WHAT’S NEW WITH YOU???
Volume 27, March 2003
Hi everyone,
WOW, WOW, WOW, what a wonderful response to our sponsorship program! Many people volunteered to go "first", I bet they never volunteered to go first in high school! The first check we received was from Julie (Mjolsness) Lindstrom, thus she has the honor of being our very first sponsor! THANK YOU JULIE! I guarantee that many will follow; as of this writing over 12 people have volunteered to help us out! A huge thank you to each of you who have sent in checks, because of you, we will be here for many more months to come!
Dan, Wendy, Todd and myself are very flattered by your responses! The fact that you are willing to help out tells us how much you appreciate what we do each and every month. As I have said before, it is our pleasure, and as long as you want us to be here, we will do the job! We just need each of you to send in your tidbits, and the four of us will make sure that the newsletter is here for your enjoyment each and every month!
On to the newsletter, our class has sent another classmate to the military zone in the Middle East. I hope everyone is keeping Don, Earl and Byron in their prayers. Regardless of personal opinions concerning a war, I believe we still need to offer our support to our classmates. Also below you will find Dan’s story. He had the honor of being on a NASA Search team, he tells us all about his experience in life highlights. And as always you will find the usual things.
Next month watch for an interview with JoLyn (Wilson) Palumbo. Jolyn is one of the many students who attended school with us, but moved before graduation. She is also one of our staunch supporters! Have a great month everyone, we will see ya in April! Lauri, Dan, Todd and Wendy!
"In-depth and Personal with…Basil Hipple"
Name: Basil Hipple
Career/occupation: Engineer
Home: Gillette, WY
Greatest accomplishments: Competing in the Collegiate National Bowling
championships.
People whom you admire and why: My parents for putting up with me. For instilling
in me respect, love and values that I would need later in life.
What do you have in your pockets: Pocket knife and change
Fantasy (or reality) job: Be a member of the PGA golf tour
Latest book you've read: The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
Favorite music/musicians: Jackal, Creed, Lynyrd Skynyrd, B.T.O., Def Leppard and
George Thoroughgood. Anything but rap and opera.
Recommended movies: Gladiator, Armageddon and Swordfish
Favorite cities and why? Denver, CO. There is something to do all
four seasons of the year.
Where have you traveled? Most of the central and western parts of the U.S.
Favorite place to vacation? Lake Havasu City, AZ
Favorite foods: BBQ Ribs and seafood
Hobbies/second career: All outdoor sports / computer programming
Pet peeves: Chronic complainers and people that don’t return phone calls.
Memories of Bismarck (good ones): It used to be so innocent as far as major crime
was concerned.
Memories of BHS (good ones): Friends, Bull sh*t sessions between class and state
wrestling parties.
Who were some of the people you hung out with? Chuck Merritt, Jim Chase, Mike
Wyant, Dean Bondeson, Phil Leer and every now and then "Wiggles".
Were you involved with any extra curricular activities, if so what? Wrestling and
Tennis
Favorite teachers at BHS and why: Mr. Berger for making 10th grade
biology interesting.
Favorite high school hangouts: Main Street, Desert
A little ND humor!
I receive so much ND humor, that each month I will try to share something with you! For some reason only people who live in ND or are from ND can appreciate it or relate to it! Some you may have seen, some not, but heck maybe it will make your day! I promise to keep it clean!
Basil Hipple submitted both of the following.
I have included a link at the bottom of this paragraph for a story that was published in
the "Onion." Now for those of you not familiar with the Onion, it is published
in Madison and all of their stories are complete and utter fiction. They spend their days
creating news stories that have not an ounce of truth in them. Well, on this particular
day North Dakota was the target! Their headline read that "North Dakota found to be
Harboring Nuclear Missiles." For a little humor and a new perspective on ND go to
this address and read their story! Remember they make this stuff up! Also, take note; we
are in no way discounting the seriousness of what is happening in our world today, we are
sharing with you other twists that are being shared online.
For those of you who are thinking of moving to ND or those who are already there,
this application will answer a lot of questions for you.
Subject: ND Citizenship Application
Personal Information:
Name ___________________son
Sex: ___ Ole ___ Lena
Home Address ________________
Cabin Address ________________
Religion: _____ Lutheran ______ Catholic
Income: ____We do OK ____We're Blessed ____None of your beeswax ____
Qualifications: (check all that apply)
___ I own a gas powered ice auger.
___ Fargo floods hit a little close to home.
___ I can name a dozen celebrities who've stayed at the Mayo.
___ I can name a dozen celebrities who've stayed at Hazelton.
___ I've been trick-or-treating in two feet of snow.
___ My grandmother made me eat lutefisk.
___ I liked it!
___ I've been to a block party.
___ My first beer was an Old Milwaukee.
___ My snowmobile has more miles on it than my car.
___ I have a back up set of jumper cables in my trunk.
___ Despite what everyone else says I DON'T HAVE AN ACCENT! (For sure, you bet I don't.)
True/False:
I actually listen to telemarketers.___
"Have a Nice Day" is an ORDER!___
TV news anchors are celebrities.___
Part of my tongue is on a flagpole somewhere.___
It's not a rubber binder! It's a rubber band.___
They mistake pop for "soda" or "coke" in most other states. ___
Hot Dish is neither a beautiful woman nor an overheated plate. ___
Paw is both a hand and the male parent.
Multiple Choice:
It's time to wear a hat when:
A) The temperature is below 10 degrees
B) Your mother tells you to!
C) The temperature is -10 and the wind chill is in double digits.
Essay Questions:
What "uff-da" means to me____________________________________
What "oopsy daisy" means to me______________________________
You know you're from North Dakota when.....
1. Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a tractor.
2. "Vacation" means going to Bismarck for the weekend.
3. You measure distance in hours.
4. You know several people who have hit deer more than once.
5. You often switch from "heat" to "a/c" in the same day.
6. You use a down comforter in the summer.
7. Your grandparents drive 65 mph through 13 feet of snow during a blizzard, without
flinching.
8. You see people wearing hunting clothes to social events.
9. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both doors unlocked.
10. You think of the major food groups as venison, walleye, and Leinenkugels.
11. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.
12. There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the grocery store at any given
time.
13. You design your kids Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
14. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
15. You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and flannel p.j.'s.
16. You know all four seasons; almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.
17. It takes you 3 hours to go to the store for one item even when you're in a rush
because you have to stop to talk to everyone in town.
"Parenting Pearls or Perils?"
This is a great take off on a kids’ book series.
Any of you with kids should recognize it-the book and the scenerio! Kinda cute!
IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MUFFIN….
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamb.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two-year-old.
While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
Shešll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are,
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.
"CLASS FLAVORS"
This month our recipe is compliments of Wendy (Cleveland) Siegel. Wendy is wonderful at filling in when we need a new recipe! Many of you may not know that she does a little catering on the side so all of her recipes are tried and true! This month her recipe is "Brie Cheese with Caramel Sauce". Looks wonderful!
RESTAURANT REQUEST
FAMOUS QUOTE….
Submitted by Dwight Weisz
Dream as if you’ll live forever, Live as if you’ll die today.
BIRTHDAYS!
Happy Birthday to the following people! As
always we have some shared birthdays. Char, Brad and Sandy share a birthday, as do Mark
and Kipper,
Jody and Chris and Don and Duane. Also, Duane and Vonnie are both turning 41!
Char (Beck) Garrett
Brad Wolfer
Sandy (Johnson) Johs
Pamela (Erhardt) Doll
Alan Bain
Eric Fernandez
Mark Roehrich
Kelly (Malard) Anderson
Kipper Wilson
Tim Oster
Duane Gross
Vonnie (Spier) Greinsteiner
Jody (Ismir) Lockwood
Chris Grondahl
Don Nelson
Duane Staus
Scott Beierle
Mary Falhsing
Liz Miller
Chuck Glaser
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!
We hope you have a wonderful day!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Todd gives us his view, and he is …..
"TOTALLY UNCENSORED!"
Please note: Todd’s views are strictly his own. They are provided for our reading
enjoyment and do not necessarily reflect the views of those associated with the Class of
81, it’s newsletter, or its website. Comments sent to me will be forwarded to Todd or
you may e-mail him personally at toddjueth@msn.com.
Thanks, Lauri
It's March and the year is 1/4 over already. Time really does fly when you’re
having fun. I have been following the e-mails from Lauri and it's great to see the
response of people that want to contribute to buy a month of the newsletter. To think at
one time I wasn't sure if anybody was out there. Well, it's good to see our class is alive
and well.
As promised last month Steve Kubisiak asked about elementary school closings in Bismarck from his old neighborhood. Well the school board has decided to close Riverside and Richholt elementary schools but has since dropped Riverside because there were no other schools nearby and they can not bus students from one school unless they open busing to all students, and that would not be economically feasible for the district.
Richholt was chosen to close for a variety of reasons, including steep declines in enrollment. They have lost 900 students in the past nine years in that part of town and with the close proximity of other elementary schools there is considerable surplus space.
Once the decision was made to close Richholt a boundary committee with parent representatives from each elementary school was formed. The committee’s task was to redefine boundaries due to the closure as well as to look at other boundary changes that could reduce populations at crowded schools and add students to schools with low enrollments. Richholt will be reused for the Bismarck Early Childhood Education. Now the parents of the kids at Richholt have formed a group called S.O.S. which stands for Save Our School, and they are not going quietly on this issue. They have acquired enough signatures to have a special election to have two school board members recalled who have chosen to give the ax to Richholt School. The school board member’s names are Dan Kuntz and Marcia Olson. To them, this is a very emotional and personal mission to have Richholt School stay the way it is. This subject is only heating up so I will keep you informed on this as more brews.
Lauri tells you that we can write in and let fellow class mates know of good places to eat. Well here is my two cents. Here is where not to eat and that is any place in South Dakota. Recently a person driving down an Interstate in South Dakota noticed a man of Middle Eastern decent driving a van with a gas mask on. Well with the high alert of our nation you would almost think the worst. So they informed the Highway Patrol and the patrol pulled the van over with guns pulled. They pulled the man out. This man said he delivers meat products to various restaurants in South Dakota and the product stinks so much he can’t stand the smell day after day. The police checked his story out and it held up. Now if this is the product that we would eat at these restaurants it sounds like a good batch of ECOLI - enjoy.
The high school wrestling season has just ended with the state championships held at the Minot state dome. Well, the Demons went in not as the favorite to win, in fact, Dickinson was gunning for their first ever high school wrestling title. And by all rights Dickinson should have done it by entering the tournament with 14 qualified wrestlers to Bismarck's 10. But, like I told you in the November newsletter, when they make the state championship trophy they might as well put the picture of the demons on it. That’s exactly what happened on the first day of the tournament B.H.S. won the duel portion of the tournament - still being the only team to win the duel portion of the state tournament since they initiated that part in 2000. Then, they blitzed their way to the individual part of the tournament by finishing with 198 points. Out of ten qualifiers B.H.S had seven in the finals and two of the three who didn't make the finals placed, and five won individual titles. It was Bismarck Highs 26th state championship title for the school.
In other catch-ups to my column I had told you about Devils Lake High school changing their nick name from the Satans because some of the community thought it was bad. Well, they are now the Devils Lake Firebirds. Now they have to decide on a logo to go with it. We can only imagine what they will come up with.
Another interesting fact happening is we Americans are changing the name of one of our favorite foods - French fries, and we are now going to call them freedom fries in response to the French slamming Americans for our views on world affairs. Obviously, they have forgotten about Normandy Island and, oh yes, we saved them from the bad guy called Adolph Hitler. I think his long lost son is living in Baghdad - they both are torturing people. But that’s why we call this freedom of choice you can turn your head to the facts that are really happening because it doesn't affect you as of yet.
Hey, two blonds entered heaven at the same time. The lord turned to the first one and asked how did you die? She replied I froze to death. The lord asked how did that feel? She said well, at first I was really cold, then I got really numb all over and just blacked out and here I am. The lord then turned to the second blond and asked how did you die? She replied, well, I came home from work and found my husband lying naked on the bed and I was so sure that their was another woman involved that I ran all over the house looking for her. I couldn’t find anybody but I had a cardiac arrest while running around looking. The lord asked how did that feel? She replied it was very painful. Then the first blond turned to the second and said hey, if you would have just looked in the freezer we would both still be alive.
That’s my report and I'm sticking to it. C-Ya
LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
Claire Gervias submitted the following.
"I was excited to hook up with Della Boutrous, Julie
(Mjolsness) Lindstrom and our kids in Minneapolis in January. Where else to go but the
Mall of America to entertain the kids with Cereal Land, the Rainforest Cafe, and of
course, Camp Snoopy. (Heck, we used to think the little train at the zoo was a big deal
when we were kids!)
What was most fun was comparing notes on our present lives and recalling our past
relationships and experiences with one another as we went through school together. Della
had some great stories of the fierce competition we had all through grade school. Now
we've all settled into careers that allow us to work part time so we can have time for our
kids.
Julie's 5- year-old son opted to stay home and practice his little guitar and Elvis songs.
It'll be interesting to see what he's doing in 20 years.
We had such fun that I hope we will take the time to do it again and hopefully rope in a
few more classmates in the Twin Cities area."
Earl Jensen’s wife contacted us to let us know that Earl left for Kuwait on
February 17th. She told us not to worry about him, he is not your average foot soldier, he
is a "computer geek". She said that his only worry was getting carpal tunnel
syndrome! But in all seriousness she did ask everyone to give him and the others a quick
prayer that they wouldn’t be put in harm’s way!
Dan Raszler was chosen to be part of a NASA Search Team. Dan lives in the Houston
area, and decided to use his free time to search for debris and to be part of history.
Below is his story.
History was in the making on Feb. 01, 2003. It was the day that the American space
administration suffered another blow. The usual and routine space flights that zip us into
the outer atmosphere where man makes new discoveries that affect all of mankind in every
part of the world had another catastrophic ending. Space shuttle Columbia, carrying seven
astronauts, disintegrated over east and southeast Texas on that fateful day. That was the
day that Texas had to join all its communities together to make one big family to NASA and
the families who lost loved ones and help to help bring Columbia home. It was time to show
real true Texas unity. Hemphill, Texas is the community that had to stand the test of
hospitality because most of the debris from the shuttle fell there. The VFW hall opened
its doors and provided a command point for the search of space shuttle Columbia.
Volunteers, law enforcement, forest rangers, and the national guard from all around the
southeast Texas area pitched in with many tasks such as cooking meals for the searchers or
even searching the densely thick forests for HR and shuttle debris. I am proud to say that
I was able to help in the search efforts.
The day started out at the crack of dawn. It was a rainy day with temperatures around
forty degrees, which is not typical for this area. As soon as there was light we were into
the thick of what's called the big thicket. As we entered the forest we positioned
ourselves ten to twenty feet apart from one another. When I first got in I thought it was
going to be a piece of cake. One hundred yards later I found out how hard the remainder of
the search was going to be. The trees were so thick that you could not see the persons
next to you. There were briar bushes every five feet, ready and waiting to thorn their way
into you as you tried to go through them. My team of forty people had to walk a straight
line through the woods no matter what you came across be it a steep ravine, a running
creek, snakes or wild hogs (which will charge you on site). If one was even an inkling out
of shape, chances are you wouldn't make it through the day. As we made our way onto HR or
shuttle debris our whole search team line would stop so the FBI or NASA could mark the
coordinates with a global positioning system (GPS). This continued until around 11:30am
then we ate a sack lunch that was prepared by the volunteers from the town of Hemphill.
Some ladies from Hemphill stayed up the whole night making sack lunches for the entire
search party totaling around 1,400 people. Their efforts were really appreciated when
lunchtime rolled around. The forest area we were searching in was very wet from the rains
we had the day before so we actually had to stand up and eat our lunch.
After eating lunch most of my search team was complaining of hypothermia. We were forced
to shorten our lunchtime so we could keep warm by moving. The day finally ended around
4:30pm. We were all physically drained and leg cramps were becoming a normal pain
experienced by all of the searchers no matter what their physical shape was. Our team was
responsible for finding several pieces of debris and some HR. I will end by saying
that it was an honor to have been chose by NASA to be on a search team. I can only hope
that my efforts in the search played a part to help get America back into space.
It Really is a Small World After All
New Phone, New E-Mail Addresses, and
We have new postal and e-mail addresses on Kathy Berg, Margret (Dockter)
Chee, Micheal Dunn, Lance Bauer, Craig Bitner, Vicki (Modin) Peterson, Doug Thomas, Diane
(Blohm) Schneider, Karen (Oswald) James, Pamela (Hochhalter) Prichard and Brian Geohring.
If you would like any of the new info., contact me!
Personal notes:
If you guys are reading this could you please get in touch with me! Your addresses have changed, your phone numbers are disconnected, your e-mail boxes are full, or we have no clues on how to contact you! I am trying very hard to keep everyone in the loop and my information up to date! Thanks very much! Lauri
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT, WHERE DO YOU WANT TO SEE US GO?
We are having great fun doing this for all of you every month! We are more than welcome to your ideas! Feel free to let us know your thoughts and impressions on where you would like this newsletter to go or what you would like to know more about! Also, if you are willing to be interviewed, contact us, we would love to hear from you! See you next month! Lauri, Dan, Todd and Wendy keckmann@packersrock