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When my granddaughter Kaylin Marie was in the first grade she took her work very seriously.  One day she brought home a paper that had the mark “one wrong”.  The work sheet was a collection of scrambled words, which the students were to unscramble and write down the correct word.  One was “h t i s”.  The correct answer was to be “this”.

However, there is another word that fits.  It is a slang word, but it is included in the New College Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary.  The teacher, Mrs. Johnson, decided to mark the slang word “wrong”.

Kaylin’s mother was sharing this story with me at the dining room table and Kaylin was there too.  After I was done laughing, Kaylin said, “Yes Grandpa, I looked at that paper and I said to myself, ‘What was I thinking’?”

Tomorrow is the 39^th annual “Hagstrom Osberg Golf Tournament”.  I plan on bringing my trusty old putter and a good attitude. Let’s hope that the rains hold off. 

“I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyone’s game.  It’s called an eraser.”  Arnold Palmer

Category : General

Comments Off on July 5, 2024

“Happiness is a warm puppy”. Charles Schulz.     “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is written into the Constitution of the United States of America.

In the February 27, 2006, issue of The New Yorker there was an article on pursuing happiness. It turns out that by nature we have been hardwired to emphasize the negative. Survival depended on being wary. The curious and unwary could be eaten by bears or tigers. “Call no man happy until he is dead” was a popular Greek saying. According to many psychologists, once we are out of poverty, the most important determinant of happiness is our “set point”, our natural level of happiness, which is largely a matter of genetics.

Of course, we have no control over our set point. Those of you who have more than one child know that children do seem to be wired differently. Same parents, same conditions and yet siblings can be so different.

However, we can control our attitude. “As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen made quite the impact on me. We also can decide how much volunteer work we are willing to do.

Ready for the secret to happiness? Here it is: “Happiness is equal to your set point S, plus your life conditions C, plus a bit of volunteer work, V.  H = S + C + V”. If you want a copy of the article, let me know.

“Happiness is hard to put into words. It’s also harder to source, much more mysterious than anger or sorrow, which come to me promptly, whenever I summon them, and remain long after I’ve begged them to leave.” David Sedaris

Category : General

Comments Off on June 28, 2024

Johnny Appleseed was an American pioneer nurseryman who planted apple trees in large parts of the eastern United States and Ontario. He became an American legend while still alive, due to his kind, generous ways, his leadership in conservation, and the symbolic importance that he attributed to apples.  Source: Wikipedia

About 10 years ago Peter Gillitzer, along with his partners Aaron and Adam, launched Milk & Honey Ciders.  They planted heirloom and traditional cider apples on a plot of land located on County Road 51 southwest of St. Joseph.  They focus on interesting, dry, highly aromatic, and tannic ciders made in the rolling hills of Stearns County.

Next Thursday The Current is bringing Happy Hour to Milk & Honey Ciders.  They are bringing Americana artist Clare Doyle who was named First Avenue’s “Best New Band of 2023”. Music in Minnesota hailed her as “a fresh perspective in emotional storytelling”.  This free event starts at 4pm at goes until 7.  I hope to see you there.   www.milkandhoneyciders.com

“I wish to live because life has with it that which is good, that which is beautiful, and that which is love.” Lorraine Hansberry

Category : General

Comments Off on June 21, 2024

The annual Osberg Men’s Fishing Trip at Holly’s Resort on Otter Tail Lake was awesome.  I stayed in the cabin until Friday morning. Then, just like last year, our guide Randin Olson, my son Erik, my grandson Walleye Willie and I headed for the secret lake.  One of 1,048 lakes in Otter Tail County. I didn’t catch any trophy fish, but I did catch three Walleye, a Northern and a Bass.  Later that night, Erik and Willie went out again and Erik caught a 27 15/16-inch walleye, so the Trophy stays in my family.  On another note, brother Brian had a 29-point cribbage hand.  Next year, we may add a cribbage tournament to the mix.   (Note: The picture is from 2022.)

On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Texas proclaiming that enslaved Black people were free.  More than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was supposed to end slavery in the United States.  Now Juneteenth is a National Holiday. 

Later today, Higher Works Collaborative will celebrate the African American Male Forum 28th Annual Juneteenth Event at Lake George Municipal Park in downtown St. Cloud. The event is from 2 pm until 7pm.  More detailed information is available online at H W C M N dot org.  I hope to see you there.

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend.”   Martin Luther King Jr. 

Category : General

Comments Off on June 14, 2024

This weekend I plan on visiting “Hippe Landing” west of Upsala next to the American Legion Memorial Park on Cedar Lake.  The park has one of the best swimming beaches in central Minnesota.  There are camping spots also, but I understand there is a long waiting list. 

Next to the entrance to the park there is a Public Landing with a sign “Hippe Landing”. There used to be an old store, without any signage, located where the landing is now.  At one time it was called Cedar Lake Pavilion. The store was owned and run by Emie Hippe. Emie was a real character and for many years she served ice cream, candy and pop to kids from the park and 3.2 beer to the adults. The PayDay candy bar was a favorite of mine.

Strangely, you could not buy a Coke there and I always wondered why. One day my brother Craig and I went in to have a drink and I finally had the nerve to ask her, “Emie, why don’t you serve Coca Cola?” She slammed her hand on the bar and said “The dirty rascals.  My husband Ben used to travel all the way to Brainerd with the empty bottles and bring back the full ones. Then during the war, they asked us to simply hold on to the empties and they would pick them up later.” So, what happened Emie? “The dirty rascals changed their mind and would not pick them up.” “What did you do with them Emie, they would be worth a lot of money?” “You will never find them!” she proclaimed, “We buried them under two ton of rock!”

For over 60 years no Coca Cola products were sold from this store, all because someone broke a promise. I am sure that the Coca Cola route driver tried a few times when he would see the Pepsi truck out front, but she never let them put Coke back on the shelf.

“In the best institutions, promises are kept no matter what the cost in agony and overtime.”  David Ogilvy

Category : General

Comments Off on May 31, 2024

When I was a youngster in Upsala, we always had a Memorial Day service in the school gym, followed by a parade down Main Street. Sometime after I graduated Upsala High School in 1961, the practice died out. Then in the 80’s, Lorna Koehn, a member of the Upsala American Legion Auxiliary, brought back the Memorial Day Celebration in Upsala. I can still picture her marching in front of a group of children, each holding a bunch of lilac flowers.

This year the Memorial Day celebration in Upsala will start with a program at 10am in the school gym.  Following the indoor ceremony, the celebration will proceed to the Veterans Memorial Park directly across the street. The Upsala American Legion has constructed a monument to Veterans from the Upsala area.  Last year they built a building that serves as a museum displaying military artifacts. My dad’s WW2 Navy Uniform is on display. He served as a Radarman on the U.S.S. Vammen, a destroyer escort in the Pacific.   At the end of another short ceremony, the children will wait in anticipation for the chance to collect the spent brass shells after the 21-gun salute. They make good whistles.

After that, there will be a parade through Upsala, ending at the City Recreation Building where the `Upsala First Responders’ will serve a picnic lunch.  Hopefully, there will be some “Bee Bop A Ree Bop Rhubarb Pie”. Whenever you meet a veteran or a service member, simply say “Thank you for serving”. They all deserve our respect.

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”  John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Category : General

Comments Off on May 24, 2024

Many times, we end up taking a path quite by accident.  My first career was drafting.  I faked my way into that field, but it ended well. In fact, in 1965 drafting jobs were so plentiful that Marcia and I were able to take a four-week honeymoon, knowing that when I got back to Minnesota, I just had to walk into Strom Engineering, and they would send me out to Control Data or Univac “on contract”.  In 1969 I became involved in the very first computerized drafting service bureau in the world.   

Norwood Engineering was founded by a salesman with Twin Cities Blue Printing, Dick Engebretson.  He hired my boss, Ron Crew, at Control Data, who in turn hired me.  Our plans included franchising service bureaus, so my title was Franchise Manager.  We hired General Office Products to design and furnish our offices in Roseville as well as the one and only franchise that we sold to Bob Johnson in Seattle, Washington. 

To make a long story short, the business failed, and I ended up as the last General Manager.  I had to write a letter to about 14 companies explaining that Norwood Engineering had filed for bankruptcy, and we could not pay their bill.  In case they wanted to talk it over, I did add my home phone number at that bottom of the letter.

Because of that letter, my third career was in the office furniture industry. Jim Helstrom, sales manager for General Office Products, received one of those letters and he called me.  Of course he wanted his furniture back.  I had to explain that the President of Norwood, Ron Crew, had taken a loan out at a bank and he pledged the furniture as collateral.  The bank took the furniture.  GOP did not “have a position” on the goods sold.  At the end of the conversation, Jim said, “Well if you ever need a job, let me know.”  

I spent 22 years in the office furniture industry, and I loved every minute of it.  Many years later I called Jim and thanked him for the awesome sales training that he had provided. After Jim passed, I spoke to his son, and he told me that his dad talked about that telephone conversation many times.  Maybe this week would be a good week for you to call an old friend or mentor. 

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”  Vince Lombardi

Category : General

Comments Off on May 17, 2024

This is a reprint from 20 years ago.

A few years back, my nine-year-old granddaughter Kaylin Marie and I went to Wadena to pick out a yellow lab puppy. I had talked it over with her parents and they had agreed that I could buy Kaylin a male pup. 

When we arrived at the breeders, there were seven puppies playing behind a short fenced in kennel.  I proceeded to lift each pup and placed the male pups outside the fence.  I told Kaylin that she could choose one of the puppies running around the yard.

She looked at me and said: “Grandpa, I want that one”, pointing to a shy puppy that was sitting at the door of the doghouse inside the fence.  I replied, “No, that one is not a male.”  She said, “But why do we have to get a male?”   I went on to explain that the females cost more and besides that was the plan that her parents had approved.  “But Grandpa” she responded, “Don’t you know that girls are smarter than boys?”   We named her Sandy.

Tomorrow is the fishing opener.  You may want to head to Otter Tail County.  There are 1,048 lakes in Otter Tail County.  More than any other county in the United States.  My son sent me this quote.

 “The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive,    but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.”  Author Unknown

Category : General

Comments Off on May 10, 2024

My Dad served in the Pacific during the second world war. His brother-in-law, my Uncle El, served there also. One of the photos that I had restored is a picture of Dad and Uncle El smoking cigars on an island after V-J Day. You can tell by the look on Dad’s face that the canteens did not have water in them.  What are the odds that they ended up on the same island?

After the war Dad had a hard time adjusting to civilian life.  One Saturday, Dad and Uncle El ended up having a few too many “beer and a bump” and they went into a recruiting station in St. Cloud.  Dad enlisted in the Army and a few years later our family ended up in Vienna, Austria. For some reason Uncle El didn’t have to go back in.

One of the items that Ma brought back from Vienna in 1953 was a very old statue.  A warrior with a breast plate and a sword on his hip. In 1965 she had her neighbor Harold convert it into a lamp and gave it to Marcia and me as a wedding gift. It ended up broken and in three pieces in a box in the basement of The Parsonage in Upsala. Ickler Company in St. Cloud soldered it back together and through my connections at The Paramount Center for the Arts, I found a “bronzer” in Howard Lake, INNOCAST Execuline. They refinished it. The tip of the shaft and the feather on the cap are gold leaf.

When I was in Germany in 2019, I purchased a BMW model car to add to the collection of Vienna items which included a bronze monkey in a top hat. It was a 25^th anniversary gift dated 1898-1923.  The inscription, which is in German, states “What a monkey my lover is, like an illness or a fever”.   Who gives such a gift? 

TODAY is the 25^th anniversary of Barb Treat starting her job as an Account Executive for Minnesota Public Radio in Bemidji, Minnesota.  Congratulation Barb.

“Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love.”  David McCullogh

Category : General

Comments Off on May 3, 2024

The High School Juried Art Exhibition is held each year at the Paramount Center for the Arts.  The closing reception and Awards Ceremony is tonight.  If you have not already seen the great artwork created by high school students, hopefully, you will get a chance to attend tonight.  The reception starts at 5:30. The Awards Ceremony is at 6:30.  Light refreshments are provided.   

For over 40 years the High School Art show was presented by Visual Arts Minnesota.  My daughter, Kerry Osberg, was the Executive Director for many years and so there is a lot of history with our family and this wonderful event.  Kerry teaches art at Upsala School.  Last year she was teaching at the Swanville school.  One of her students, Courtney Och, entered a drawing of a Jaguar. I had told Kerry to put a sold sign on the painting before it was hung in the gallery. I attended the award ceremony with Courtney, her father, and a friend of Courtneys’. When it was announced that Courtney’s piece was the first-place winner, my reaction was so loud that the MC told the audience “He bought the piece”.  It is not often that the artist is willing to sell their work, but you may find something tonight that you will love. 

Saturday evening, the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra is performing “A New Home” in Ritsche Auditorium on the campus of St. Cloud State University.  “Music is a great storyteller. Sometimes all we need to hear are few notes and we are transported back to a place or felling from the past.” There is a pre-concert discussion at 6:30. The concert starts at 7:30.  Tickets are available at www.stcloudsymphony.com

On Sunday afternoon Great River Chorale,  directed by Mary Kay Geston, is performing “Songs for the People” , American Folksongs and hymns, African American Spirituals and gospel music.  The performance is at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Cloud at 4 PM.  Tickets at www.greatriverchorale.org  and at the door.

“Caution! The left-brained world wants you to “be realistic, quit dreaming, be more like us, get your head out of the clouds and your feet on the ground.”  To advance and prosper, steadfastly ignore that advice.”  Marilyn Grey

Category : General

Comments Off on April 26, 2024