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In August of 1953, I celebrated my tenth birthday on a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean. My mother and I , along with my three siblings, were returning from a three year stint as U.S. Army dependents stationed in Vienna, Austria. My Dad was held over in Vienna and when he arrived in Upsala a few weeks later, Ma along with my youngest brother Brian age 2, were in New Ulm visiting her cousin Helen. Dad borrowed a brand new 1954 Chevy from Uncle Duke who owned Hagstrom Chevrolet in Upsala and my brother Bill and I rode with him to New Ulm.

I was napping in the back seat, and I woke up when our car was broadsided by a dump truck. I had a broken leg. I still can remember the pain when they were putting me on the X-Ray table at the hospital in Cokato. The cast was from my toes to my crotch. I was in the hospital for a few weeks and when it came time for my release, Dad took me to the Dokken Funeral Home in Cokato. Uncle Elmer and his wife Ethyl operated the funeral home, and their living quarters were on the second floor.  I had to spend the night on a cot on the main floor of the funeral home. There were coffins in the next room.

The next day they transported me to Upsala in a black Studebaker hearse. That explains a lot, huh!  I spent the next few months on a cot in the dining room.  I gained 30 pounds due to Gram’s over feeding and my lack of activity.

“Any idiot can face a crisis; it is the day-to-day living that wears you out”.  Chekov

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For a while I served on the board of Minnesota Fishing Museum and Hall of Fame in Little Falls.  One of the newest board members is Diane Scott. Diane was nominated for the Hall of Fame in 2025. She lives in on a ranch in Hillman.  She competed as a co-angler in the Nation Walleye Tour in 2023.  Her favorite fish to target is walleye. Diane served on the Women Anglers of Minnesota board, and she also is a member of the board of directors of Future Anglers of Minnesota.

In 2025 she focused on getting her grandson Callan to bass competitions. He participated in the Lund Virtual Tournaments and the BATS Bassinator Anglers Tournaments Series.

On Friday, February 13^th Callan will be helping to raise funds for Adult & Teen Challenge Minnesota in Brainerd.  All you need to do is click on this link,    https://linktr.ee/callanwagner#533710582

You can pledge $1 per fish or simply donate any amount that you are willing to.   

“Fishing is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.” 

John Buchan

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59 years have passed since a telegram arrived at our studio on the third floor of Wimmer Hall on the campus of St. John’s University, authorizing KSJR to go on the air.  The first KSJR radio broadcast was in the evening of January 22, 1967. The first line uttered by engineer Dan Rieder was, “Heed my words, Earth People. You have 10 minutes to live.” The first classical music selection aired was a pre-recorded concert by the Cleveland Orchestra. What began as Minnesota Education Radio became Minnesota Public Radio on January 1, 1975. 

Since then, MPR has grown to a network of 45 radio stations reaching more than 930,000 weekly listeners. MPR has earned nearly 1,000 broadcasting and journalism awards, including seven George Foster Peabody Awards, six Robert F. Kennedy Journalism awards, a prestigious Alfred I duPont Columbia University Gold Baton Award and a Grammy Award. Programs and podcasts produced by Minnesota Public Radio’s parent company American Public Media Group, reach over 17 million listeners each week. 

This is one version of how Bill Kling was selected to lead the creation of what has become the largest network of public radio stations in the United States. It was written by our first Collegeville Studio intern, Ellen Newkirk.

“The Saint John’s University monks chose Bill Kling to help start their public radio station, Minnesota Education Radio, because of his “bright mind” – literally. SJU graduate Marty Mahowald tells the story of Bill Kling’s selection as the station’s first leader as told by his professor Fr. Gunther Rolfson. In the 1960s, Saint John’s had a mandatory lights-out policy at 10pm when the faculty residents would flip a switch that turned off all power on each floor of the residence halls. However, one evening, during a walk around campus , Fr. Gunther noticed a light illuminating from a single room in Benet Hall.

The next day, Fr. Gunther used a master key to enter the room and found a system rigged to keep the power on after the switch was flipped each night. The room belonged to Bill Kling. Eventually, the monks decided Kling’s innovative and determined spirit was just what they needed for their new endeavor. According to Mahowald, Fr. Gunther said: “We knew that starting a new campus radio station would present struggles, budget challenges and many other issues to deal with and it would take someone with a lot of moxie to lead it through to success.” It turned out to be a very good decision; Kling served as president of Minnesota Public Radio until 2010 and created one of the greatest public radio station networks in the country.”  Ellen Newkirk, CSB, Class of 2013.

“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping-stone. Close the door on the past.  You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.”  Johnny Cash    

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Comments Off on January 23, 2026

“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.  Happiness = 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

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Comments Off on January 16, 2026

Many years ago, my dad went to work as a dishwasher at Little Sisters of the Poor in St. Paul. His boss was a woman named Maxine. They became real good friends. Her family also referred to him as Grandpa Bill. Maxine and Dad never lived together, but they ended up living a few floors apart in the same high-rise apartment building next to St. Paul Ramsey Hospital on University Avenue. When Maxine died, I attended the funeral, and Dad surprised me by asking me to sing “The Lord’s Prayer” and “Amazing Grace” during the service. There was no piano, so I had to sing “a Capella”. It was ok.

One of the pieces of furniture that Dad brought with him when he moved into my house in Upsala was a corner unit with glass shelves and a curved glass door that had belonged to Maxine. Her family had given it to him. After Dad passed in 2005, I set out to clean his room.

One of the items in the corner cabinet was a small green egg with silver decorations and a seam abound the middle. I was curious to see what treasure was inside, but when I pried it open, expecting to find a Russian doll, what came out were ashes! “OH MY GOD! IT WAS MAXINE!”. I spilled a little in my haste to put it back together and I quickly put it back into the curio.

A few years later my daughter bought the house from me. Every summer Kerry and her mother would have a garage sale. It happened again to Marcia while she was helping my daughter gather items for the garage sale.  After that I decided to dig a hole next to my dad’s grave at Gethsemane Church in Upsala and bury the “egg” before there was nothing left of Maxine. 

“Tell me, what else should I have done?  Doesn’t everything die at last and too soon?  Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” 

From The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

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Comments Off on January 9, 2026

I consider myself in recovery. I quit drinking ‘Old Grand Dad’ in 1976. I am also a “recovering entrepreneur”. I couldn’t work for the man; I had to be the man.

Lastly, I am also a “recovering jerk”. It is the last one that is the hardest to deal with. I have been known to grow very impatient with lines. Lottery ticket sales drive me nuts. I love the self-serve gas pumps with swipe card capability. To help me deal with these defects of character, I have adopted a morning reading ritual.

This one I stole from Dear Abby. It is usually published in the local newspaper every New Years Day.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will live through this day only. I will not brood about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I will not set far-reaching goals or try to overcome all my problems at once. I know that I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
JUST FOR TODAY: I will be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will chase them away and fill it with sunshine.
JUST FOR TODAY: I will accept what is. I will face reality. I will correct those things I can correct and accept those I cannot.
JUST FOR TODAY: I will improve my mind. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. I will not be a mental loafer.
JUST FOR TODAY: I will make a conscious effort to be agreeable. I will be kind and courteous to those who cross my path, and I’ll not speak ill of others. I will improve my appearance, speak softly, and not interrupt when someone else is talking.
JUST FOR TODAY, I will refrain from improving anybody but myself.
JUST FOR TODAY: I will do something positive to improve my health. If I’m a smoker, I’ll quit. If I am over-weight, I will eat healthfully, if only just for today. And not only that, but I will also get off the couch and take a brisk walk, even if it’s only around the block.
JUST FOR TODAY: I will gather the courage to do what is right and take responsibility for my own actions.

“Great results cannot be achieved at once, we must be satisfied in life as walk, step by step.”  Samuel Smiles

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Comments Off on January 2, 2026

This true store was first told by Gary Gilson.  Gary is a Twin Cities writing coach who at one time taught journalism at Colorado College.  He can be reached at www.writebetterwithgary.com  

“I knew a New Yorker named Phil who worked in Manhattan’s Diamond District, along 47^th Street between 5^th and 6^th Avenues. He traveled to and from work by subway from his home in the Bronx every weekday for years. 

One day, in the week before Christmas, Phil entered the subway car on his way home and, as a veteran rider, immediately sensed something was off: only one passenger in the car, a drunken, disheveled man, ranting and cursing and flailing his arms against the world. 

Phil felt tension in the air.  Then he noticed a group of passengers huddled at one end of the car, cringing in fear.  Phil went right over to the man, sat down, put his arm around the man’s shoulders, and began to sing “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…”

The man slowly calmed down, and soon he was singing along with Phil, “where the treetops glisten, and children listen…”

And then, just as slowly, the passengers at the end of the car started drifting toward Phil and the man, gathered around them and joined in singing, “with every Christmas card I write..”

And they all kept belting out holiday songs as the train barreled northward toward the Bronx.

These people had never known each other before, and now they were singing, laughing, and hugging, if only for this brief moment in time.  They were so connected that some riders chose to stay on the train past their stops.

The troubled man brightened; he seemed to be feeling part of something larger than himself. And all it took was an arm around the shoulders, a familiar song, a gathering of humanity and, above all, a man named Phil.”   

Thank you to Gary Gilson for allowing me to share this Christmas story.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

“The real messages of hope in our generation are not those to be bounced from the moon, but those to be reflected from one human heart to another.  Kenneth S Wills  

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Comments Off on December 26, 2025

Six days until Christmas. I have my shopping done and now I simply must pace myself on the cookies and candy.

Children love Christmas, as well they should. As with most families, some years, Christmas gifts were easy to come by and some years the budget would not allow for much. The Christmas of 1956 was a memorable one for me. My mother had to move from our home in St. Louis Park due to Dad’s inability to handle booze. Ma’s mother, Grandma Laura Ramlo, drove her 1952 Chevy from Upsala to 1620 Colorado Avenue South in St. Louis Park, put Dad in the back seat and drove him to the VA Hospital in south Minneapolis. She told them, “He is a veteran, he is a drunk and he is your problem, not mine”.  Then she took us all back to Upsala to live in the apartment above Ramlo Grocery in Upsala.

I am not sure what the reason was for our ending up living in an apartment in Little Falls in December. It had something to do with getting financial aid. 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. This was a perfect gift for a family with five boys. I was 13 years old and brother Bill was 10. We played with them non-stop. I am not sure what my sister Kathie got from Santa that year.

For many years I had the impression that they were from some sort of social agency that served the poor. It turned out that “Santa” was Dewey Johnson, a classmate of my mother’s from Upsala High School class of ’37. Dewey’s cousin was one of the founders of Tonka Toys. Dewey had already passed on before I learned the “rest of the story”, so I never did have a chance to thank him.

Perhaps you know of a family that has come upon hard times, and they could use a “Secret Santa” this year.  

“We are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas time”.

Laura Ingalls Wilder    

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Comments Off on December 19, 2025

My first-born granddaughter, Kaylin Marie, started drawing pictures when she was very young.  In 2002 Kaylin decided to draw a picture of a Christmas tree for her grandmother Marcia.  Somehow, the Christmas tree became an angel blowing a horn. I was amazed that a seven-year-old could make the Angel’s cheek look like it was puffed out, blowing the horn. I borrowed the drawing from Marcia and used it to make my first Angel Christmas card.   Every year after that I would ask Kaylin to draw an angel to use for my Christmas Angel card.  (2002 photo attached).

Five years later Kaylin started with a photo of her younger sister Christen and my son’s daughter Anna as a basis for the angel card.  She added some wings and halos and that was the Angel Card 2007. 

Shortly after this, Kaylin decided to retire. The next year Christen drew her first angel.  She was only five years old. Christen has drawn the Christmas Angels ever since then.  The comparison of her very first angel and the one that she drew in 2024 is amazing.  I am looking forward to the 2025 version. 

Thank you, Kaylin, and Christen.  Oh, and Marcia too.      

The St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra will be performing their Children’s Holiday Concert this Sunday afternoon at 1.  The Festival of Frolic and Reflection concert will be performed at 3:30 pm.  All the Symphony Orchestra concerts are performed in Ritsche Auditorium at St. Cloud State University. Tickets are available at www.stcloudsymphony.com or at the door.   

Also, The George Maurer Group annual Christmas Show is at The Paramount Theater this coming Monday at 7:30. Tickets are available at www.paramountarts.org   “Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets

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Comments Off on December 12, 2025

It looks like the ice on the pond is not going to be very safe for a while.  Do not go out there unless you are with a buddy and be sure to check the ice often.  When I was a youth in Upsala, we used to drag race our cars across the ice on Cedar Lake west of Upsala. To my knowledge, no one ever went through the ice. We got away with a lot of stupid things as kids.  One winter we made a game of standing on the hood from an old DeSoto, using it as a giant snowboard as we were towed in the ditch behind a car.  Dumb and dumber.

After a heavy snow we would party by driving into the Burtrum Hills with our old cars,  just to try and get stuck.  These were not SUVs; we had a 1954 and a 1952 Chevy. We simply packed a lot of boys in the cars with snow shovels in the trunk and went for it.  My sister Kathie and one of my classmates both ended up in casts after a toboggan run down a steep hill in the Burtrum Hills.

Try to not let your young children read these Friday notes.

Great River Chorale is presenting “On This Silent Night”, tonight at Church of Saint Joseph in downtown St. Joseph at 7:30.  Sunday’s performance is at 4pm in Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Cloud.  Tickets can be purchased at www.greatriverchorale.org  or at the door.  I hope to see you there.

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.”   Seneca

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Comments Off on December 5, 2025