Granddaughter's Visit

Our 6 year old Granddaughter, Madelyn, came up yesterday from Hudson, WI., she will be staying with us for a week’s visit. We have been looking forward to having her with us for this next week. I am taking 1/2 days off work, in the afternoons, and Grandpa will have her in the mornings. We’ve had a good day with her today, we must have worn her out, because she konked out on the sofa around 7:30, and seems to be out, maybe for the night? I tried to wake her, so she doesn’t sleep a cat nap, then not want to go to bed later, but to no avail. I guess I’ll let her sleep.

I was afraid she might get homesick for Mom, since she is such a “mama’s girl”. But, she only said “I want my Mom” twice today, and both times were after her Mom had called on the phone and had talked to her. So, I didn't think that was too bad. I think she will be fine.

This morning she and I went grocery shopping. I wanted her to choose what kind of things to buy, and of course, like most Grandma’s we did purchase quite a bit of “junk” food, but then that’s what Grandma’s do…(and I know a lot of what we bought, she doesn’t get at her house). However, we did buy some “healthy” things too. She is a good fruit eater, and wanted me to buy “Bing Cherries” for sure, then she also wanted grapefruit, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, she already ate a lot of the cherries this evening.

Her Uncle Rob took her to see the new kid’s movie “Ratatouille” that just came out today. She wanted to see it, and they both really enjoyed it, along with a giant bag of popcorn!

We also have another house guest, along with Maddy. We have our “grand doggie” Coco. She is really fun to have. She is so little, and so cute. When I see photos of her and Maddy, she looks like a stuffed animal. She is about as big as she will get. She is a cross between and Yorkie and a Maltese. They are said to have the good qualities of both breeds. We really do love her, even my husband, who has never been a dog lover, couldn't wait for us to have her for a week. He especially enjoys her. We all have taken her for a walk or two, or three. We’ve had her sleeping on our laps, we feed her some of our food when she begs, we play with her toys with her, we are getting a kick out of her! We must have worn her out too, because she is now sleeping on Bob’s lap.

I think I will go to bed early, as Maddy can wear Grandma out, and tomorrow we have plans to “run around” town. I’m thinking Brighton Beach, if it’s warmer, and Playfront, maybe The Depot if the weather is cool for outside. Today was sunny, but the air was very cool and brisk.

Tomorrow I will write about where the rest of Madelyn’s family is while she and Coco are with us.

Glensheen

" A hallmark of extraordinary design. A businessman’s enduring legacy. A showcase of diverse interior styles. But at its very heart, a family home. Welcome to Glensheen, the historic Congdon estate. Along the shore of Lake Superior, a 7.6-acre expanse of wooded land enfolds the 39-room Jacobean Revival mansion that is Minnesota’s premier historic house museum. The interiors of the mansion have endured, boasting nearly all of the same furnishings and décor that graced the rooms when estate was completed in 1908. Even the formal gardens and naturalistic landscape retain much of their original design. Here, visitors are given a fascinating look at life in an affluent family home from the turn of the last century.

Glensheen is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Partner Place of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. " from: www.d.umn.edu/glen/

30 years ago today....

30 years ago this morning, mining heiress Elisabeth Congdon, 83, was found dead in her ancestral 39 room mansion on London Road, here in Duluth. She had been smothered with a pillow during the night. Her night nurse was found on a stair landing, bludgeoned to death with a candlestick, after fighting with her attacker. It has been a fascinating mystery story. John DeSanto was the Chief Prosecutor who prosecuted the case in 1977 he contributed to a book written about the murders “Will to Murder”. There was also another book written called “Secrets of the Congdon Mansion. Elisabeth Congdon was the “last vestige” of a noble family. Her family helped to build this city. So, it was a real shock to everyone when these murders happened. I just can hardly believe that 30 years has passed since then!

Glensheen and its grounds were deeded to the University of Minnesota Duluth, upon Elisabeth’s death. The mansion was opened for tours in 1979. To the credit of the University, they do not market the murders. They feel that the home itself is one the most “amazing in the Midwest”, they don’t need to market it. The guides until around 2000 didn’t talk at all about the murders, even if they were asked. However, this caused a lot of rumors and exaggerations so, now they do sell both of the books in their Glensheen bookstore. The guides still do not bring the murders up, unless they are questioned about it, then they down play it.

In January of 1981 my cousin came to visit us from Pennsylvania. It was my first tour of the mansion when I took her there. It is a beautiful home, built between 1905 - 1908. It has a lot of history and is very interesting to see. After seeing it, every time company came from home (PA), I made sure I took them for the mansion tour. Finally, after seeing the tour for what seemed like the millionth time, I started dropping them off and picking them up. I started feel like I could be the tour guide! It is a lovely mansion. So, if you visit Duluth in the future and or haven’t seen it and you live here, stop down for the tour. It’s well worth your time.

A funny note: When my Dad saw the mansion, (my Dad a poor farmer) his comment was that the "people that built this house had more money than they knew what to do with"!! I always remember my Dad saying that!

Getting Old?

Nothing can make you feel older than when you see someone who babysat your kids when they were little, and now they have 3 children of their own! I was at an event last evening and ran into a gal I haven't seen in over 16 years. I can say it's 16 years, because she used to babysit for our Grandson, who is 17, when he was only a year or so old. It was good to see her again, all grown up, and doing well in her life and seeing her very cute three children. She came up to me and asked if I remembered her, it took me a second, but then I quickly realized that it was Shannon. She has grown into a beautiful woman. We visited with her for quite a while and enjoyed our time with her. She was here from out of town, to support her Mother who was part of the event we were at. We also saw two young men at the event that we watched grow up from the time they were little boys, they are 26 and over 30 now!

Even worse is seeing your former neighbor girl, visiting from California, who used to babysit for your 37 year old daughter!

Oh, then there is the grown up lady that you watched grow up from the time she was a baby, and then you listen to her give the message one Sunday morning (this past Sunday) at your church, in place of the pastor. Wow! That was something! By the way, she did a wonderful job. All of us from Woodland UMC that watched her grow up, were very proud of her on Sunday! We are proud of all she and her sister do for us at HOPE UMC. They grew up well, and we knew them when...

Ah, yes, these are the things that make us realize that we are getting old!

A Change in the Weather

What a change in the temperature. I was just outside at lunch time and it's only in the 60's and there is a healthy cool breeze blowing. I sat outside of the building I work in for about 15 minutes just enjoying the coolness! Not sure what it is over the hill, probably a lot warmer.

Tidbits

Days like the last few in Duluth are the days I really wish we had an air conditioner in our home. It has been very hot and very humid. (for Duluth). I was awake early due to the mugginess this morning. I sat outside to read the morning newspaper, hoping to cool off. Quite a few interesting items in the Duluth News Tribune this morning:
-- Duluth public schools did well in the Graduation-Required Assessment tests - above state average.
-- Marked improvements among students of color and low-income.
-- Duluth Council votes no for 9 percent rate increase for water rates. (would have been on top of the 20 percent water utility increase that we got hit with this past year).
-- Cost of pizza purchased at your favorite pizzeria is going to be going up, due to increase costs of milk, which of course, means a higher cost of cheese, # 1 ingredient of your favorite pizza
-- The Heritage Sports Center gets another million dollar donation from a family (Sill), wihch means that we can receive $3 million in state funding, so that the construction can begin. First phase could be done by the end of this year!
-- The city listened to the Duluth kids that skateboard, in planning for a large skateboarding park.
-- Privatizing our two city owned golf courses is not a viable option, after a study was done, councilors are told last night.
-- A Duluth man is the number 2 reviewer for Amazon.com
-- Rosie will not replace Bob Barker on "The Price is Right" (who would have ever thought Bob Barker wouldn't be around... how many of us remember him on his show in the 50's "Truth or Consequences"??)
-- 83 degrees yesterday. Cold front due in Wednesday to cool things off.
-- WWII vet who helped raise first US flag on Iwo Jima was from Edina, MN - he died yesterday at 86.
-- New publisher named for the News Tribune (Steve McLister, general manager for Fargo-Moorhead Forum).
--And saddest thing of all - two men fell into frigid Lake Superior while kayaking, one died and the other barely survived, due to hypothermia. This really hit me, because a year ago, our best friend's son and his friend kayaked around Lake Superior. I know how worried his parents were, and how thankful we all were when their trip was successfully completed.
-- Have a good day and stay cool, on another hot Duluth day!

Mini Culuniary Adventure

Sushi has come to Duluth. It’s been here for a year or so, at a restaurant by the Mall. Now it is showing up at Cub Foods and Mt. Royal Fine Foods Grocery stores. Our oldest son loves it and he is always telling me I should taste it. Now, I am a person who usually likes to experiment with food and taste new foods. However, I have been resisting for years tasting it because I know it involves RAW Fish. I just cannot bring myself to eat raw fish. Many years ago I tasted oysters on the half shell, they are raw, and had a very hard time getting them down. Raw fish and meat just does not appeal to me.

The restaurant by the mall, used to be a fast food burger place. It was remodeled and opened as the Zen Restaurant. Rob (our son) has been there with friends, and when his nephew is in town, they go there. Rob has always tried to get Bob and I go with him. Bob absolutely will not try it (he’s not adventurous when it comes to food). I told him sometime I would go with him, but have really resisted going, because I just know I don’t like Sushi (you know that old saying, don’t like it, never tasted it!). Well last night he called me on going with him, and wanted me to meet him there this evening when he was done with work. I couldn’t put it off any longer. I knew he would pursue me until I said yes. He told me they had other things besides sushi, so I looked at the menu… wasn’t sure what to order. He made several suggestions. He wanted me to try things like “California roll and Cucumber rolls, which he promised did not have any raw fish in. So, we got a plate with California and cucumber rolls and a tuna rolls. He ate the raw tuna rolls and I ate the California (avocado and cucumber) and cucumber rolls. I did think these were pretty good. They aren’t something though, that I think I will crave for in the future, something that I “just think I have to have”. I ordered Japanese Roast pork with vegetables and egg noodles. It had a lot of sliced roast pork, which was good, and the noodles were tender with a good flavor, it was a large plate, so I have some to take for lunch tomorrow.

He ordered sushi which was spicy yellow tail (raw). He wanted me to taste it, but I resisted. He had me taste the “wasabi” and thankfully I only took a smidgen…boy did my mouth burn, then he tells me it’s “Japanese Horseradish”. Gee, I don’t even like American Horseradish!

One thing I really liked about the restaurant was that it was quiet and peaceful, and it was decorated to make you feel peaceful. That I liked. We were able to visit and we had an enjoyable supper and visit together. I will be more willing now to go there with him, but I still will not be willing to taste the “raw stuff”! Thanks, Rob, for the “mini culinary” adventure.

Zen House Japanese Restaurant4147 Haines RoadHermantown, MN 55811(218) 722-9365Fax: (218) 722-9369yholt515@hotmail.comhttp://www.zen-ico.com Zen House is the northland’s only authentic Japanese Restaurant, serving a full menu of Japanese dinners, sushi, sashimi and sake. We bring a real taste of the art of Japanese cooking to Hermantown, MN using only the freshest ingredients. Many patrons describe the sushi as being on a par with any from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Chicago. Conveniently located near the Miller Hill Mall.

PS...when my brother in law comes from CA in August for his wife's 50th class reunion, we will take them to the Zen House. Masa is Japanese, and he is the one that introduced Rob to sushi when he visited them. They will be impressed that Duluth has its own Japanese Restaurant!

Rhubarb Festival

Do you like Rhubarb? Here's your chance to get your rhubarb fix - rhubarb pies, rhubarb crunch, rhubarb cake, rhubarb bars... anything rhubarb - 9 am - 1 pm today at First Lutheran Church, 1100 East Superior Street.

When I was growing up, our church would sponsor a "Strawberry Festival" as a fundraiser. In Duluth, rhubarb is plentiful and grows well in the Northland. Instead of strawberries, in Duluth we have a "Rhubarb Festival".

14 CHUM (Churches United in Ministry) congregations, as well as some community groups have come together for a fundraiser for CHUM for the festival today. Our Hope UMC is one of these congregations. Our members donated rhubarb, and a group of women got together yesterday and baked pies. Pies, and other treats made from rhubarb will be available for sale today at the festival. There will also be music, fun, a silent auction, fun, family activities, (bring the kids!) a country store, fun, and a rhubarb recipe contest! Click here for more information on the festival: http://www.chumduluth.org/

See you there!

Goodbye Dear Ones

I think I can write now without crying. A lot of you know that on Sunday we had to say goodbye to our HOPE UMC Pastor of 4 years, if you don’t, then let me say that our UMC Conference has appointed her to a church in St. Paul. Michelle came to us just a year after our two churches merged together, University and Woodland, to become one “Hope” church. She was just what our congregation needed at the time, and she has done a wonderful job bonding us into one congregation. She helped us to handle change, she brought us through many changes and she tapped into the talent that was there to get the leadership that was needed. She feels she is leaving us in good condition, and we all agree with her, we are growing, we are thriving and we have a great spirit.

We knew back in early winter that she would be moving to Fairmont UMC in St. Paul. She, her family and our congregation has had time to adjust to the idea, and to time to transition. She has transitioned with the most grace I have ever seen a UMC pastor transition. She has prepared us for our new pastor, she has made sure that the leadership is good and she has been very intentional in her goodbyes, which has made it somewhat easier. It has been a gradual good bye, not a hard and fast one. When she came here, she and her husband had Zane, the cutest little boy, dark hair and so sweet. She was also pregnant, and soon Zane would be joined by another sweet boy, Theo. We are not only going to miss Michelle and Kelly, we are going to miss Zane and Theo. They have all become family to us. The organization, CHUM (Churches United in Ministry) are also going to miss her very much. She is their president, and has been a good leader there also. I have her blog link on my site “33 Names of Grace", we are hoping she will continue to write on it, so we can keep in touch with them. She told us she is going to miss seeing Lake Superior every day too, she has fallen in love with the city and the lake here.

Sunday was a bittersweet Sunday. As sad as we were, it was also a “sweet” Sunday. The worship was wonderful. We did a special “Order of Farewell” during the service. (see below) We had boxes of Kleenex in every pew. Michelle spoke on “What I Learned At Hope: What I Learned About Hope”. It can be found by clicking here: http://www.livingtexts.blogspot.com/

It was touching, sweet, funny, inspirational all rolled into one. The choir never sounded better, and Bob and Meredith gave us a beautiful clarinet and piano duet. A potluck lunch followed the service and it was a full house both for the service and for the lunch. We gave her and her family gifts, and we watched slides as we ate and fellowshipped of her ministry at Hope over the last 4 years. We visited one last time with her, as our pastor. She is on vacation this week, preparing for their move, and I'm sure up to their ears in packing boxes.

Our daughter and family were in town. Sometimes we might skip church when they are here, but I told them there was no way were we missing Michelle’s last Sunday or the farewell potluck!

Goodbye, sweet family, we will miss you. We all pray for continued blessings to you and your family and to your ministry. Fairmont will be as blessed as we have been for 4 years. We give her and her family to you, but they will forever remain in our hearts!

Our Farewell

Order of Farewell to our Pastor Michelle - from Hope's worship service 6/17/07
(Pastor Michelle Hargrave, Hope UMC, Duluth, MN)

Pastor Michelle:
I thank you, the members and friends of Hope United Methodist Church,
for the love and support you have shown me while I have ministered among you.
I am grateful for the way my leadership has been accepted.
I ask forgiveness for the mistakes I have made.
As I leave, I carry with me all that I have learned here.

Congregation: We receive your thankfulness, offer forgiveness, and accept that you now leave to minister elsewhere. We express our gratitude for your time among us. We ask your forgiveness for our mistakes. Your influence on our faith and faithfulness will not leave us with your departure.

Pastor Michelle:
I accept your gratitude and forgiveness, and I forgive you,
trusting that our time together and our parting are pleasing to God.
I release you from turning to me and depending on me.
I encourage your continuing ministry here and will pray for you
and for your new pastor, Dan Schneider-Bryan.

Lay Leader:
Let us pray: Eternal God, whose steadfast love for us is from everlasting to everlasting,
we give you thanks for cherished memories
And commend one another into your care as we move in new directions.
Keep us one in your love forever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Read Pastor Michelle's last message to our congregation: http://www.livingtexts.blogspot.com/

Most Significant Decision in Decades - Duluth Schools

This morning’s headline in the newspaper: “School Board’s Decision the most Significant in Decades”. As I wrote last night, the school board voted 6 – 1 to approve the “Red Plan”. The only member voting against was the one that represents the Central High School area, I can certainly understand that he received pressure from his constituents because the plan meant the closing of Central High School.

This really is the most significant decision made after decades of indecision. As one letter writer on the opinion page this morning put it “the red plan isn’t perfect, but it faces hard facts”. No plan will ever be perfect. This writer is a sophomore at East High School. He doesn’t want to see his school become a middle school, however he “will not allow (his) selfishness to deny a future student a better education”.

This plan will be phased in over 5 years, and at the end of the implementation phase, all of the schools not closed, in the district will be new or like new. Dr. Dixon emphasized the commitment to find a boundary that would create equitable spaces for all students, this commitment was added to last night’s red plan.

School Board Comes Through with a Decision!

I just spent over 2 hours listening to and watching tonight's school board meeting on public access television. Our Duluth School Board has finally made a decision, the vote was taken, the Red Plan passed and the resolution as to whether to move ahead on the financing without public referundum was voted on, and it passed. This means there will be no further delays. Our facilities here in Duluth will finally be upgraded, we will not be wasting money, putting band aids where major work is needed! They also added the part about considering boundary changes. I really admire what Board Member Nielson had to say, in her statement about why she was voting to move on without public referundum. I believe she said it all, very well! She is right in saying that we have been living on our forefather's dime when it comes to education, and now it's time to take responsibility to do for our future generations of children, what our parents and grandparents did for us! Thank you Duluth School Board!

School Board Vote Tonight - Maybe - -

At the last Duluth School Board meeting a vote was to be taken to pass a plan for the future of our schools. The vote was held off for more information. The board has it’s meeting tonight, and it sounds as if they will be voting on whether to accept “The Red Plan”, (which I wrote about in previous postings.) This plan will close a school building, (Central) and the plan’s projected price tag is $275 million. The decision will be whether to accept it, and also decide if there will be a public referendum.

Sunday’s editorial page in the News Tribune, had an article about the boundaries being changed if the red plan is accepted. People are critical of the red plan due to economic and racial disparities between the east and west high schools. There is an innovative idea of splitting the city left and right instead of east and west with the boundaries. By doing this, the schools would be more balanced. If they vote tonight to pass the red plan, boundaries won’t be defined, but the left/right will be considered and details to be worked out later. (I’m still surprised that we haven’t heard much from the parents of Central, which is the school that will be closed with this plan)!

I haven’t been fond of the “Red Plan”, as you may have noticed, but it is mainly because of the economic/racial aspect that I am opposed to it. However, if they change the boundaries so that the gap is dramatically closed, and each school would have an enrollment of 1500, as stated in the article on Sunday, then I would accept that.

I think everyone’s hope is that at least a vote be taken tonight to get the process rolling, so that action is taken. We can’t continue to procrastinate over this issue, as the headline on the editorial page of today’s paper says “Time for School Board to vote, not delay”.

Getting Ready For Grandma's

31st Annual Grandma's Marathon - this weekend, Duluth, Minnesota!

Written Friday night, posted Sat. morning-

Our Daughter, Son-in-Law and Granddaughter came up late this evening for the weekend. She is trying to get Madelyn settled and asleep, and I’m to wait for her, she’ll be back downstairs to visit. It’s hard for us to visit with Maddy around, because we can’t get a word in edgewise! We’re missing our Grandson, he couldn’t come along as he had to work this weekend. He’s happier with his work these days. He gave up his McDonald’s job for a job at Country Kitchen.

So, while I wait, I will tell my out of town and out of state readers that Duluth has been very busy all week getting ready for our 31st Annual “Grandma’s Marathon”. (My in town readers already know this!) It is a really big deal here. It brings in a lot of people to our city and a lot of money for our economy. So, the businesses and the city do all they can to make sure that everything is well organized and set, and that our city looks good. Beautiful potted plants line the street, flower beds blooming, everything spruced up. Everyone that works for the city is busy, busy, busy. There is a large health expo on Friday afternoon and evening (today) and a big spaghetti feed tonight. Tomorrow night, lots of entertainment, music, bands etc.

Ours is the 12th largest marathon out of over 400 marathons held. We will have over 16,000 runners, coming from all 50 states, D. C. and 50 countries, for the full marathon, the 1/2 marathon, the 5 K. There will be 36 men and 5 women running in the age 70 + class! Runners range in age between 14 and 82!

Our marathon is a popular one. The runners run the 26.2 miles all along Lake Superior and our North Shore. It’s a beautiful site. It’s fun to watch the runners too. We have lots of spectators. A few years ago my brother in law came out from Pennsylvania and ran it. He did it in the time that he wanted, just under 3 hours. It was fun watching him at London Rd. and then running down to the finishing line and watching him there. It’s the only time that I ever went down to the canal and saw them come in. I have gone to London Road some years and watched. Our church has a water stand at mile post 15 every year. Each year I think I might volunteer to help, but never have done so. They head out there at 5 am and it’s a very long day.

This is the first year that we at the American Cancer Society will be involved. We have 5 “Charity Runners” that will be running for us, and raising funds for us. Some of our volunteers will be sharing the Maurice’s water post to cheer them on. Again, I thought about volunteering, but I didn’t, maybe next year.

I took a walk to Canal Park on my lunch period on Wednesday. This is where the runners come for the finish line of the race. The bleachers were up at the finish line. The tents were already up, and as I said the workers were busy getting things ready. The 5 K was this evening. I didn’t hear whether it got in, because as of 20 minutes before the start it was pouring rain. We’ve had a rainy evening. (I didn’t see the 10 pm news). This afternoon the Whippersnapper race was held for the children. Tomorrow morning there is also a ½ Marathon race. I had my camera with me on Wednesday, so here are some photos of the tents, etc. I have a photo of the lovely “Grandma” banners on all the street posts. The photos I posted here were all taken at Canal Park where the finish line is.

Jonathan Lund, whose photos I often post, runs Grandma’s every year. He wrote on his blog that since he can’t use earphones this year (they have banned them) he is taking his camera along, and will be posting photos later of the race. You may see some of his work on my site again. Although, Jon I don’t know how you’ll have time to take photos and run at the same time! So, until you see his lovely photos, you will have to make do with mine.

Dawn hasn’t come back downstairs, and I’ll just bet that she fell asleep! Her husband went out with our son. When they drove up from Hudson this evening they came via Wisconsin route, instead of I-35, because they knew the traffic on 35 would be a bear. They have never come up that way…they said it was a beautiful drive, it was really scenic and rolling hills. Sometime we will have to go that way. Dawn said she didn’t realize Wisconsin was such a beautiful state! I told her yes, it reminds me a lot of the beautiful state of Pennsylvania!

PS - Sat. morning: What a beautiful morning for the runners. The air is fresh, 60 ish, probably cooler by the lake, which will be great temperature to run in. One of the reasons the runners love Grandma's! The 5-K run did get in last evening after the rain.

Post script on Monday morning: Reports from ACS water post and Hope UMC's water posts, they worked very hard, it was a fun time and very interesting watching the runners and a satisfying job of passing out the water. They were there from 5 - 5:30 am to noon! It was a hot morning. I heard that 28 runners ended up in the hospital, due to the heat, it was very hard to keep hydrated. Usually there is a nice breeze off the lake, but not this year, it was just HOT! One of our boys from Hope, 7 years old, passed out 399 cups (he counted). Our ACS water post kept busy, passing lots of water and cheering the runners. They heard many comments thanking us for being there. It was a rewarding job for all that volunteered!

Goodbyes are Hard

This Covenant group (see post below) and our members have become an important part of my life. Tuesday evening we met at the home of one of the members, so that after our time together we could eat a meal together, to say good bye to our loved member that would be leaving. It was a hard evening for us, but at the same time a good evening. Goodbyes are very, very hard. Her home was on a beautiful lake quite a ways out of town. We sat by the water for our group time, it was such a beautiful setting, the weather was warm and lovely. We ate our meal on her deck overlooking the lake. During and after the meal, we visited and talked to our member that’s moving. We gave her a gift that we put a lot of thought into, getting just the “right thing”, (actually, the idea for the gift we believe was a “spiritual prompting” from one of the girls!) we were happy that she really was touched and loved it. She then surprised each of us with a potted aloe slip in a pot that she painted herself and trimmed with ribbon, we knew she fixed each one with her heart. One of our gals, who is the best seamstress ever, made each one of us a "crying" hankie, with an embroidered heart on it, for us all to use when we cried!

We told her that we would take a “road trip” together to visit her, and one member suggested she could remain part of our group via “speaker phone” (ha ha). We are definitely going to miss our loved one, she will remain in our hearts, and will be with us in spirit each Tuesday night!

Our Small Group

I don’t believe I have ever written on this site about something I do every Tuesday evening from 5:15 to 6:30 pm, and have been doing for almost 2 years now, never missing a Tuesday unless I am out of town or ill. I am a member of a small ministry group at our church (HOPE UMC) called Covenant Discipleship Group. There are 7 of us that have been meeting for over a year, it will be two years in the fall.

I haven’t written about it, because it has been my own private way of trying to live my faith, and guess I thought I would keep it private. However, we are now losing one of our covenant members, she and her family are moving away, and now I think I will talk about it, because all of our small group are grieving that we will lose one of our members. This is a big thing for each of us to go through, and it’s on my mind constantly, so I have to talk about it. You can imagine that after meeting weekly for over a year and a half, that we have become bonded together. We cover three generations from age 30 to 70. These women have become very special to me.

Our pastor brought this small ministry opportunity to our congregation. This is a program of The United Methodist Church. To explain it more simply than I probably can here is the how The United Methodist Church describes it:

"Covenant Discipleship is a small-group ministry in the Wesleyan tradition. Groups meet weekly for one hour. The agenda is a covenant written by the group based upon the General Rule of Discipleship: To witness to Jesus Christ in the world and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Through a process of mutual accountability and support for practicing the basics of Christian faith, members "watch over one another in love." Covenant Discipleship groups help to form people as dependable and mature disciples of Jesus Christ and leaders in discipleship."

When we first started almost two years ago, we worked together to write a covenant, as described in the description above. We start our time together by putting out our table runner with the Covenant Discipleship logo that one of the members made, a clock to keep us on task and a talking stick. Together we read the preamble of the covenant that we wrote (I think by now each one of us could recite this covenant by memory). With alternating leaders, we have a small devotion then we go around our circle and one at a time we share our experience of each portion of the covenant during the last week. Compassion, justice, worship and devotion, spiritual promptings:
--How did we each do in these areas throughout the week?
--How did these things fit into our lives throughout the week?
--Were we “intentional” in showing compassion, justice?
--Did we acknowledge to ourselves when we thought the “Holy Spirit” might have been either talking to us or nudging us?
--Did we strive for unconditional love and acceptance of all God’s creations?
--Did we endeavor to help those who have experienced social injustice?
--Did we prayerfully care for our body, mind and spirit?
--Did we strive to increase our service to others and graciously acknowledge others’ service to us?
These are just some examples of what we share about. Knowing that we will talk each week about these things, helps us to keep these "acts of discipleship" in mind throughout each day during the week.

We respect each member, and we uphold everyone’s confidentiality. By sharing like this we encourages each other in faith. We each feel like this has helped us to grow in love and harmony, as well as in our faith.

We covenant with each other to try to live each day in the knowledge that God’s spirit is within each of us and available to each of us. We also covenant that each one of us will pray daily for each of the other members. At the end of the hour, we go around the circle again and name our prayer concerns for the week, holding hands and closing with prayer. – More tomorrow.

Opposing the Blue Plan due to activities..? Read this..

This weekend’s Duluth Budgeteer News brought two articles discussing the “Blue Plan” for Duluth Schools. If you remember, I told you that the “Blue Plan” calls for all three of our high schools to merge into one high school, in the heart of the city, on the present Duluth Central campus. There is a letter to the editor on the opinion page, the writer who now lives in Duluth, grew up in communities in the 70 and 80’s that experienced consolidation. I quote her:
“In the short term, we became a strong athletic force; making it to state tournament in several major sports…we had an even stronger academic program with some of the best teachers around. Our district and community was able to use its money in a more effective way. But, perhaps the biggest benefit is that the change ultimately spurred on a large unification of our community. Instead of rivals from the east and west, people came together to support one community school and team…. I see that there is a much, much greater sense of unity and community pride that exists there now. …Moving towards one high school might be just the unifying factor to start us on the road to a brighter and even better future.

There was also an article from Ralph Doty titled “Single High School Enhances Extracurricular Activities.” He recently talked about a one high school in a town in Ohio that he resided in for 16 years. He had a telephone conversation with the principal there. It serves 2500 students in grades 10 -12. Two years from now, ninth grade students will be included in the school, resulting in a high school of 2,900. (Duluth has 3,300 students in grades 9-12 in three high schools). This school offers 23 varsity sports…more than 1,000 students participate …students who don’t make JV or varsity teams can participate in 15 intramural sports in a wide variety of extracurricular activities. …It’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money to make a decision on whether a school district should have one, two or three high schools, based on varsity sports opportunities for, maybe, several hundred students, (and really that the main reason that people are proposing the two school option.)

As I have said, and these two say also, the red and the white plans will continue Duluth’s racial and cultural divisions at the so-called “point of rocks”. Check out these two articles by logging on to the Budgeteer News web site: http://www.duluthbudgeteer.com
Search for "Ralph Doty" he has two articles about the school plans.

Great Weather/Great Weekend

After almost two weeks of some rainy, dreary weather, we are in the third day of wonderful weather here in Duluth…and it’s even the weekend! Friday was so beautiful, 70’s, sunny and great. The prediction was for more of the same for Saturday morning only, and then with rain coming in. However, we have had three great days. Both yesterday and today it was 76 degrees by noon! The sun was out; there was a light breeze (but not cold breeze) and lots of SUN. Yeah, these are the kind of days that we treasure here in Duluth, and days like this we remember that it’s weather like this that we live in Duluth, Minnesota for!

Today I really took advantage of the weather. I sat outside on our deck and just relaxed and read a book. When the sun got hot, I moved to the porch and sat. While on the porch I observed a rabbit that hopped over to our front yard and sat and looked around for a long time. Then he hopped over to the neighbor’s yard. Later, a chipmunk came running along. Then, a squirrel, which stopped on our sidewalk and munched on something he had in his paws. They were all so cute. See, I don’t have to live in the country after all to see wildlife.

Yesterday, I didn’t have a lot of chance to enjoy the outdoors since we were having company for supper. I had planned an Italian meal and had even made parts of it on Friday night. If I had known how nice the day would turn out, I would have planned to B B Q and sit outside. We haven’t put our outdoor furniture on the deck yet, because Bob wants to stain it first, (something that has to be done almost once a year here, with our winters). We really should have eaten outdoors last evening, now I wish we had, looking back. Anyhow, I spent most of yesterday doing the deep cleaning you do, when you know company is coming, and working on my meal. But, I had windows open in every room, so I enjoyed the breeze and fresh air in the house!

We had a beautiful evening with our friends, and after they left Bob and I commented “why don’t we do this more often?” I think that us women that are employed outside the home put off entertaining because be think our house must be perfect and we haven’t the time to make it perfect. However, we must keep in mind that it isn’t about our house or even what food we make, it’s really about being with our friends and enjoying our friends! I’m going to try to remember that!!

School Talk

Gee, here it is Tuesday. No one has posted any comments as to their opinions or thoughts on the Duluth School system question. Are people not interested or are they afraid to state an opinion? I have been talking to people lately asking them what they think and I’ve had some interesting discussions. One friend did e mail me and I don’t think he’d mind if I quoted him:
“I've been waiting to talk to someone about the one-school option - when I lived in Minneapolis I knew some people who had kids in the Wayzata school district after the high school had been built. The programs they were able to offer there were second-to-none; students were able to take classes in Japanese, world business, international law...classes that would never be offered in a smaller school setting.” …. “I think a real opportunity is being missed here in Duluth with one large high school. Those who are concerned about 'sports' are clearly missing the point, I think. And Duluth is not the only district dealing with this. Minneapolis is in a position today where they have so many families with school-aged children leaving the city because of the lack of affordable housing, that Minneapolis could survive with three high schools in the city - North, South, and Downtown Open. Thirty years ago, Minneapolis had eleven high schools. So it's important that people here do not panic because we want to move to one high school. It makes sense.”

Finally, someone gave me their thoughts. I think we will be talking some more. Today I talked with a couple that are friends, they are both retired school teachers, and I posed the school question to them. I was surprised that one of them of them worried about the increased tax burden. But, the other one was very optimistic about Duluth, saying that we will be growing in the very near future if the light rail between the twin cities and Duluth goes in. He thinks that we should keep all three schools open in anticipation of this growth. It was nice to hear someone be optimistic about our cities future, these people seem to be in the minority in this city.

Both of them mirrored some peoples concern that the company that did the study for the school district is Johnson Controls, I was not aware, but they do air conditioning and heating work. Isn’t this a conflict of interest? They would surely be all for building and remodeling!

I’m not sure about last nights school board meeting, I read the report on it in the paper this morning and interpreted it to mean that the red plan was pretty much a go, but the couple I talked to today said they interpreted it to mean that there may be more options than even the Red, White and Blue plans. They said that they have heard rumblings now of the parents of Central High starting to make waves and work against their school closing.

Well, stay tuned….

Cars, Cars, Cars....

When a husband and wife are each used to having their own car, can they go to being a "one car" family? That's the question we've been hashing over since my husband retired a year ago, but especially the last few weeks. It's true, American's have a love affair with cars, we have become dependent on cars, and I guess our family is no exception, unfortunately.

My husband, son and I have spent a lot of time the last few weeks dealing with and talking about cars. His ’91 Accord has given our son a lot of garage bills these last 6 months, especially two very large ones this winter, he was hard pressed to be able to pay for those repairs. It was time for a newer used car for him. He and his Dad have been looking around. Then the other week when we had a hail storm, Rob’s car got pelted all over with the baseball sized hail we received. We looked at it being a blessing that the insurance company totaled his car. Of course, it wasn’t enough to buy another, and it left Rob without a car.

My husband and I decided that we could sell him our second car, the one Bob drives, a ’98 Toyota Corella, that way he would know what he was getting in a used car (track record of repairs etc.). We talked about going to one car between us and not replacing the Corella if we sold it to Rob.

I had been thinking a year ago when he retired, that we could manage with one car between the two of us, he thought we couldn’t. However, a year later, we have reversed our opinions, I have changed my mind. In that year’s time, I decided we probably couldn’t manage with one car and now he has decided that we could! Isn’t that something! I was willing to try though, because I think there are too many cars on the road, and that “justice” wise, with our global warning problems, we should try to only use one car, less gas use, less carbon in the air, etc.

About the time I was feeling good about us only being a one car family, and ready to try it, he announced that he saw a car he was interested in buying. It’s a 2003 Toyota Echo. He says it will give him even better gas mileage than his Corella, which gave him good mileage. He said we shouldn’t feel as guilty, since we are going to a smaller car for better gas mileage. (Oh, my it sure is a lot smaller!) Well, all week we talked about it, I went to the car dealer on Wed. and looked at it, and I could tell he had his heart set on it. There are a lot of smaller cars on the lots these days, with the rising gas prices. The market is up for small cars and so are the prices. I think before the rise in gas prices, we could have picked this car up for less money. I’m not looking forward to two car payments a month, but, I guess I’ll have to accept it, starting next month we will have another bill to pay, because we went to the dealer this morning and picked up the ECHO. Bob is happy. Rob is happy, and well, I’m happy that we could help Rob!

Ordean Middle School in Red Plan

Ordean Middle School would be affected by the "Red Plan" and the "White Plan". The Red plan and the White plan would call for Ordean to become a high school. The "Blue Plan" would call for it to remain a middle school. If it became a high school, it would be only one of two in the city,with Denfeld in the western part of town being the other high school.

Ordean Junior High School was built During the years 1954 - 1956. Many changes have occurred since that time. Ninth grade was moved to the high schools, and fifth and sixth grades were added to Ordean's middle school configuration. In 2000, the fifth grade was moved back to the elementary schools and Ordean became a 6-8 school. Remodeling and construction have helped Ordean expand and modernize its program. In 1992, three new science classrooms/labs were opened. During the 1993-94 school year, six new classrooms were utilized and a new media center was built which houses a media class area, library stacks, a writing lab and computer lab. Ordean has added network wiring to renovate another computer lab and to link classrooms via internet. (taken from the Duluth Schools web site).

In 1985, boundary's were changed and our daughter went to Ordean for middle school, rather than Woodland Middle School. I could elaborate on this issue as to how we felt this, but that is "water over the bridge", so I won't go there. Anyhow, by the time our boys hit middle school the boundary changed again, and they both went to Woodland.