Duplicate Bridge

Duplicate Bridge was  played on Wed. Aug 31, at the Mower County Senior Center in Austin, Minnesota with five tables playing.

First place, Eunice Michaelis and Warren Behrends; second place, Loren Cleland and Bud Higgins; third place, Dave Ring and Orrin Roisen; fourth place, Barb Engebretson and Gene Mucho; fifth place, John Liesen and Rick Stroup.

Duplicate bridge is played each Wednesday at noon. Bring a partner and join a competitive game of Bridge.

 National Active and Retired Federal Employees

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Chapter 469 (Albert Lea and Austin) met Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016, at the Pizza Ranch in Austin, Minnesota. Eaton Miller, financial planner with Superior Financial, spoke on Living An Informed Retirement.

Business meeting was conducted and committee reports were given. The next meeting will be Oct. 11, 2016, 11:30 a.m. at the Pizza Ranch in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

 Brownsdale Study Club

Brownsdale Study Club met on August 17 at the home of Lavonne Skov. the meeting was called to order with members reading the Collect. August minutes and treasurer’s reports were read and approved. Ten members answered roll call by sharing number of siblings in their family. Old business was plans for the Club Fall Outing. In new business, Fern Paschke led a discussion for plans and preparation for our 2016-2017 Calendars. Eileen o’connor will print them for us. A motion was made by Sarah Hatter and seconded by Mildred Johnson to adjourn the meeting. Hostess for the September meeting will be Leone Peterson.

The main topic, given by Rena Perrigo, was “Artifacts or Gold Star Pilgrimages.”

With more than 10,000 Americans killed during WWI, families were given the choice to have the remains of their loved ones shipped home or buried where they fell. The Gold Star Mothers and Legion Auxiliary members lobbied congress to let the mothers visit their sons’ final resting places in Europe during 1930-1933. 18,000 women were eligible to make the government-funded pilgrimage, but only 6, 674 went on the voyages.

Imagine leaving their homes, with their belongings in shopping bags for a month-long journey on ocean liners. Upon arrival, they were provided with first class hotels and then escorted to the gravesites, where each of them were presented with an American flag, flowers, and a chair so they could sit and honor their loved ones. Photos were also taken near the graves.

Then, several years later while sorting through paraphernalia, in an old home in New Jersey, a family came across a certificate with a Gold Star Medallion bearing the name Mrs. M. Rummell. Her son was one of those killed in the War and she was one of the women who had visited his grave at a cemetery in France. The medallion was stuffed in a little box in a drawer. Other treasures were just put away and forgotten, including a red, white and blue banner, photos of a ship and a woman standing near a gravesite cross. There was also a 1930 American Legion Auxiliary membership card for a Mrs. Mary Rummel and a U.S. flag in and old brown shopping bag. The family had found history to be saved and not forgotten but remembered.

Shelley Vogel had the outside reading on True Storytelling Tales. Three events are listed. First, the “Mugger Hugger.” A young lady had recently moved to a large city in Kentucky to achieve her goals in the world of theater. One night a robber broke into her room. He said “Get me some money lady. You wouldn’t be the first person I killed.” she became so nervous that she just kept talking and talking. She said “I sleep on the floor. I eat only ramen noodles. The theater stinks. I miss my mom and sweet tea. So please do not kill me. I want to go back home where I belong.” The robber just looked at her funny. Then he pulled her into a big bear hug. It was the first human contact that she’d had in months.

Second, “Hooray for Hollywood.” When Carlos was 20 years old, he dropped out of college. He got a job as a chauffeur to an old-school Hollywood producer. Carlos was to drive him around town, but the producer would take Carlos with him to his meetings and introduce him as his associate. And he always encouraged Carlos to speak up.

After two years or chauffeuring, Carlos wrote to the Fox executive, whom he had grown to know and told him he was looking to do something new. So the executive, not knowing who Carlos had been driving around, set him up with an interview with the president of the studio. When the president found out that Carlos had dropped out of college, they got into a debate about the importance of college degrees. Carlos said to him, “You sound like my mother.” And the president turned to him and said “Carlos, you are hired.”

Third, “Losing Sleep.” It was Amy’s first night in the Tanzanian bush, a region known for lions. The camp owner welcomed her and said “Your tent is near the bushes next to the river.” So she passed the tents on raised platforms and noticed a pup tent perched on what appeared to be the main hippo trail down to the water. That was her tent to sleep in. Not wanting to be dragged by a hippo to drown in the river, she moved her tent off the trail. Soon, she lay in the tent listening to the sounds of the animals. Then, she heard the roar of a lion near the river. Then another, and a third. She heard the crackle of nearby twigs. Now, she could smell him and he could smell her too. She stopped and laid down right on the outside of the warm tent. Amy lay still trying not to panic. She laid still and finally fell asleep. By sun-up the lion was gone. Only his tracks remained. Amy knew from now on she needed a tent with a raised platform.

Lavonne served a yummy dessert.