christmas letter 2011

MORRIS MN CHRISTMAS 2011 O holy night! The stars are brightly shining; it is the night of our dear Savior’s birth. “. With the words of this familiar hymn I greet you once again with my annual Christmas letter. Weather news: 2010-2011 was memorable for having a long, cold, and snowy winter. It started with a snowstorm in early Dec, and lasted into Apr with a lot of snow and storms that kept snow removal equipment busy thought-out it. For a while it seemed like every time I was going to go someplace, I had to dig out. Thankfully I had some very kind hearted neighbors that helped me out when I needed it. Spring was slow to arrive, and when it did it was cool, and wet, so it was late before most farmers were able to get all their fields planted. My neighbors had some fields they had to leave unplanted. Abundant rains throughout the growing season helped crops along but an early frost put a quick end to the growing season. As a result crop yields were down this year. Mid July brought a spell of very hot and muggy days and nights that lasted for several weeks before finally ending. A dry fall enabled farmers to get their crops out, and fall fieldwork done by mid Oct. We are now in the midst of a drought not having had any significant moisture for many months, as of this writing we are still in a fall like mode, with only a light dusting of snow and fairly mild temps. We did get a preview of winter in mid Nov when we had about 4 “of snow but most of that quickly melted. As usual I spent a lot of time on the road again this year attending various events in the area (community celebrations, fairs, farms shows, parades, threshing shows etc.) It is something I enjoy doing, it often affords me the opportunity to see different things, and to visit with some people I do not normally see very often. The annual Donnelly threshing bee had another successful run this year, with the 12 horse pull and Don Duffner from Buxton ND bringing his triple tractor to the show. Next year’s show will be on Aug 25th and 26th and will feature Oliver. The annual ice cream social and community meal were well attended again this year. In July I took off on a mini vacation, traveling to walnut grove MN to see the wilder pageant again, as well as doing some sightseeing in the area. I stayed overnight at Sandborn, then in the a.m. traveled to Springfield MN to attend church at St. Paul’s Lutheran church, where our former pastor Luther Johnson is pastor now. I had an opportunity to visit with him and his family some after services. A few weeks later he and his family returned to Donnelly for the funeral of a mutual friend. Church news: the highlight of the year at STJ/Kong was a block party held on Aug 6th. A member of Kong raised some chickens during the summer then had them butchered and cooked. The meal also featured beans, salad, and chips with the money raised going to the food shelf. In conjunction with rally Sun, on Sept 11th, cake and ice cream was served in honor of the 135th anniversary of Kong. Other events included two ss programs at STJ and Kong, the youth helping out during Lenten services, confirmation and baccalaureate Sundays a west central word alone meeting at Kong featuring a presentation by Dorothy (Libbon) Desens, a birthday dinner, annual July 4th celebration on the 3rd, the KCLW brunch on Dec 3rd, the St J beef supper and the Kong fall festival, several joint services and of course the usual assortment of pot luck meals. The highlight of year for Good Shepherd Lutheran church of rural Morris was the dedication service of the “new” church in June. While work on remodeling of the church, and building of a fellowship hall onto the church went on during the winter, services were held at the Prairie Inn in Morris. On Palm Sunday work was completed enough for us to have our first service out there. In Apr .we voted to call Rev. Mike Hanson of Glenwood as our pastor. He accepted the call and was installed on May 22nd. He was the chaplain at the Starbuck nursing home, and Glenwood retirement village. He grew up in the Hoffman area, is married to Martha (Spohr) and they have two boys Charlie (5) and Arnie (1). She is also a pastor, and is currently serving part time at St John’s of rural Starbuck. She, Rev Norm Olsen of Starbuck, Rev Fred Jenson of Willmar, Rev Paulus Pilgrim (grandson of a former St J (Donnelly) pastor) of Hutchinson were among the many pastors who filled in until PR Mike was installed. By the time we moved into the new church, we had over 100 members. There is still more work to be done on the church and possible expansion is already being discussed. Other highlights included 4 nights of vbs, advent suppers and services, the godly women out history play, bible studies and forums after services. In Sept it was decided that we would declare the present mission of the local word alone chapter accomplished and discontinue meeting. The new mission will be to start a learning center at Good Shepherd in conjunction with the Institute of Lutheran Theology, in Brookings SD. Sessions are expected to begin in the spring. In May Bp. Dean Mthethwa from the SW MN synod’s companion synod in South Africa was the guest preacher at Faith in Morris. In June I enjoyed the homecoming concert of new wine youth group at First in Morris, the band Dakota road was in concert in May at Trinity in Cyrus. I also attended the conference assembly there in Apr. In Apr I attended the farewell open house at the Christus house for “PK”, the Lutheran campus minister who accepted a call to Northfield. In May several students who were on a mission trip to California during spring break, gave a presentation about it. I also attended the open house their during homecoming and a banquet at faith in Morris featuring Rev Jon Anderson from the SW MN synod Family news: It has been a year of change for me, and several members of my family during the past year. As the top line indicates, I am no longer living out on the farm. After several years of consultation with friends, family, my financial advisor, and others, and a lot of thought, and prayer, I made the very difficult decision to sell the farm and buy a house in Morris and move there. It was not something I really wanted to do but the time, work, cost and effort required to live out on the farm all alone just got to be too much for me. So after spending about a year looking at houses, I settled on one in Morris, finalized the sale in Sept, and started moving in. In Oct I had a moving sale on the farm selling my tractors, some furniture, and other things. I am slowing getting settled into my new house at 11 e 9th St. I miss the farm some esp. the privacy, it afforded but living in town has its advantages too. I am close to downtown so I can walk to most stores, and it is nice to have a place to rest in between events and it is also in a quiet neighborhood. I got a very good price for my land, so hopefully if I am careful, and prudent I can live comfortably the rest of my life and still enjoy a few luxuries. I had planned to take my “family” with me to Morris, but after I got here I decided to give my dog (“Duke”), up to the humane society, feeling it was not right to try and turn a country dog into a city dog. I felt he needs to be on a farm where he can run around to his heart’s content. At some point I may get myself a small dog to replace him. My cat “Buttons” is still with me keeping me company. The low point of the year occurred on Aug 21st when I returned home to find that somebody had cut the padlock off my front door, and stole a couple of computers, a printer, and monitor. Thankfully I had them insured, and most of my data backed up, but it was still a loss. I assume it happened when I went to church, somebody knew that I do that and was watching and waiting for me to leave.My new telephone # is 585-6435 cell 288-8692 e-mail aeandes@fedtel.net. I am slowly getting settled in, but still have a lot of boxes, and stuff to sort through. I am continuing to write the Donnelly news for the Morris Sun Tribune. It is a fun job, and I have received a lot of compliments about it. I am still a member of the Donnelly community club, and a board member of the Stevens county genealogical society. I am still taking medicine, and doctoring for my diabetes. There were also changes to other family members as well. My cousin Bev had to have part of her leg amputated last summer; she is now a resident of the Barrett Care center in Barrett, after the place where she was living closed up. She was in the hospital in St Cloud at the same time as my aunt Pearl, who had heart surgery. After recuperating for a while at a local nursing home, she moved into an apt at the sunrise apartments in Morris. She will be selling her house and furnishings, at an auction next spring. She is still an “Avon lady” .My cousin Elnora was involved in an auto accident in S.C., although she escaped injury, her car was totaled. Her brother Carl (Billy) and his wife Pat still live next door to her. My cousin Jan and her husband Dennis continue to live and work in Alex. Spending time going to visitations and funerals for friends and relatives is a part of life. Happier occasions are attending birthday parties, and wedding anniversary celebrations. Now may the" peace of Christ" go before you during the upcoming year. Sincerely yours; Allen and “Buttons” The Anderson’s

donnelly news

Next edition Dec 24th-dec 30th Welcome to another addition of the Donnelly news remember if you are going to be gone for the holidays or the winter you can keep up on the Donnelly news via my blog donnellyminn.blogspot.com Weather news: It appears we are going to have a “brown” Christmas this year as temps have remained fairly mild during the past week St J/Kong parish news: Christmas Eve services will be held at St J at 9 pm today (sat) and Christmas day services at Kong at 10 a.m. there will also be joint services on Jan 1st at 10 am at St J GSLC News: There will be Christmas Eve services today (Sat) at 4 pm and Christmas day at 9 am at the church First Lutheran will have services at 3:30, 5:30 and 11:00 pm today (Sat) and Christmas day at 9 am Faith Lutheran will have their living naivety services at 3 and 5 pm today (sat) Assumption will have services at 3 and 5:30 pm and at 10:30 am Christmas day The Morris e Free Church will have services today at 4 pm I have just taken time to list a few of the many churches in the area that will have services this weekend please check with your local church for service times There will be a community dinner at first Lutheran on Dec 25th beginning at noon, everyone welcome free will donation UFMSB will be closed on Dec 26th close at noon on the 30th and be closed all day on the 2nd. The Donnelly co-op will be closed on Dec 26th and Jan 2nd I did not get time to check on what other business will be doing this weekend and next. I have learned that there will be no funeral services for Elder Carol Best just a private burial service for the family. Margaret C.”Margie" Wagner, 92, of Kansas City, KS, formerly of the Donnelly area passed away Monday, December 19, 2011. She was preceded in death by her brothers’ don and Les Huebner Congratulations to the new officers of the rendsville 4-h Rebekah Aanerud president, Jacob Speer VP, savannah Aanerud sec and Shannon kill reporter Congratulations to Cork Loge who was recognized for 25 years of service at Morris elementary school Congratulations to Chandler Erickson; who was named to the west central tribune’s, all area third fb team. He and Brady Bahr were also members of the Morris bb team that won the case ih innovational tournament held in Benson last weekend. Congratulations to the Hancock Owl vb team that won the pheasant conf title, Tara Flatten is a member of that team and was named honorable mention on the all conf title. On Dec 15th I attended the open houses at the UMFSB and Riverwood bank and on the 16th at Bremer bank. On Dec 15th the ss co gen soc. had an informal meeting to reminisce some about our former member Jean Peterson. After the meeting I traveled to Elbow Lake to see the cp holiday train and took in some of the open houses afterwards. En route I stopped by the Barrett Care center to visit my cousin Bev Hurbult. I also stopped by the funeral home for Jean’s visitation. Jerry and Joan Kopeck and I were among those who attended her funeral at Assumption on the 16th. Every so often when I am downtown I stop into McCollar Jewelry to visit with Wally. When I did that on the 17th he told me that Jim Whineries the former owner of the corner café in Donnelly had stopped by for a visit, his daughter has a restaurant in the cities and is very busy. A good crowd of family members and others attended the ss program at St J on Dec 18th. En route to a business meeting in Elbow Lake on Dec 21st I stopped at the Barrett care center to wish my cousin Bev Hurlbut and Esther Cline “Merry Christmas” I promised Esther I would say “hi” to all her friends in Donnelly. In the eve Jim and Lou Eystad and I attended the supper and ss program at gslc, “Hats off” to the gslc teachers and staff; for putting together a great ss program For those of you who forgot to copy my new contact info down or misplaced it is 11 e 9th St. Morris MN 56267 585-6435 aeanders@fedtel.net. If you so stop by please ring the doorbell on the west door, that one will ring back in my office. I cannot say stop by for a cup of coffee because I am not a coffee drinker MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ME AND MY “FAMILY” TO YOU AND YORUS

donnelly news

.Next edition Dec 17th-23rd Welcome to another addition of the Donnelly news remember if you are going to be gone for the holidays or the winter you can keep up on the Donnelly news via my blog donnellyminn.blogspot.com Weather news: after a weekend of unseasonably warm temps they have become more seasonal this week but they continue to remain fairly mild and there is still no snow. St J/Kong parish news: Christmas schedule for the parish: ss program Dec 18 at ST J @ 2 pm; repeated at Kong on the 22nd @ 7 pm, lunch follows both programs. Christmas Eve services will be held at St J at 9 pm and Christmas day services at Kong at 10 a.m. GSLC News: On Dec 21st there will be supper at 5:45 pm followed by the SS program with lunch to follow the program. Note this is a change from what was announced earlier. In place of the ss program on Dec 18th Josh Fisher will hold a forum on the use of the deliberator located in the church There will be services on Christmas Eve at 4 pm and Christmas day at 9 am at the church First Lutheran will have services at 3:30, 5:30 and 11:00 pm There will be a community dinner at first Lutheran on Dec 25th beginning at noon, everyone welcome free will donation. Funeral services for former Donnelly area resident Gloria Buntje will be on Dec 17th at 11 am at St Paul’s Lutheran church in Morris Funeral services for Elda Carol Best of AZ are still pending. Jody K. Sundlee of Alexandria passed away on Dec 6th. She is a distant relative of mine her parents were the late Palmar and Blossom Anderson Wally McCollar informs me that Hugo Halpert of Surprise AZ passed away recently. Survivors include his wife Ruth ((Stambaugh) formerly of the Donnelly area. Jean Peterson of Morris passed away on Dec 11th. Survivors include her son in law Mark (Mary) Ness. Many of you will remember her as the librarian in the Morris school dist. for many years Congratulations to MaKenzie Smith who was named MVP of the Morris-c-a girls cc team The Morris bpa chapter collected about 1600 lbs. of food and $3,000 for the st. co food shelf. Sydney Beyer is a member of that chapter. Congratulations to Elroy and Lorraine Frank who recently celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. Congratulations to the following that were named “students of the quarter” at MAHS: Riley Biesterfield (freshman-citizenship) and Kaitlin Van horn (senior -citizenship) Ellen Wilts (“the spicy lady”) was one of the vendors at the cookie factory at faith Lutheran in Morris on Dec 10. In the aft a good crowd was on hand for the community dinner at the Donnelly hall and many kids climbed onto Santa’s lap to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. After dinner I travel to Hoffman where I stopped in to visit Elroy Frank in his new computer shop on main St. I also stopped into the community center for the festival or the trees. In the eve a good crowd was on hand to help Irene Strand celebrate her 80th birthday. Thanks to the threshing bee royalty who along with their families put a lot of time work and effort into decorating the hall again this year and made it look very festive on Sat. They also helped serve the dinner and served as Santa’s helpers during his visit. Special thanks to the community club officers and their families who helped to prepare and serve the delicious dinner. Thanks also to the Dfd for giving Santa a ride into town in the fire truck due to lack of snow he had to leave his reindeer at the North Pole. Rev Mark Richardson of the Augustana dist. of the Lcmc was the guest speaker at worship services at gs on Dec 11 and afterwards gave a very informative talk on the Augustana dist. In the aft Joan and John Kopeck were among those who attended the Christmas sing a long at St J. In the eve Rose Uhden and I were among those who attended the concert at the UMM HFA Dec 12th I attended the open house at the prairie trailer in Morris and on the 14th the open house at the fed tel office in Morris. In the eve Jim and Lou Eystad and I attended the supper and advent services at gslc.

.Next edition Dec 10th-16th Welcome to another addition of the Donnelly news When traveling through Donnelly be sure to make note of upcoming events posted on the community board. Weather news so far winter has held off but waking up to snow on the ground and -0 temps reminds us that it is lurking in the background. St J/Kong parish news: There will be a Christmas carol sing a long on Dec 11th at 3 pm at St J. The Luther League will be going Christmas Caroling earlier in the day (12:45 pm) The 7 & 8th grade confirmation classes in conjunction with Dakota ranch are again selling jars of honey. If you wish to buy one contact a member of the class or the parish office for details, the honey will be shipped directly to person you chose The parish will once again be sponsoring a hat and mitten tree for the SA northern division. Items needed are hats, mittens, scarves, games puzzles etc. contact the parish office for a full list. The deadline is Dec 13th The church council meetings will on Dec 15th at St J joint council meets at 7 pm followed by individual councils. Please note change of date Christmas schedule for the parish: ss program Dec 18 at ST J @ 2 pm; repeated at Kong on the 22nd @ 7pm, lunch follows both programs. Christmas Eve services will be held at St J at 9 pm and Christmas day services at Kong at 10 a.m. GSLC News: there will supper (5:45 pm) and an advent service on Dec 14th. On Dec 21st there will be supper at 5:45 pm followed by the SS program with lunch to follow the program. Note this is a change from what was announcer earlier. There will be a guest speaker at gs on Dec 11th followed by a forum. In place of the ss program on Dec 18th Josh Fisher will hold a forum on the use of the defibrillator located in the church First Faithful bell choir joins concert pianist Luke Fiskness for a charity Christmas concert on Dec 11th at 6:30 pm at the hfa recital hall on the umm campus. Freewill offering for someplace safe and food shelf light refreshments served. This event is sponsored by the Stevens county Thrivent chapter. For more info call 589-1731 The red hatters will also have their annual Christmas party on Dec 12 @ 1 pm at Hazel Asmus home in Herman pot luck lunch drink provided. There will be an open house 80th birthday party for Irene Strand (today) Saturday, from 4 ‘til when the cows come home at the American Legion in Morris. The open house baby shower for Michelle and Ethan Sperr, that was originally scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 26, has been re-scheduled to today (Saturday), at Don and Tamela Sperr’s home in Morris from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Santa will be in town today (sat) arriving at the Donnelly Hall about 1 pm so be sure to come visit him and bring your list The Donnelly branch of the UFMSB will reopen in Jan on Tuesdays and Fridays. There will be an open house at the Chokio and Morris branches on Dec 15th. The cp holiday train will be in Elbow Lake on Dec 15th freewill donation to the food shelf. If there is enough interest the Donnelly fire dept. will be holding a CPR class in the future. If interested call 246-3316 or talk to any member of the rescue squad or fire dept. Remember you never know where you might need to use the skills you learn there Funeral services for former Donnelly area resident Gloria Buntje will be on Dec 17th at 11 am at St Paul’s Lutheran church in Morris Funeral services for Elda Carol Best of AZ are still pending. Bob Vipond of Battle Lake MN passed away on Dec 3rd. Survivors include his nephews Doug and Kevin (Monica) Gulbrandson and their families Congratulations to Carly Gullickson who recently received the tiger award in tennis at the Lion’s award banquet Nov 26th I visited Ruth Strand in her home. Later a good crowd was on hand to help Arven Graff celebrate his 80th birthday at the Prairie Inn Dec 2nd I stopped at the WWV to say “hi” to some of the residents there Dec 3rd several of us attended the KCLW brunch at Kong later Jim and Lou Eystad were among those who helped out at sr. center bazaar and Bernice Erdahl was among those who helped out at the museum open house. In the aft I traveled to Marietta for the funeral of Howard Graff at Augusta Lutheran Church. He was my third cousin Dec 4th Bruce and Linda Flatten and I were among those who enjoyed the Messiah concert at UMM, later Craig and Henning Awsumb were among the good crowd at Pederson funeral home’s “a time to remember” Dec 5th Pat Smith and I were among those who attended the visitation for Gerald Loher at Assumption; Don and Bonnie Gieselman were among those of us who attended his funeral at the church on Dec 6th. Enroute home from a business trip to E.L. on Dec 7th I stopped at the Barrett Care Center to visit Esther Cline. She is doing much better; she said Ken is now living out in Washington. My cousin Bev Hurlbult is also at the care center. In the eve Jim and Lou Eystad and I attended the advents services at GSLC

donnelly news

Welcome to another addition of the Donnelly news Weather news temps have moderated some in the past week and much of the snow we had has melted, while we did have some flurries on Sat am and as I am writing this wed eve. St J/Kong parish news: the KCLW brunch will be held at 9:30 am today (Sat) at Kong, families are welcome to attend. The ST J welca Christmas party will be held on Dec 6th at 1:30 pm There will be a Christmas carol sing a long on Dec 11 at 3 pm at St J. a time of fellowship and light lunch will follow The parish will be collecting nonperishable food items for the food shelf during the month of Nov. carts are located in the narthex of both churches for you to drop your items off or you may also make a cash donation and put it in the offering plate or mail or drop it off at the parish office. The 7 & 8th grade confirmation classes in conjunction with Dakota ranch are again selling jars of honey. If you wish to buy one contact a member of the class or the parish office for details, the honey will be shipped directly to person you chose The parish will once again be sponsoring a hat and mitten tree for the SA northern division. Items needed are hats, mittens, scarves, games puzzles etc. contact the parish office for a full list. The deadline is Dec 13th The church council meetings will on Dec 15th at St J joint council meets at 7 pm followed by individual councils. Please note change of date Christmas schedule for the parish: ss program Dec 18 at ST J @ 2 pm; repeated at Kong on the 22nd @ 7pm, lunch follows both programs. Christmas Eve services will be held at St J at 9 pm and Christmas day services at Kong at 10 a.m. GSLC News: Advent services will be held at the church beginning with a supper at 5:45 pm and services at 7 pm will continue through Dec 21st. Christmas schedule for GS: The date of the ss program has been changed from Sun Dec 18th to Wed the 21st which is the final advent service. Christmas Eve services will be held at 4 pm; Christmas day services will be at 9 a.m. There will be a poinsettia garden at the church this year cost $12 there is a signup sheet in the church to buy in memory or honor of somebody call 589-1130 Faith Lutheran church in Morris is looking for animals for their living nativity services on Christmas Eve contact the church at 589-2970 “A time to remember” will be held at the Pedersen funeral home on Dec 4th at 4 pm First Faithful bell choir joins concert pianist Luke Fiskness for a charity Christmas concert on Dec 11th at 6:30 pm at the hfa recital hall on the umm campus. Freewill offering for someplace safe and food shelf light refreshments served. This event is sponsored by the Stevens county Thrivent chapter. For more info call 589-1731 The red hatters will also have their annual Christmas party on Dec 12 @ 1 pm at Hazel Asmus home in Herman pot luck lunch drink provided. The st co republicans will have a meeting on Dec 5th at 6:15 pm at Detoy’s in Morris, optional meal and informal discussion beforehand. The st co historical soc will have their annual holiday open house at the museum and The Morris sr. citizens will have their annual bazar at the sr. center. Both events begin at 9 am today (Sat). There will be an open house 80th birthday party for Irene Strand on Saturday, Dec. 10 from 4 ‘til when the cows come home at the American Legion in Morris. The open house baby shower for Michelle and Ethan Sperr, that was originally scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 26, has been re-scheduled to Saturday, Dec. 10, at Don and Tamela Sperr’s home in Morris from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. If there is enough interest the Donnelly fire dept. will be holding a CPR class in the future. If interested call 246-3316 or talk to any member of the rescue squad or fire dept. Remember you never know where you might need to use the skills you learn there Funeral services for former Donnelly area resident Gloria Buntje will be on Dec 17th at 11 am at St Paul’s Lutheran church in Morris Kenneth Volker of Hoffman passed away recently his funeral is December 2, at 11:00 a.m., with visitation one hour prior to service at: Washburn-McReavy, Glen Haven Chapel, 5125 W. Broadway, Crystal, MN, survivors include his cousin Verle (Della) Dunn of Donnelly and his family. Elda Carol Best of AZ passed away recently, funeral services for her are pending. Survivors include her step mother Virene Olson; she was preceded in death by her parents Chester and Edna Olson Gerald Loher passed awath, his funeral will be held at Assumption Catholic church in Morris on Dec 6th at 10:30 am. Survivors include his son Jerry (Jody) Loher Jr. of Donnelly and their family Congratulations to the c-a Jr. high knowledge team that won 2nd place at their recent meet; Brooke Gillespie is a member of that team Vedar Harstad stopped by my home for a visit on Nov 25th. Jim and Lou Eystad and I attended thanksgiving eve services at gs on Nov 23rd regular services on the 27th and advent services on the 30th. We also attended the sing a long at Eden Reformed church in Herman in the eve of the 27th. After the sing a long I visited with Selma Bruse at her apt in the Pullman house in Herman. Also on the afternoon of the 27th Pearl A. Anderson and I attended the open house at Unger’s in Morris. A reminder that today is the final day to request a bid package for my farm; bids are due in my attorneys’ office on Dec 5th. Today is also the last day to buy anything on my farm or at my yard sale. Call me at 585-6435 or 288-8692 if interested in anything