Go Johnnies, Go !

We watched the evening news last night and saw highlights of the St. Johns vs. St. Olaf football game. Both teams had been undefeated and it was homecoming for SJU. St. John's won by one point in a nailbiter. Son Andy said it was the most fun he has had watching a SJU game. They are a division three school who usually win by a wide margin. They probably should be playing division two, but are a small school and fall in division three ball. Andy has high school classmates who are now seniors playing for the Ole's and knows more of the SJU players as well. Some were his "flat mates" in London.

St. John's has been coached by John Gagliardi for fifty-six years. He is in the College Hall of Fame for most winning football coach and certainly has the most longeivity, having coached 60 years. St. John's Alum love him. I went to school in St. Cloud in the 60's and would go to SJU games with boyfriends who were Johnnies. Gagliardi had been there a long time then. I love the poster. He is known for being a kindly coach who stresses character among his players.

link: http://www.gojohnnies.com/football/jg.htm

There Is Hope

We were recently talking about famous sons from small towns. Daughter Mary blogged she visited Worchester, MA, hometown of Denis Leary. We saw Allen Ludden's hometown. I heard yesterday that Hope, Arkansas is the birthplace of both Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee. What will they put on the water tower? Wouldn't it be strange if Huckabee were elected president? A tiny town with two presidents claiming origins there--

And while I am wondering how to pronounce Worchester, why do they pronounce Arkansas the way they do instead of AR - KAN- SASS?

Mineral Point

The town reminds me a little of Fredericksburg, Texas. Lots of old houses and buildings are made of limestone and the area is hill country. They quarry limestone too. The mines are closed. The early Cornish miners left to join the '49ers looking for gold in California. They quit mining zinc in 1979.

We loved the residential areas and all the mature red maples around town. There is an outdoor museum dedicated to the old miners with many well preserved buildings. Main street still serves the needs of the community and while it has shops selling art, it also has all the hardware, pharmacy etc needed. No Walmart. One carpet shop was closed but had a sign in the window, "If you need Jim, look for him across at the hardware store." I didn't see Floyd's barber shop but would expect there is a similar shop here.

Pasty (It rhymes with nasty)

I've eaten them on "The Range" in northern Minnesota and found them in little towns on the U.P. I've never eaten one I liked better than the pasties we got in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. This old town was settled in the 1830 by miners from Cornwall, England. They emigrated to work the lead and zinc mines in this area. They brought the miner's traditional dinner, the pasty. It is a pastry wrapped beef, rutabega, potato and onion meal. There is an old restored section of town called "Shake Rag Alley" where the settler's lived. Their wives would bake the pasties and then signal the men at the mine dinner was ready by shaking a white cloth (rag) outdoors until they knew it was time to eat.

In other areas pasties were sent in the miner's lunch pail. Sometimes they were too deep in the mine to break and go home for dinner. This was the original pot pie. I love them and several restaurants have them as a specialty there.

The Password Is...

The Password is Allen Ludden. You have to be a "certain age" or an afficianado of the Game Show Channel to know who Allen Ludden is.

We took a little trip into southwestern Wisconsin following the fall color Wednesday and Thursday. Our intention, to spend the overnight in New Glarus. Sorry, no room in the inns. A convention in Madison overflowed twenty miles west. Our next choice was drive on to Mineral Point to find a hotel. (More on this area in future blog).
Looking at the visitors packets we saw a designation at the local cemetery for Allen Ludden's grave. I remarked, "I wonder if that is the Allen Ludden of Password fame". While eating breakfast at a small downtown restaurant, we spotted a faded picture of Allen Ludden, the TV gameshow host, shaking hands with a local dignitary. I assume it was a local dignitary. There were clippings about the event happening in Mineral Point. This was his home town. We found his grave in the cemetery. I was touched that is was small and the inscription says "Capt US Army", not TV personality. Neat. I googled him of course. Link:http://www.tv.com/allen-ludden/person/61350/biography.html

Fair Sweethaven or Sweet Fair Haven ?

Yesterday my sister forwarded my brother in-law Mike's sister's memoirs. I loved reading it. We have some similar stories. I found out the family had originally lived in Fair Haven. I had never heard of the town so inquired where it was. The name sounded familiar. Mike answered that the town is near Kimbal and St. Augusta in central Minnesota. Isn't that where mythical Lake Wobegone is located? Our son Andy, who attends St. John's, lives on the edge of the Lake Wobegone trail. If you haven't heard of Lake Wobegone (shame on you), it is the little town that time forgot where all the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children are above average. I wonder if all the women are good looking in Fair Haven. Sweet name.

The name Fair Haven seemed familiar. Wasn't that also the town where Popeye lived? Did you see the 1980's film? The set built on the island of Malta is still a tourist attraction. Googling got my answer. It is called Sweethaven. Sweet Pea lives there. I loved the cartoon-like set for that movie. Sweethaven, where all the men are strong (Brutus and Popeye), the women are good looking (like Olive Oyl), and the children are as cute as peas in a pod.

An OMG Moment

Kind of before and after pictures. Me in purple, left at daughter's wedding last Sept 23. Photoshopped picture of me on right--more like me now -73#. I got rid of that dress at our church giveaway this fall.

Mary and Mike recently celebrated their first anniversary.