Country Acres - November 6 edition by Star Publications

ountry C Friday, November 6, 2020

cres A Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment

Volume 8, Edition 15

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The Laudenbach A 50-year family tradition BY SARAH COLBURN STAFF WRITER

ST. CLOUD – Five-gallon buckets of potatoes, vegetables by the pail, pound upon pound of chicken, beef and pork … it’s the making of the Laudenbachs’ annual bouja. It’s a tradition coming up on 50 years in the making. The Laudenbach family gathers together on the shores of Pleasant Lake to take part in the making and eating of the bouja, a stew slow-crafted over a wood-fire in a 44-gallon cast iron kettle. The 15 children of Bill and Evelyn Laudenbach carry on the tradition. They attend the bouja with many of the couple’s 80 grandchildren, 183 great-grandchildren and 113 great-great-grandchildren. In all, including spouses and fiancées, the Laudenbachs top 500 and in any given year, somewhere around 250 attend the annual bouja. Some just come for the day, others stay in campers for the weekend. “I enjoy the tradition and look forward to it,” said Wayne Laudenbach, who now co-hosts the annual extravaganza with his wife, Bonnie, and his parents, Ernie and Arlene Laudenbach, who live on the property next door. “It’s something our kids and grandkids look forward to.” He said it’s the one time of year they have so many family members in one place and they all come bearing food, like meats fresh from the farm or the butcher shop and potatoes, carrots, celery, cabbage, onions, green peppers, green beans and tomatoes – mostly all home-grown. The annual event has morphed into a three-day celebration, beginning with campers showing up Friday night for a

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PHOTOS SUBMITTED TED

Wayne (left) and Bonnie Laudenbach take a turn at stirring bouja uja e inside a gazebo in their backyard. The 44-gallon cast-iron kettle cooks over an open fire.

bonfire. Saturday begins with the family’s annual golf tournament organized by cousin, Joe, and his wife, Jill Laudenbach, and their many volunteers, which includes the participation of more than 100 people who adhere to a theme for the day. Past themes include dressing in camo, dressing in polka dots, dressing like super heroes and many others. On Sunday morning, dozens of hands assist in the bouja start-up. The kettle is lit early, with meat settling in the pot by 7 a.m. to boil. Once the meat has boiled a few hours, it’s cooled, de-boned and cut into bite-size chunks. The preparation of the vegetables begins around 9 a.m.

This month in the

Tables cover a section of the lawn and family members take part in washing, peeling and cutting up the vegetables; even the kids get in on the preparation. The vegetables are placed in the pot throughout the day, each with its own proper amountt of cooking time. The stirring of the kettle le is no small task. The utensil il of choice is a pair of designatted wooden canoe paddles and nd those who lose at horseshoes es – or other games throughout ut the day – must endure a stirrring shift to ensure the stew w doesn’t burn or scorch. The kettle doesn’t just sit in the yard. At the Laudenbachs’, the bouja has become

COUNTRY

such a traBill and dition the E v e l y n kettle has its Laudenbach, along Laudenbach very own gazebo b with their son-in-law, son in law Pete building, protecting the soup Fleck, began the Laudenbach from falling acorns and leaves. family bouja 50 years ago. The

Laudenbach page 2

Uncaging the scars of war Paynesville

Crying wolf Diane Leukam Column

A woodland steward Little Falls

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annual tradition brings hundreds of Laudenbachs together for Labor Day weekend.

15 Country cooking Alexandria 18 Country Acres According To Green Lake

Page 2 • Country Acres | November 6, 2020

Laudenbach ountry C cres from front A The gazebo serves as storage

Diane Leukam, Editor diane@saukherald.com Ben Sonnek, Writer ben.s@saukherald.com Herman Lensing, Writer herman@melrosebeacon.com Jennifer Coyne, Writer jenn@dairystar.com Evan Michealson, Writer evan.m@star-pub.com Carol Moorman, Writer carol@melrosebeacon.com Natasha Barber, Writer natasha@saukherald.com Kayla Albers kayla.a@star-pub.com Sarah Colburn, Freelance Writer

Story ideas send to: diane@saukherald.com SALES STAFF

Kayla Hunstiger, 320-247-2728 kayla@saukherald.com Missy Traeger, 320-291-9899 missy@saukherald.com Tim Vos, 320-845-2700 tim@albanyenterprise.com Mike Schafer, 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Warren Stone, 320-249-9182 warren@star-pub.com Jaime Ostendorf, 320-309-1988 Jaime@star-pub.com Bob Leukam, 320-260-1248 bob.l@star-pub.com

PRODUCTION STAFF Pat Turner Amanda Thooft Nancy Powell Maddy Peterson Cheyenne Carlson

for the bouja supplies the other 51 weeks of the year. The tradition was started by Bill and Evelyn Laudenbach and their son-in-law, Pete Fleck. Fleck had participated in church boujas and heard about a kettle for sale decades back. He asked each of the 15 Laudenbach children to invest $3 each to pay for the $45 kettle 50 years ago, and so was borne the annual tradition. Pete became the head cook when the bouja started and served as cook for many years until he retired and handed the recipe over to Bill and Evelyn’s youngest son, Dan

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Hundreds of Laudenbachs gather together on the shores of Pleasant Lake during a Labor Day weekend for the family’s annual bouja. At night they share stories and conversation around the bonfire.

Laudenbach, who remains the head cook today. The first boujas were held at Bill and Evelyn’s home at

Assumption Cemetery where they actually resided, because Bill was the caretaker. When they moved to Pleasant Lake, into the home that is now owned by Wayne and Bonnie, they hosted it there and it has been hosted lakeside ever since. As the stew simmers, kids play in the lake and take part in backyard carnival games and face-painting set up to keep them entertained and occupied. The adults mingle over bean bags and other yard games. This year would have been the family’s 50th anniversary celebration, but due to COVID-19 the event was postponed and they hope to have their half-century celebration the weekend of Labor Day 2021. Wayne has been attending the bouja every year since he was 6 years old, and has gone Dozens of people in the Laudenbach family assist with washing, peeling and cutting vegetables for the family’s annual bouja. To make from a recipient of the feast as the stew, the family measures quantities of vegetables by the five- a child to hosting the annual event. As a child, he enjoyed gallon bucket or ice cream pail.

Deadlines: Country Acres will be published the first Fridays of April, May, June, September, October and November, and the third Friday of every month. Deadline for news and advertising is the Thursday before publication.

Kids play in the water on a Labor Day weekend at Pleasant Lake during the Laudenbach family’s annual bouja celebration.

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playing with many of the 80 cousins he had. He also remembers each family taking home an ice cream pail of bouja at the end of the day. Bonnie enjoys keeping track of family stats each year, creating posters highlighting such events like births, engagements and weddings since last bouja, and has created sign-in sheets for each family so she can easily figure out attendance. The true historian is Bill and Evelyn’s youngest daughter, Toni Nelson, who keeps ongoing records of all major events. Wayne and Bonnie were high school sweethearts and she learned about bouja from him. She never dreamed she’d one day be hosting it, but when the couple bought grandma and grandpa’s house aptly known as “the cottage,” they became the automatic hosts seven years into their marriage. Ernie and Arlene do a great deal of preparation for the annual gathering and for the weekend, they split the activities between the two yards. Ernie and Wayne head up the Saturday night corn and bologna event with help from many volunteers. They also work together to organize the campers, order portable toilets and prep the yard games, and other family members assist in organizing the ingredient list for the bouja, the golf tournament, the kids’ carnival and the kegs of beer and pop. The couple also said various family members provide a made-to-order breakfast on Sunday morning,

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The prisoner of Wally Kollman’s art project, “The Cage,” sits outside of the cage before the project was completed. Kollman traced his own hands, feet and torso to create the body of the prisoner.

from fighting the war in Vietnam to sitting at his family dinner table. He felt different, and it took him years to figure out why. “When I left, I was a kid,” Kollman said. “I

returned as an adult, still not old enough to vote or have a legal drink. I had this alone feeling.” The Bellamy Brothers sing,

Kollman page 6

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Page 6 • Country Acres | November 6, 2020

Kollman from page 3

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

A white phosphorus round is detonated in the distance at an artillery field camp in July, 1970, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

diagnosed with PTSD. He was suffering from horrific recurring nightmares of being stuffed into a cage, and other twisted nightmares of war. Eventual-

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“Then they sent him off to Vietnam on his senior trip And they forced him to become a man while he was still a boy And in each wave of tragedy he waited for the joy Now this world may change around him But he just can’t change no more.” Out in the field hauling manure, Kollman would find himself with tears in his eyes, reflecting on his experiences with an overwhelming feeling that he should be

back in Vietnam with his platoon. He just could not shake the thoughts of needing to be back. “By spending a year in Vietnam with your buddies and going through the traumas that we experienced, we became closer than brothers,” Kollman said. “It is a bond that you can’t explain to anybody.” Kollman continued to work the farm until 2003 when he sold his dairy cows and rented out the land. This was when he began to put most of his energy into his craft of woodworking. In 2005, a full 34 years after returning home from war, Kollman was

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ly, Kollman joined a rap group where war veterans could share their stories, and he no longer felt so alone. “The stories and the feelings these guys had are the same I had been feeling my entire life up until this point,” Kollman said. “I no longer felt alone.” But the rap group did not help Kollman rid himself of his nightmares. It was not until he put the lid onto a wood cage he was creating for another project that all of his nightmares came flooding back, and it all clicked. He had to put a prisoner of war inside the cage to make it complete. “The next day I started tracing my hands and feet and torso and basically developed the prisoner around my body,” Kollman said. The project became a physical representation of the nightmares he had been having. Although Kollman was never a prisoner of war, his thoughts made him feel trapped, as did the cage in his nightmares. “I think after creating (The Cage), it did relieve some of the pressure and tension I was experiencing,” Kollman said. He went on to enter The Cage in the Veterans Administration (VA) National Creative Arts

Program. In this program, veterans who have their healthcare provided through the VA have the opportunity to enter a project in the art competition, where they are judged at the local and national level. Since 2009, Kollman has won at the national level with his woodworking projects three times, and The Cage was one of them. The Cage was entered into the Military Combat Experience Category, and Kollman hopes that his work can provide

a path to healing for those who still carry trauma from the war. “I have had people come up to me at the creative arts show and just stand back,” Kollman said. “Then they will look and start crying. They will tell me their stories about their nightmares they had been experiencing. It is basically uncaging the scars of war.” Kollman also has a 1951 M38 Willy’s Jeep from the Vietnam War and brings it to car shows whenever he can to provide another opportunity for Veterans to share their own experiences and stories from the war. “I think it is therapy for any veteran to come up to a piece like that and tell a story about what they experienced,” Kollman said. Kollman enlisted in the Army in 1969 when he was 18 because he figured he would get drafted anyway. By year end, he was in Vietnam. Kollman was attached to the 4th in-

Kollman page 7

Wally Kollman sits on the edge of a Huey helicopter looking down over rice paddies in January, 1970, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam between Pleiku and Ahn Ké. This was a typical occurrence while flying in helicopters during the war.

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Wally Kollman mans a 30-caliber machine gun as he prepares to go out on a mission in January, 1970, in Vietnam.

Page 8 • Country Acres | November 6, 2020

A woodland steward Stanley Musielewicz is a woodland stewardship plan writer certified by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. He not only has his own woodland farms as part of his business, Wolftree Enterprises, but he helps others write plans that foster the healthy growth of trees for decades to come. He assists land owners with a plan that recommends management activities for optimal growth of their trees, and coordinates the timber harvest when the time comes. “I just love woods,” Musielewicz said. “I think trees are God’s most beau-

Musielewicz property a certified tree farm LITTLE FALLS – Seedlings push through the dead-looking, sawdust-strewn ground and reach toward the blue sky. Though the clear-cut section of woods looks as though a bomb went off, as Stanley Musielewicz’s wife, Geri, describes it, the absolute and utter devastation is key to creating healthy woods in the longterm.

tiful creation on this planet and there are so many uses for them; wildlife love them and they’re just a gorgeous thing.” The other day in his woods, he flushed 10 or more woodcock, which thrive in young woods and dense, thick growth. He has photographed a rare Northern Saw-whet Owl, and many other species on his property. More than anything though, Musielewicz wants land owners to have healthy trees and healthy woods. To create that, he said, diseased and distressed trees and over-crowded trees need

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to be removed. Properly harvesting trees, and planning for their replacement, is essential to creating not only sources of oxygen, but a healthy woods that is resistant to insect and disease infestations that can wipe out entire areas of woods that aren’t properly maintained. As a land owner, Musielewicz has 80 acres outside Little Falls and an additional 100 acres near Cushing. Both properties are covered by woodland stewardship plans. The 80-acre property is where the Musielewiczes live. About three-fifths of the land is low-ground swamp and home to willow brush, cattails and sedges. The upland features the house, and south of the house there are 12 or so acres of pine plantation created by the land owner before him. Farther out, there is native woodland with aspen, oak, maple and basswood. In January 2019, Musielewicz coordinated with a logging company who came out to harvest

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Stanley Musielewicz pauses for a photo at the entrance to his land which is a certified tree farm through the American Forest Foundation.

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This rare daytime photo of a Northern Saw-whet Owl is a favorite wildlife image captured by Stanley Musielewicz in his woods.

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Steward page 11

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Page 10 • Country Acres | November 6, 2020

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Page 14 • Country Acres | November 6, 2020

Alternative inlets a simple step toward conservation YO U R FA M I LY D E A L E R S I N C E 1 9 9 5

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PHOTO BY JENNIFER COYNE

Dominic Marthaler, with MBC Drainage LLC, sorts through tile equipment before installing a rock inlet in a field Oct. 21 at Jim Weller’s farm near Brooten. The perforated tile material helps filter water from the field before it reaches nearby public water sources.

Traditional inlets use purpose is the same, but pipe structures to lower uses pea rock to transfer surface water from fields the surface water. into underground drainage tile lines. The rock inlets’ Weller page 17

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Friday, November 6, 2020 | Country Acres • Page 15

COUNTRY COOKING Gizzards and Rice

Alexandria Douglas County

My husband, Warren, and I both have Bohemian ancestry, and we enjoy recipes that reflect our heritage. I have tried a lot of recipes for kolaches, but this one from a Bohemian neighbor lady, Janice Yanda, is my favorite. This recipe is a half batch. I have better luck doing a half batch at a time. Hints: to raise dough, I start oven for a few seconds only to get a slight touch of warmth. I put an 8x8 inch pan of hot water on lowest rack and put my bowl of dough on rack above; doughs like warmth. For raising balls of dough, I put a small heater in a small room and shut the door. Don’t put heater to blow hot air on the dough as it will dry out the dough. Dough likes heat; I don’t when working. • • • •

1/4 cup warm water 2 packages dry yeast 3/4 cup warm water 1 cup warm milk – whole is best • 1/2 cup sugar

• • • •

1 Tbsp. salt 1/4 cup lard, melted 2 small eggs, beaten 5-1/2 to 5-3/4 cups flour (I prefer Robin Hood)

Soak yeast in 1/4 cup warm water; let stand for 10 minutes. Using a mixer, add in 2-3 cups flour, then add in small amount of flour at a time and mix. Grease ball and side of bowl (I use lard.) Cover and let rise for one hour. Punch down dough; let rise another 30 minutes. With the palms of my hands lightly floured, I make into walnut-size balls. Grease each ball of dough and place on a greased cookie sheet; pat down and let rise one hour. Indent centers and fill with a canned filling. (I use cherry or apple, chopped, poppyseed lemon or apricot. You can use any flavor.) Let raise 10 to 15 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. After baking, brush with melted butter. This batch makes 60 kolaches. For a full batch, all ingredients for original recipe are doubled except yeast is 3 packages and eggs are 3.

1 tsp. pepper 1/4 cup butter 2 cups rice 2 cups water

Boil gizzards in chicken broth until tender; simmer 1 to 1-1/2 hours with allspice, salt and pepper. Add 2 cups rice and 2 cups water – or, add as needed. Boil 10 minutes on low, stirring so it doesn’t stick. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Let sit 10-15 minutes.

Norma’s Salsa • 10 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped • 5 cups green peppers, chopped • 3 cups jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (I use 1 cup) • 2 cups onions, chopped • 1-1/2 cups cider vinegar

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced • 2 Tbsp. sugar • 2 Tbsp. salt • 2 tsp. paprika • 2 tsp. dried oregano • 2 cans (6 ounces) tomato paste • 1/2 cup fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped

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Combine first 10 ingredients and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for one hour or until mixture thickens. Stir in tomato paste and parsley or cilantro. Simmer 5-10 minutes longer. Pour hot into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process 30 minutes in boiling water bath. Makes 6 pints.

Norma continued page 16

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Page 16 • Country Acres | November 6, 2020

COUNTRY COOKING

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Norma from page 15

salutes

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Julia Marthaler Grade: Junior Parents: Harold Marthaler and Denise Mikkelson Sauk Centre FFA Chapter Tell us about your FFA program and your involvement in it: I am going on my fifth year in FFA. I started doing CDEs as soon as I joined, I did Conduct of Chapter Meetings in grades 7-9 and I started crops in 7th grade and I’m still participating in that. My sophomore year I was the chapter historian and this year (junior year) I am the chapter Vice President and will be participating in Parliamentary Procedure. What is the greatest benefit you have received from being involved in FFA? My greatest benefit from being in FFA is seeing all the opportunities I can have after high school and it has given me the chance to get better at public speaking. What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of FFA? Outside of FFA, I participate in tennis, trap shooting, fall musical, one act and speech. My hobbies are painting and always working. What are your plans for the future? My plans for the future are to attend NDSU to become an agronomist.

• 1 package white cake mix • 1 cup chocolate chips • 2 eggs • 1/4 cup butter • 1/3 cup oil • 1 can sweetened condensed milk Combine dry cake mix with eggs and oil. Pat 1/2 of mixture into a 9x13-inch cake pan. Melt chips, butter and milk together and pour over mixture in pan. Put remaining cake mixture on top in small clusters. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup • • • •

3 cups green peppers, chopped • 2 cans chicken broth 2 pounds hamburger, browned • 2 cans diced tomatoes Salt and pepper • 1 cup onions, diced 32 ounces tomato juice • 1-1/2 cups minute rice Cook everything except minute rice for 40 minutes, then add 1-1/2 cups minute rice. Remove from heat and let sit 10- 15 minutes.

Black Bean Salad • • • • •

12 cups tomatoes, chopped • 1-1/2 cups sugar 2 cups onions, chopped • 1-1/2 cups vinegar 2 cans corn (or 2 cups) • 1 Tbsp. canning salt 2 cups green peppers, chopped • 1 large can tomato paste 1 cup jalapenos (leave seeds in if • 2 cans black beans, drained and you want it hot) rinsed • 1-1/2 cups cilantro, chopped Cook everything except corn and beans until soft, about one hour; add corn and beans and cook another 10 minutes. Process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.

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A Sweet Potato Correction!

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• 1 pound 13 oz. canned yams or • 1/8 tsp. nutmeg 3-1/2 pounds fresh cooked • 2 Tbsp. oleo or butter • 1/4 to 1/2 cup honey • 1/2 cup pineapple-orange juice • 1 Tbsp. cornstarch • 1/4 cup walnuts, cut up • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon Lay cooked sweet potatoes on the bottom of a greased dish. Boil brown sugar, honey, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, oleo or butter and pineapple-orange juice in a small saucepan. Pour over potatoes. Sprinkle nuts over the top; cover. Bake in greased 12x8x2 inch dish or 8-1/4 inch round dish at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until thoroughly heated.

Friday, November 6, 2020 | Country Acres • Page 17 of (the original inlets) had some sort of damage from being hit by an implement,” Weller said. “The rock inlets are definitely more convenient for farming.” The Wellers’ project first began last fall when the couple was able to replace two traditional inlets with the alternative entryways. This year, the fall weather cooperated enough so the Wellers could complete the inlet replacements in-between harvest and an early snowfall. Weller and Hylla developed a conservation plan for his farm. From there, they determined a way in which Weller’s project could be completed with financial assistance from the state’s Board of Water and Soil Resources. “Our first step is to come up with a plan to identify areas for improvement on the land and find money for that plan,” Hylla said. “There are a number of programs available when farmers or landowners want to do a voluntary practice.” Weller received grant funding via the North Fork Watershed District, which received state funding under the One Watershed, One Plan Clean Water Fund program. This allowed Weller to have 75% of the rock inlet installation costs covered. “We’ve always tried to help landowners, financially, complete these conservation projects,” Hylla

from page 14 Weller worked with MBC Drainage LLC, of Sauk Centre, for the removal and installation of the inlets. The company dug out the old tile trenches and modified them with trenches that lay horizontally beneath the ground surface with a slight slope to the field tile line filled with pea sized rock. In Weller’s fields, about 3 feet of pea rock surrounds each trench. “The water filters through the pea rock rather than directly dropping into the inlet that was on the surface before,” Weller said. “I do this to keep our lakes and streams clean. It keeps the topsoil here rather than flushing it down the toilet, basically.” Nathan Hylla agreed. “This is one practice that can provide water quality benefits by removing a large percentage of sediments and phosphorus leaving crop fields via tile drainage” he said. Hylla is Stearns County’s SWCD’s project manager who worked with the Wellers. This method of drainage not only improves water quality but allows for easier farm management. Rock inlets can be planted through, although they cannot be tilled. “As equipment gets bigger, almost every one

said. “We help with the installation and then it’s the landowners’ responsibility to maintain. It’s really a fantastic partnership.” Additionally, the Koronis Lake Association is covering half the cost of the 25% that a landowner must pay to install each rock inlet. The Wellers first installed a set of 14 rock inlets about nine years ago. While upgrading to rock inlets have been a way to implement best farming practices, in few instances, the upgrades were necessary to the structure of the existing inlets. “There were a few that had washouts around them; the worst one was 3 feet,” Weller said. “Now, none of PHOTO BY JENNIFER COYNE that will be happening anyMaterials are stacked in a utility side by side before being used to install a rock inlet Oct. more.” With the grant fund- 21 at Jim Weller’s farm near Brooten. The Wellers have 40 rock inlets on their cropland. ing, the couple was able to finish replacing the inlets on almost all of their cropland. “They’re all across our property,” said Weller of the new inlets. “I think Belgrade, MN there’s maybe one part of a field that doesn’t have one installed. We would’ve done all of this, but maybe Outstanding Products On Farm Field Visits not to the extent – maybe Personalized Visits Localized Yield Data only a few at a time – had the watershed district not worked with us. They have the knowledge and expertise and willingness to help New For 2020-2021: Offering Xtendflex & Enlist Soybeans with these best management practices.” SELLING

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A shower of cards BY HERMAN LENSING STAFF WRITER

dering just how to celebrate the 85th birthday of their mother, Colette Illies. www.HughesRealEstate.net Joy Woefel and MiCOVID-19 concerns chelle Norris were won- make large gatherings impractical. A family gathering at her home on Green Lake, presented problems for space and safety protocols – between Joy and Michelle, their sister, Jan Ellis, and their brothers, Jeff and Gary, there are 11 grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. “It was my sister-inlaw, Beth (wife of Jeff), who suggested the idea of a card shower,” said Norris. “I suggested it to Joy and that was all it took.” Woefel set a target of When you list your real estate with us! 85 birthday cards being mailed to Colette for Oct. 28, her birthday. She made use of technology, to get the card flow coming. “I send text messages 4.5% selling commission for traditional listings to the siblings, to mom’s grandchildren and reached Auction services available with accelerated marketing out to her nieces and nephews asking them to get a hold of their siblings and mail cards,” said Joy. There were also friends across the country they could contact. Colette is the youngest of 11 children of Herman and Elizabeth Lensing. Jim, her Serving all of husband, who passed away Central Minnesota’s in 2000, was one of five children of John and Hilda real estate needs! Illies. He also had several step-siblings. The two Curt Weiers, Owner/Broker were long-time residents of the Spicer area and had 320-274-1341 | 888-489-4625 wintered in Texas. 140 W Elm Street, PO Box 157 In a written memoir MN Annandale, MN 55302 NNANDALE, A for her children, Colette, | S R IE E W CURT who was born on the farm near Greenwald, recalled SOLD! first getting tractors, the CA-Nov6-1B-WS cooking of her mother, the death of her father and a brother, making ice cream CA-Nov6-1B-MS

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Colette Illies of Green Lake received well over 60 birthdays cards in a card shower arranged by her daughters. On and around Oct. 28, she received cards from children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces other relatives and friends. Some were hung on the wall behind her.

“Dad would hang Christmas cards on the wall. When she got the first card I said we could hang the cards on wall.” - Michelle Norris

and going to school at St. Andrew’s school in Greenwald. She entered nursing school following high school at Melrose. Those studies took her to LaCrosse, Wisconsin. After receiving her nursing license, she returned to the Greenwald area, worked at St. Michael’s Hospital in Sauk Centre and met Jim (then an X-ray technician). The Illieses had a home on Green Lake and it was a popular spot of summer visits and family reunions. “I remain living in the lake place we bought in 1959, our first and only place we ever owned here,” Colette wrote in the memoirs. With help from her children and their spouses, she has been able to remain at the house. It was to that address the cards came. With them came some memories people had of visiting at the home. The

cards started arriving Oct. 26, two days before the birthday. Michelle wanted to mark the occasion without letting Colette know something special was up. She called on a family tradition. “Dad would hang Christmas cards on the wall,” she said. “When she got the first card I said we could hang the cards on wall.” Colette knew it had to be more than tradition. “I said something was up when you wanted to hang those cards,” she said. “Something was going on.” The cards were coming for a few days afterward. The count Oct. 29 was 64, and they knew more were coming. Joy’s hope was to have 85 cards, but if it would fall short, Colette still received a number of “Happy Birthdays” and “thank-yous”.

Page 20 • Country Acres | November 6, 2020

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Country Acres - November 6 edition

Articles inside

Country cooking

Uncaging the scars of war