GaryOsberg.com

Good morning from Collegeville,

Yesterday was a big day in history. It was 150 years ago, in 1865, that General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. Union troops had driven Lee out of Richmond and blocked his route back to North Carolina. Lee’s Confederate troops had no more food or supplies, and Union forces hounded them wherever they went. Men were deserting in growing numbers, and those who stayed seemed certainly doomed. “It would be useless and therefore cruel, to provoke the further effusion of blood,” the Confederate general said, “and I have arranged to meet with General Grant with a view to surrender.” Source: Writers Almanac.

100 years ago yesterday, Bob Nicol was born in Waupaca, Wisconsin. Bob is a charter member of the St. Cloud Area Sertoma Club. He is still active in the club and ringing the bell with Bob for the Salvation Army in front of Coborn’s on Cooper has always been a highlight for me. Last year one of our newest members, Kelly McCall, age 25, beat me to it at sign-up time. The age of our club members spans 75 years.

Two years ago, Bob was featured in an article in the St. Cloud Times. He was pictured putting at the first hole during a round of golf at the St. Cloud Country Club. Bob graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1941 and joined the infantry in 1942. Bob took up golf while serving at Fort Benning in Georgia and he has been a member of the St. Cloud Country Club for 66 years. Bob, you are one of my heroes.

The APHC show this week is a live broadcast from The Town Hall on West 43rd Street in New York City. Special guests include soprano Renee Fleming, pianist Rob Fisher and vocalists Aoife O’Donovan and Heather Masse. The Royal Academy of Radio Actors will team up with music director Richard Dworsky to entertain us with skits. The News From Lake Wobegon will bring us up to date on the town and its residents. Enjoy the show.

If you enjoy Celtic music, come to Escher Auditorium at the College of St. Benedict tonight. I will be there working a table. If you like choral music, you can enjoy the Great River Chorale tonight or Sunday afternoon at the First United Methodist Church in Sartell. Greatriverchorale.org.

“The years teach much which the days never know.” Ralph Waldo Emerson