photos to be taken outside the school. We assumed – rightly or wrongly – it would be OK, since they specifically asked that we not be inside.

Because of that, we had a photographer remain outside the school and at a distance, on public property, and take photos following the public service attended by 1,000.

If we misinterpreted the family’s wishes, we apologize.

Generally, when our reporters attend funerals, they go just as observers to document what was said or what they saw. We generally don’t ask questions of those attending and never approach the family without prior approval or through a third party.

Sometimes those at services want to talk about their friend or loved one. That’s often the case.

But we never try to hound in these circumstances. It’s not the right time or place. We aim to be respectful and cover services as we would want if it were our family or friends – because occasionally it is.

Von Pinnon is editor of The Forum. Reach him at (701) 241-5579 or mvonpinnon@forumcomm.com

Our son called today to say they are moving

Your home. Your heart.
by Bob Collins, Minnesota Public Radio (3 Comments)

Here's the little presentation I promised I'd have a week ago. Here's the premise: We (the media) often miss a piece of the story with the current housing crisis. Sure, it's about bank instruments, late payments, declining values, and, quite often, the sadness of losing a home and having to find another way to survive. Part of this is because of how we came to view our homes during the "boom" times. They were bank accounts we could cash out. We forgot that you can't cash out the way the things that happen in your home, end up in your heart.

A Cherry Coke, please

Lest we forget what the Swan Drug soda fountain looked like.....on eBay until May 2nd.

Suicidal pelicans?

Sorry Bob, real live pelicans are still no-shows in 56572. Other birds already here are lined up at 56572 feeders. It's a day when the pecking order is obvious.

Once again, 56572 takes the cake

Snowstorm hits western, northern Minnesota

Associated Press, The Forum
Published Saturday,
April 26, 2008

It could be Old Man Winter's last gasp in Minnesota. A late April snowstorm has dumped snow across much of western and northern Minnesota — with some reports of a foot or more.The National Weather Service has received reports of an estimated 18 inches of snow in Pelican Rapids, 15 inches in Hawley and 13½ inches in Wilkin. Other snowfall reports include 12 inches in Donnelly, more than 10 inches in Hewitt and 9½ inches north of Park Rapids.

No weak links around here Tim

Poem: "Prayer Chain" by Tim Nolan.

My mother called to tell me
about an old classmate of mine who

was dying on the parish prayer chain—
or was very sick —or destitute—

or it had not worked out —the marriage—
or the kids were all on drugs —and

all the old mothers were praying intensely
for all the pain of their children

and for life— they were praying for life—
in their quiet rooms —sipping decaf coffee—

I bet they've been praying for me at times—
so I'll find my way— so I won't rob a bank—

I'll take them— the mystical prayers of old mothers—
it matters —all this patient and purposeful love.

Tim Nolan Bio

The morning after the Clinton-Obama debate

"Fix" by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, from No Heaven.
from The Writer's Almanac
Listen

Fix

The puzzled ones, the Americans, go through their lives
Buying what they are told to buy,
Pursuing their love affairs with the automobile,

Baseball and football, romance and beauty,
Enthusiastic as trained seals, going into debt, struggling —
True believers in liberty, and also security,

And of course sex — cheating on each other
For the most part only a little, mostly avoiding violence
Except at a vast blue distance, as between bombsight and earth,

Or on the violent screen, which they adore.
Those who are not Americans think Americans are happy
Because they are so filthy rich, but not so.

They are mostly puzzled and at a loss
As if someone pulled the floor out from under them,
They'd like to believe in God, or something, and they do try.

You can see it in their white faces at the supermarket and the gas station
— Not the immigrant faces, they know what they want,
Not the blacks, whose faces are hurt and proud —

The white faces, lipsticked, shaven, we do try
To keep smiling, for when we're smiling, the whole world
Smiles with us, but we feel we've lost

That loving feeling. Clouds ride by above us,
Rivers flow, toilets work, traffic lights work, barring floods, fires
And earthquakes, houses and streets appear stable

So what is it, this moon-shaped blankness?
What the hell is it? America is perplexed.
We would fix it if we knew what was broken.

State to Increase Fatigued Driver Enforcement

MOORHEAD, Minn. (April 15, 2008) — State and federal inspectors are examining hours of service logs for the motorcoach that crashed almost two weeks ago, killing a high school band student.

Capt. Ken Urquhart, commander of the state patrol’s commercial vehicle enforcement section, could not confirm whether or not fatigue was a factor in the crash but said there did not appear to be any mechanical problems with the motorcoach.

At around 5:45 a.m. on Saturday, April 5, two buses were carrying students home from a competition in Chicago along Interstate 94 near Albertville, Minn., some 170 miles from their school in Pelican Rapids, Minn. One of the buses left the roadway and turned on its side. Jessica Weishair, 16, died at the scene. According to Capt. Urquhart, neither the other bus nor other vehicles were involved in the crash.

On Monday, state investigators and a representative from the Federal Motor Carrier Administration visited to Richards Transportation Service, the owner of the bus. Capt. Urquhart said investigators will investigate the drivers of both motorcoaches and what they did during the 48 hours prior to the crash, including how much they slept. According to regional press, the FMCSA said the carrier had no crashes documented in the two years.

Capt. Urquhart said the investigation dovetails with a state-wide effort to address driver fatigue.

“As we all know, current hours of enforcement and compliance with those may not solve the whole fatigue problem,” Capt. Urquhart said. “A driver can have a virtually compliant log book and still not get the rest they need to be alert when they’re operating the vehicle.”

The state patrol will use the Moorhead crash and a February crash in Cottonwood, Minn, that killed four students and injured 13 others to increase inspection of fatigued motorcoach and school bus drivers. Under federal law interstate passenger bus drivers can’t drive more than 10 hours at a time and must rest for eight hours; drivers are also not allowed to work more than 15 hours in a 24-hour period or work more than 60 hours in a seven-day stretch.

In March, the FMCSA rejected the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation that the agency require all interstate commercial drivers, including school bus and motorcoach drivers, use electronic on-board data recorders (EBORs) and create a system to prevent tampering with traditional hours-of-service logs. The FMCSA said installing EBORs vehicles owned and operated by carriers with serious histories of non-compliance, as it had proposed in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, would be an more efficient efficient use of limited resources. The agency said it would address these issues in a final rule by the end of 2008.

Red Tails in the sunset

News tonight that something that has been around all of my life will not be here much longer. Will things improve? Don't count on it, no matter what they tell us. Is this the future?

A fund has been organized to help raise money for PRHS band member's expenses from the accident. You can help by sending a contribution to:

Pelican Rapids Band Accident Fund
C/O State Bank & Trust
P.O. Box 628
Pelican Rapids, MN 56572
Please make checks payable to: "Pelican Rapids Band Accident Fund"

Thank You
Pelican Rapids Boy Scout Troop 313
Charlie Blixt - Scout Master
(218)739-9009

Day 2 of The Masters of Shoveling

A microsleep?

I am one of those who have fallen asleep at sixty-five miles an hour.

Driving all night, eyes wide shut by Jill Burcum, Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Shelter from the storm

The first customers sought shelter under the Golden Arches at 6:00 a.m. this morning. If Ronald remains a no-show can we at least expect a visit from "The Cenex Guy?" Lee would make a great Cenex Guy.

56572@125 Brothers of the Brush

Pete got a gander of the Druggist's beard this week, thought it looked "pretty handsome" and decided he'd start one too. We hope he'll (Pete) shave it off by tomorrow.

The Quiet Quilt

When you've lived in 56572 as long as I have, you would know that this second week in April 2008 was unlike any previous week. Town felt like it had been hit by a grief tsunami. Words were difficult to come by.

We were and are a community in need of a huge blanket. Make that a quilt. What we may not realize is that the quilt is being stitched for us piece by piece, quietly, and not just in church basements.

Tomorrow we will all bear the pall for the Weishairs. The weight will be about all we can collectively bear, but we will bear it.

Hannah and Amy

Information about Hannah and Amy is on the ISD548 website. Caring Bridge pages Hannah Klovstad.

DSL speedometer

The Loretel recommended DSL speedtest is here. It works well.

The Barber's Little Angel

Marlys Ebersviller
Pelican Rapids High School Counselor

I have been Jessica’s school counselor for the past 4 years. In addition, I had the privilege of serving as her Sunday School teacher at Faith Lutheran Church. Jessica’s quiet faith seemed beautiful to me. Her confirmation class is already missing her.

In all the time I have known Jessica, I have never, ever seen her without a smile. She was always happy. She d