2008 is history.  Not a great year in some ways.  My mother passed on in January and that kind of set the tone.  The good news is she will never be forgotten.

 My 403-B has suffered but I still have a job.  I really never planned on quitting working anyway so what difference does it make.  I turned 65 years of age and my only health problem is acid reflux.  I have given up real coffee and gone to de-caf tea in the morning plus one can of Diet Pepsi. 

 I got 88,000 miles on a set of tires that I purchased from Upsala Motors.  I do rotate every 10,000 miles and that seems to help.  I am very pleased with the Bonneville and I probably will drive it for another 88,000 miles.  I am upset that Pontiac dropped the model, but if I don’t trade what difference does that make.

 The Morning Show is no more, but now I listen to Radio Heartland on my lap-top.  The only thing that is missing is the skits.  I know you will find it hard to believe, but some folks don’t miss the Morning Show at all.  Go figure.  Maybe Dale Connelly will put out a cd with just skits from The Morning Show.  Go to www.radioheartland.org and register your vote.

 Barby and I celebrated Christmas with her family yesterday due to the birth of twins Ayda Lee and Jillian Bea on December 22^nd.  They are beautiful and healthy.  That makes nine grandchildren between the two of us with two more on the way.  Life is good.

 The APHC show is no longer sponsored by Select Comfort Sleep Number Beds, but hopefully some other company will see the wisdom of sponsoring a beloved institution.  The show this week is a special Second Annual Year-End Rewind with a compilation of 2008’s most memorable moments.  Special guests will be Nick Lowe, Nellie McKay, tenor Raul Melo and Yo-Yo Ma.  Enjoy the show.

 “It’s not important that everyone is just like you, but it is very important that there is someone just like you.”       Charles “T” Jones

 Six days until Christmas.  I found the last stocking stuffer yesterday, so I have only one more gift to buy.  I need something for the littlest granddaughter, Leah.  Perhaps I can find something in the campus bookstore.  Children love Christmas, as well they should.  As with most families, some years Christmas gifts were easy to come by and some years they were hard to come by.  The Christmas of 1956 was a memorable one.  My mother had to take an apartment in Little Falls, having left Dad after years of his not being very responsible.  That Christmas, Santa brought us six big Tonka Toy 18 wheel trucks.  There was a cattle truck, an oil tanker, a freight truck and three more.  For years I had the impression that they were from a social agency that served the poor.  It turned out that it was Dewey Johnson, a classmate of my mothers who was acquainted with one of the founders of Tonka Toys that was the gift giver.   Dewey had already passed on before I learned this from my mother, so I did not get a chance to thank him. 

 Perhaps you know of a family that has come upon hard times and they could use a Secret Santa.

 The show this week is live from The Town Hall in New York City.  Special guests include Robin and Linda Williams, Walter Bobbie, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Rivera and the Pavlishyn Sisters plus the Royal Academy of Radio Actors.  Enjoy the show. 

 For those of you who miss The Morning Show, simply go to www.radioheartland.org  and click on “listen”.  Fred Bursch and Busch Travel are proud to support online broadcasts of Radio Heartland. 

 “It is better to give than receive”   Jesus , Acts 20:35

 No more “Morning Show”.  Yesterday was the final broadcast of “The Morning Show” with Dale Connelly and Jim Ed Poole.  It was a live broadcast from The Fitzgerald Theater with standing room only.  I was not able to be there but a friend of mine and his wife went wearing black, in mourning for “The Morning Show”.  They reported that it was an awesome show. 

 In 1969 Garrison Keillor started doing a morning drive show from here at Collegeville.  In the February 1973 issue of Preview, the fore runner for Minnesota Monthly Magazine, the show was listed as “A Prairie Home Companion”.  In March of 1973, Garrison took a month’s vacation and the Preview magazine listed “Morning Program” as the replacement for APHC.  In April Garrison came back on the air.  He did the morning drive version of APHC until he started the Saturday late afternoon show and then he probably changed it to “The Morning Show”.  In 1983, he turned the show over to Jim Ed Poole and Dale Connelly.  It is safe to say there will never be any thing that will compare, however Dale is doing a show online for MPR.  He can be heard online at www.radioheartland.org every morning from 6 AM until 9 AM, Monday thru Friday.   Jim Ed is retiring to his wood working shop.  They will be greatly missed. 

 The APHC show this week is once again from the Town Hall in New York City.  Special guests include cellist and founder of the Silk Road Project, Yo-Yo Ma, legendary lyric soprano Renee Fleming and California wild man of the modern mandolin Chris Thile.  Bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer and top violist Nicholas Cords will also perform.

Enjoy the show.

 “You must not think that feeling is everything.  Art is nothing without form.”  Gustave Flaubert

Gary M. Osberg   on the web at www.garyosberg.com     

Good morning from Collegeville,

 Cold!  Not much snow, but the old bank thermometer showed 10 degrees in Monticello this morning.  It is hard to believe that Christmas is less than three weeks away.  We always purchase a live tree from Ace Hardware in Monticello the day after Thanksgiving and it is amazing how much water it soaks up the first few days.  Here at Collegeville, the brothers put up a twenty foot spruce in The Great Hall.  The first day the janitor had a cart with two five gallon pails of water on it.  He looked a little weary as he paused at the bottom of the stairs leading to the landing where the tree is.  This week he is only using one five gallon pail.  If you get a chance, stop by and check out the decorations on the beautiful Christmas tree. 

 The final broadcast of “The Morning Show” is next Thursday, live from the Fitzgerald Theater.  Admission is free and you may come and go as you please.  The Morning Show will be replaced by Classical Music with John Birge.  If you want to hear the kind of music that “The Morning Show” has been playing, you will be able to listen to “The New Dale Connelly Show” on the web at www.mpr.org  

 The APHC show this week is the first of the annual Holiday run from The Town Hall in New York City.  Special guests include legendary cabaret singer, pianist and musical anthropologist Michael Feinstein, Metropolitan Opera Tenor Raul Melo and soulful jazz vocalist Inga Swearingen.  The usual cast of characters will be there also.

 “There are several recognizable types of humorous activity.  There is parody, when you make fun of people who are smarter than you; satire, when you make fun of people who are richer than you; and burlesque, when you make fun of both while taking your clothes off.”  P.J. O’Rourke

 For a special treat go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZCRaI8nI14

Good afternoon from Collegeville,

All is quiet here on campus.  It is a very nice day, almost 40 and some sun.  “Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go…”    Well, not really.  Barby and I are going to the 5^th Avenue Grill at The Radisson in downtown St. Cloud.  It is hard to find a restaurant that is open on Thanksgiving Day.  All three of her daughters are going to their in-laws for dinner.  The Osberg’s gather on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I remember how Grandma Ramlo used to put on a feast.  She and Bert Ramlo owned a grocery store in Upsala, so there were usually three kinds of meat and lots of side dishes.  My job was to fill the crystal glasses with cold water from the cistern pump.   She would always announce that she didn’t know why she kept on doing this; she simply could not get anything right anymore.  Of course it was all delicious. 

I trust that you will have a blessed Thanksgiving Day.  No matter what, we still have a lot to be thankful for.  If you get a chance, tune in to “Giving Thanks” on the classical music station at 9 AM and again at 6 PM.  The local sponsors are Great Harvest Bread and McKay’s Family Auto.

The show this week is live from the historic Cincinnati’s Music Hall.  Special guests include the reigning grandmasters of Celtic music, The Boys of the Lough and renowned Minneapolis singer-songwriter Andra Suchy.  The usual cast of characters will be entertaining at least. 

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”  Amy Carmichael

 Had there still been some pumpkins out there, the frost would have been quite thick.  The twin lakes at the entrance to St. John’s are frozen over.  One morning there was a lone goose walking on the ice trying to figure out his next move.  Why was he not on his way south?  My sister and her husband are heading to Arizona this weekend.  They have a daughter that lives in Phoenix, so they can pull it off.  Barby and I have seven grandchildren now and four more on the way, so unless one of them picks up and moves south, we will be hard pressed to spend much time away from Minnesota.  Barby’s daughter is expecting twin girls during Christmas break and my grandson Willie is expected during spring break, so we will not be going anywhere this year.

 Tonight is another Art Crawl in downtown St. Cloud.  Be sure to check it out.  Art makes for great gift ideas and even if you are on a tight budget there is one place that you can get a nice gift for only $10.  The second annual Visual Arts Minnesota 2009 calendar is available now.  I will be happy to meet you for coffee and bring a calendar to you.  Or just ask and I will send you an order blank.  To learn more, go to www.visualartsminnesota.org   

 The show this week is a live performance from The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.  Special guests include singer-songwriter Kristin Andreassen and The Steele Sisters, Jearlyn and Jevetta.  Enjoy the show.

 Also, be sure to tune in to KSJR 90.1 at 9 AM on Thanksgiving Day for “Giving Thanks” with John Birge.  Local sponsors of “Giving Thanks” are Great Harvest Bread and McKay’s Family Auto.  Stop in and thank them both for supporting this wonderful two hour radio show.  If you miss it in the morning it will be repeated at 6 PM on Thanksgiving Day.

 “There is no such thing as bad weather, only poor clothing”.   Anonymous

 We have not seen the sun for a long time. In this neck of the woods,  November is usually the cloudiest month of the year.  I feel for those who suffer from SAD.  I remember the time that after many, many days of no sunshine, the CEO of Fingerhut hired an airplane and along with a number of his key employees they flew above the clouds just to see what the sun looked like.  If I remember correctly the clouds broke the next day.  Ahh, the good old days of excess. 

The good news is that if the ultrasound operator knows her stuff, my son Erik and his wife Jena are going to have a baby boy in March.  I already have four granddaughters and a grand son would be wonderful.  They are planning to name him William but call him Willy.  That means that in 2023, when I am 79 years old, there will be three generations of Osberg men going fishing at Woody’s on the third weekend in June.  That is a good reason to keep on doing the exercises and getting the annual physical.

The show this week is a live broadcast from The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.  A very special guest, Emmy Lou Harris and her Nashville band will join bluesman Spider John Koerner along with the usual cast of characters.  Enjoy the show. 

Classical pianist Chu Fang Huang will be at The Paramount Theater in downtown St. Cloud this Sunday at 2 PM.  MPR members get a discount on tickets.  Call 320-259-LINE.  I hope to see you there.

“It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out; it is the grain of sand in your shoe.”  Lloyd Perry

 What a week!  The people have spoken and hopefully we can all get along.  The problems we face are too grave to not try very hard to work together.  I just hope they get a dog from the pound instead of a puppy.  The carpet and rugs in The White House are likely to be expensive to replace. 

 Rapid City was hit with a couple of feet of snow, so get ready.  The deer hunters will be out on Saturday and my son is going to Rainy Lake to fish the river.  Woody is likely to be in his pub swapping stories about the big one that got away.  We might get some slush but nothing that will keep you from attending a FREE concert at The Paramount Theater in downtown St. Cloud.  Doug Wood, award-winning author of “Old Turtle” will be on stage at 7:30 this evening.  Come early and see the awesome artwork in the lobby.  www.paramountarts.org     

 The show this week is a live performance from The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.  Guests include the Dobro Daredevil, Jerry Douglas, grand champion fiddler Luke Bulla, singers Jearlyn Steele, Kari Shaw, Andra Suchy and Joanna Jahn along with the usual cast of characters.  Remember, there is a Friday night warm up show also.  Go to www.prairiehome.org

 “The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.”   Hubert H. Humphrey

 Next Tuesday you will have your chance to cast your vote.  Please take the time to go to the polls and who knows, you might have a chance to elect someone new who will work hard on your behalf. 

 The show this week is a live broadcast from The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.  Guests include the hard-driving string band, Pert’ Near Sandstone, Rich Dworsky and The Guy’s All Star Shoe Band plus the usual cast of characters.  You may still be able to get tickets to either the Friday night show or the Saturday show. 

 “Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be”.  Thomas a Kempis

In 1998 I had a chance to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.  I was able to find the name of the one young man from Upsala that died in that war.

Now, you can visit the half-size replica of the wall at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery near Little Falls.  It will be on display from today through Monday the 27^th. Tomorrow at 2 PM there will be a special program “honoring military men and women who have served our great country with honor and dignity”.  The location is 15550 Highway 115, Little Falls, MN 56345.  For more information go to www.themovingwall.org

The show this week is live from the Chapman Theater in Tulsa, Oklahoma with special guests, hot jazz, western swingers, The Hot Club of Cowtown and legendary blues roller Elvin Bishop along with the usual cast of characters.  Enjoy the show.

“Reason and calm judgment are the qualities of a leader”.  Tacitus