Lookout Auxiliary 703 Fraternal Order of Eagles

Lookout Auxiliary 703 Fraternal Order of Eagles installed officers for the year 2016-2017 on Tuesday, June 7, 2016.

Installing team was June Callier, Rochester, Minnesota, Gloria Njos Waltham, Minnesota and Carol Everslage of Wanamingo, Minnesota.

Pictured front row, from left: Sally Michael’s-treasurer, Shirley DeYoung-secretary, Ethel Huinker-president. Back row: Gloria Njos-trustee, Pat Miner-guard, Ruth Zawadzki-conductor, Hazel Julson-trustee, Margaret Streightiff-trustee, Mary Boysen-chaplain, Carol Connor Jr-past president, Elaine Lane-vice president.

President Ethel Huinker was named Chairman for the Year. The Auxiliary Mother chosen by the president is Ruth Zawadzki. Auxiliary grandmother is Pat Miner.

The next meeting will be on July 5, 2016.

Brownsdale Study Club

The Brownsdale Study Club met on May 18, 2016, at the home of Ida Foster.

Fern Paschke called the meeting to order with all three members reading the collect. April minutes and treasurer’s reports were read and approved. Eleven members answered roll call by naming their favorite spring flower.

There was no old business. New business was an announcement of the opening of Garden Spot Market at the First Farmer’s and Merchants State Bank lot in downtown Brownsdale every Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. A motion was made by Sarah Hatten and seconded by Hazel Schlichting to adjourn the meeting. Hostess for our June meeting will be Sarah Hatten.

A short list of needed values was read by Sarah on how to teach values like faith, trust, hope, confidence, love and a positive attitude. The list was six tiny stories with great messages.

•Once all the villages decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That’s faith.

•When you throw a baby in the air, she laughs because she knows you will catch her. That’s trust.

•Every night we go to bed, without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but still we set the alarm to wake us up. That’s hope.

•We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future. That’s confidence.

•We see the world suffering, but still we get married and have children. That’s love.

•On ahold man’s shirt was written a sentence: “I am not 90 years old … I am sweet 16 with 74 years of experience. That’s attitude.

Sarah’s outside reading was on “The Good Cat.”

The snow was coming down hard when I pulled into the carport and took out my groceries. Just as I started for the front door, our stray cat jumped down out of nowhere unto the steps right in front of me. “Scat!” I said but Kitty refused to move. I knew I shouldn’t have kept that cat. I wasn’t a cat person. We lived on the outskirts of town and would find pets abandoned every so often.

That was how we got our dog too. A dog – now a dog was useful. But what good was a cat.

I had rescued her and now I was stuck with her. Sighing, I set my groceries down, picked up the cat and put her in her house under the carport.

All of a sudden, that Kitty bolted up the steps and blocked my way again loudly meowing.

“Move!” I said. Then I saw a glint of something on the steps. Broken glass. I looked up. The window on our front door was busted out. Did someone break in?

I jumped back in the car, drove down the street and called the police.

When the police came, they found. Kitty knocked unconscious by a blow to the head. “A burglar had run out the back door just as I arrived,” the officer told me.

It was a good thing that Kitty stopped you from going inside. She was small enough to be overlooked but big enough for the Lord’s work.

Mary gave the main topic on popular toys in the 1950s.

In the early 1950s kids had very little entertainment. They had to make their own fun and games. There was no Little League. Many of the children played in the street. They played, stickball, red rover, hide and seek, diamond ball, kick-the-can, jump rope, jacks and cowboys and indians. Some had a bicycle, roller skates and even push carts made from orange crates. Indoor games were Lincoln Logs, erector sets, Tinker Toys, trains and Matchbox cars.

Silly Putty was sold in plastic eggs in 1950. Do you remember squasing a handful of the gooey stuff?

The plastic saucer Frisbee was introduced in 1957 and is still flying high. Barbie dolls were first sold in 1959. Barbie was dressed in a black and white swimsuit and wore high-heeled shoes. Today, those original dolls in a case can sell for a $1,000. Formally sold under the Tonka Trucks name in 1955, the banana yellow dump trucks, bulldozers and graders were seen in backyards. The name Tonka comes from Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota and 300 million have been sold. The Hula-Hoopo became popular in 1958 after learning that Australian children enjoyed shaking bamboo hoops around their hips.

More than 100 million were sold in the first year. At that time some Saturdays were special when they could go to the movie theater to watch newsreels, comedies and a double feature for 15 cents. Favorites were Roy Rogers, Lone Ranger and Superman. Most families got a TV in the 50s. It had a black and white eight inch screen. It was for entertainment and it was not a toy. Today’s new playground equipment has added more precious memories to kids toys. However, they still love to play outdoors in their neighborhoods.