December 5th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
If you have not tried the direct flight from St. Cloud to Mesa, Arizona, I highly recommend that you do. Free parking, short lines, little stress, large planes all add up to a much less stressful trip. Bursch Travel arranged everything and with the smart phone app your boarding pass is just a swipe. The take off was delayed, but the pilot made up the time in-flight. The weather in Arizona was beautiful and the city of Chandler has many city parks that provided lots of places for us to visit with five year old Charlie. I am looking forward to another trip in April which will allow us to take in Sedona as well. Next we hope to take a trip to Chicago on an United flight. “You can get anywhere from the St. Cloud Regional Airport.”
The APHC show this week is the final show from New York this season. Special guests include Greenwich Village poet Edward Field, pianist and writer Jeremy Denk and singer Karan Casey. The Royal Academy of Radio Actors will team up with Garrison to bring us the skits that we come to love. I love Duane’s mother. Enjoy the show.
Next Tuesday the Celtic Tenors will be at The Paramount Theater in downtown St. Cloud. I will be working the table in the evening. Be sure to stop by and register for the door prizes. See you there. Paramountarts.org
“What we do upon some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.”
H.P. Liddon
November 21st, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
It could be worse, Grandma Anne could have gone to Buffalo, New York instead of St. Paul. It is hard to imagine 70 inches of snow in one week. I was mistaken, the Anderson brothers were not Norwegian bachelor farmers, they were Swedish bachelor farmers. Their father was a spinning wheel maker in Sweden. My sister has one of his creations in her house in Granite Falls. I would like to know the details of how two Swedish boys found two Norwegian sisters and what they must have said in the letters that prompted the sisters to make the voyage to America. Those letters may be in an attic somewhere.
The Stearns History Museum has a story in the “Crossings” magazine about letters written by Rosine Dietz to her son Christian. He left Germany when he was 16. He sailed on the SS Friesland from Antwerp on May 27, 1899, arriving in New York on June 6th. This year the St. Cloud Sons of Norway Trollheim Lodge will bring a touch of Scandinavia to the annual Kringle Fest at the Stearns History Museum on Sunday December 7th starting at 1 PM. Details are online at stearns-museum.org.
The APHC show this week is live from The Town Hall on West 43rd Street in Manhattan with vintage-pop singer Kat Edmonson, bandleader Vince Giordano, pianist and clarinetist Butch Thompson and actress Kate Beahen plus the latest News From Lake Wobegon. Enjoy the show.
Barby and I are traveling to Chandler, Arizona for Thanksgiving Dinner and to celebrate Charlie’s fifth birthday the day after. There will not be a note next week.
“Enthusiasm is the key not only to the achievement of great things but to the accomplishment of anything that is worthwhile.” Samuel Goldwyn
November 21st, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good chilly morning from Collegeville,
The onboard temp showed 2 degrees as I drove by the frozen lake this morning. Yuk!!! APMG/MPR does have public radio stations in both Florida and California. But, my children and grandchildren are here in Minnesota. All of this because my mother’s grandmother Anne Oien bought the story that Fredrick Anderson, a farmer near Cushing, Minnesota, told her in a letter that he wrote to her in Folldal, Norway. Anne and her sister took a steamer to New York City and then they boarded a train which took them to Chicago. There they transferred to a north bound train which arrived in Minneapolis. The Anderson brothers, a couple of Norwegian bachelor farmers, met them at the train station and before they could get back on the train to head south, they whisked them off to a justice of the peace. Oh, that they would have boarded the wrong train in Chicago and landed in Kentucky instead. I could have been a racing horse trainer or a bourbon whiskey taster.
The APHC show this week is at the other end of Minnesota. The show will be performed at the Mayo Civic Center Taylor Arena in Rochester. Special guests include the spirited bluegrass quintet Steep Canyon Rangers, Rochester’s own Choral Arts Ensemble, pianist Jane Belau and the APHC staff blues singer Hilary Thavis. (named after Father Hilary who offices next to me on the third floor of Wimmer Hall.) Plus, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Sue Scott, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman will join Garrison in a variety of skits. The newly named November Boys Orchestra will fill the bill. The News From Lake Wobegon will weave stories of life in a small town near Upsala.
“I have never seen a man who could do real work except under the stimulus of encouragement and enthusiasm and the approval of the people for whom he is working.” Charles M. Schwab
November 6th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good afternoon from Collegeville,
I have a special mission for tomorrow, so this is going out early. The Upsala-Swanville football team, the “USA Patriots”, are still in the playoffs. They will face Braham on Saturday in Brainerd. Should they win, the next playoff game will be in St. Cloud at the SCSU football field on Saturday the 15th. The championship game will be at the TCF Stadium where the Gophers and The Vikings play. The cold weather is going to keep me close to the radio.
The APHC show this week is a live show from the DECC in Duluth. Special guests include The California Honeydrops plus North Shore songstress Sarah Krueger, singer Lynn Peterson, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Fred Newman. Musical director Richard Dworsky will lead The November Boys Orchestra. The latest News from Lake Wobegon will bring us up to date on the Mist County town.
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” Lao Tzu
October 31st, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Happy Halloween! It is cool, clear and frosty here in central Minnesota this morning. I doubt if I will have many goblins coming to Millstream Village, but maybe I should put out a bowl with some of those tiny candy bars anyway. This is the note from Writer’s Almanac by Garrison Keillor:
“Today is All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween. The modern holiday comes from an age-old tradition honoring the supernatural blending of the world of the living and the world of the dead. Halloween is based on a Celtic holiday called Samhain. The festival marked the start of winter and the last stage of the harvest, the slaughtering of animals. It was believed that the dark of winter allowed the spirits of the dead to transgress the borders of death and haunt the living.
Eventually, Christian holidays developed at around the same time. During the Middle Ages, November 1 became known as All Saints’ Day, or All Hallows’ Day. The holiday honored all of the Christian saints and martyrs. Medieval religion taught that dead saints regularly interceded in the affairs of the living. On All Saints’ Day, churches held masses for the dead and put bones of the saints on display. The night before this celebration of the holy dead became known as All Hallows’ Eve. People baked soul cakes, which they would set outside their house for the poor. They also lit bonfires and set out lanterns carved out of turnips to keep the ghosts of the dead away. “
The Upsala Swanville football team is playing in the Fargo Dome at 3 pm today. They will be playing Royalton in the playoffs. Go USA Patriots!!
The APHC show this week will be a live broadcast from the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis. Special guests include the Scottish music institution Battlefield Band and hot jazz preservationist Vince Giordano. This will be the first Joke Show in many years. If you have a great joke, go to prairiehome.org and submit it for consideration.
“Man alone, of all the creatures on earth, can change his own pattern. Man alone is architect of his destiny. The greatest revolution in our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.” William James
October 24th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Fifteen years of service. There were 15 of us that were recognized by the MPR Board of Directors yesterday at MPR headquarters. After spending 23 years of selling in the office furniture industry and 6 years in the office equipment industry, I was unemployed and spending the summer of 1999 painting old buildings in the Upsala area. I drove to Randall and went to the back room at Bermel’s Store, the local Red Wing Boot dealer. I picked out a good pair of sturdy work boots and started climbing ladders. My first job was the Post Office in Upsala and then I did an out building on my cousin Dave’s farm. Per my brother Bill’s instructions, I used oil based primer and latex paint. He let me use his power washer. The two buildings that I did the summer of 1999 still look good. The boots are in pretty good shape too.
In August I read an ad in the St. Cloud Times for a “Development Officer” for Minnesota Public Radio. I didn’t know what a “Development Officer” was, but it turned out to be sales. A perfect fit. It took two months and seven interviews to get the job, but it worked out well. Compared to “slamming boxes for Xerox”, this is more fun than it is work. I may shoot for 25.
The APHC show this week is a re-broadcast of a show from October 1, 2011. Special guests include tenor Raul Melo, Cantus performing “Wanting Memories” and Heather Masse singing “Early Autumn”. In The News From Lake Wobegon, a big wind causes havoc all over town. Enjoy the show.
“It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul” From the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley.
October 17th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
MEA weekend is a special time of the year. Many a father/son(daughter) combo head for the woods or ponds to bring home the “bacon” in the form of grouse or duck. Larry, a friend of mine who died way too young, knew that I had never taken up hunting, but he wanted my son and myself to experience a weekend of grouse hunting, up north at “the shack”. He invited our friend Ron and his son Matt, my son’s best friend, to join him and his son Danny. So there were three dads and three sons along with a black lab, “Bear”. We formed two teams and I was the “bird dog” on the dads team. Bear went with the boys.
The first day we brought back 17 grouse and Larry fixed a meal of grouse with wild rice and mushroom soup in the giant iron skillet that hung from a nail in “the shack”. It was one of the most memorable feasts of my life. I trust that you are doing something special with your family this weekend. If you want to see examples of other hunting and fishing experiences go to theoutdoorreport.com My son Erik has just posted a video about fishing with artificial bait.
The APHC show this weekend is live from the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. The show will feature special guest jug band pioneer, Jim Kweskin and singer-songwriter Lera Lynn and Minnesota’s Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen. The Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Sue Scott, Tim Russell and Fred Newman will entertain you with a variety of skits. Enjoy the show.
“Do all you can, with what you have, in the time that you have, in the place where you are”. Okasi Johnson, 14 old aids patient in South Africa.
October 9th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good afternoon from Collegeville,
It is a bright sunny day here in central Minnesota. I have been fighting off a cold all week and I am fading fast, so this is going out early. The highlight of my week was baking a couple of Hubbard squash harvested from the garden in Upsala. Placing one half face down in a half inch of water and baking at 400 degrees for 60 minutes resulted in some of the meat not getting done enough to spoon out, so the second night I did the other half for 70 minutes. Still had some not done. Maybe I should cut them into smaller pieces and wrap them in tin foil. In any case, adding butter, honey and nutmeg made for a wonderful meal. I know that Kerry was able to harvest a bunch of Hubbards also, and she left the Butternut for me to make vegan soup.
Another highlight was waking at 5:19 yesterday to watch the total eclipse of the “Blood Moon”. Very cool. A once in a life time event perhaps. My buddy Bob dragged his two dogs out to witness, but they did not seem impressed. I guess it is a human thing.
The APHC show this week is a live performance from The Fitzgerald Theater on Exchange Street in downtown St. Paul. One of the greatest living guitar players, Leo Kottke will be there along with country singer Suzy Bogguss. The Royal Academy of Radio Actors and The Exchange Street Band with Rich Dworsky at piano, Richard Kriehn on fiddle, Dean McGraw on guitar, Chris Brown on drums and Todd Parks on bass will entertain. The latest News From Lake Wobegon will be sure to bring back memories of my days in Upsala.
“You are only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry, and be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” Walter Hagen
October 3rd, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
The word “snow” is in the forecast. Not nice. Hopefully there will be some Indian Summer yet this month. There are all those fall things that need to be done. I better make a trip to Upsala tomorrow to harvest the rest of the Butternut squash. The first batch of soup was awesome and this is perfect soup weather.
The St. John’s homecoming is tomorrow and the forecast is for sunshine and a high of 46. If the wind dies down, it should be ok. The Hamline Pipers are coming to Collegeville to take on the Johnnies. My son was a 26 year old defensive end for the Pipers in the fall of ’98. They called him “the old man” in the locker room. Erik loved the game of football and I only missed one of his games. I had to go to DC for Xerox training school. I too was “the old man” in that class. Xerox University is a leader in sales training and it did serve me well. Hamline won the game.
The APHC show this week is a live broadcast from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul. Special guests include the world-class bluegrass group, The Gibson Brothers and feel-good folksinger Ellis. The Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Fred Newman will join musical director Richard Dworsky and the newly minted “The Exchange Street Band” with Richard Kriehn on mandolin and fiddle, Dean McGraw on guitar, Chris Brown on drums and Todd Parks on bass. The News From Lake Wobegon will focus on the fall season. Enjoy the show.
Harper’s Chord is playing in Cold Spring at the Third Street Brewhouse later today. The featured event is “Pints for Pink” with food and pink beer made with raspberries and vanilla. I hope to see you there. The fun starts at 4 PM and goes until 8.
“There are two days in the week about which and upon which I never worry. Two carefree days, kept sacredly free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday and the other day I do not worry about is Tomorrow.” Robert Jones Burdette
September 26th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
Today is homecoming for the Upsala football team. In my day it was the Upsala Cardinals, but some time ago we merged with Swanville and now it is the USA (Upsala Swanville Area) Patriots.
Some of my favorite memories of football games are in the mud. I was an overweight freshman on the Upsala Cardinal team in 1957. We wore the old uniforms and helmets and we did not win any fashion awards. John Atkinson, a senior, was a running back who ran with his knees pumping up and down high and hard, but he still managed to make yardage. In practice, I would simply bounce off of his knees. The memory of the pain is still with me. That was the year when no other team even scored on the Upsala team. This past winter the 1957 Upsala football team was inducted into the Upsala Sports Hall of Fame.
Nine of the twenty-nine members of the 1957 Upsala Cardinal foot ball team showed up for their induction to the Sports Hall of Fame. One of the guys, Dave Chuba. came all the way from Ohio. Our quarterback, Bob Soltis, lives in Upsala, but he was not up to it. This is the second year that inductees were chosen. Bob’s brother Ralph was chosen last year and another brother John was a junior on the 1957 football team. John accepted a individual award for his brother Bob.
The APHC show this week is a rebroadcast of a show originally broadcast from The Fitzgerald Theater in September of 2013. Special guests include Vasen playing “Pulska for Tom Morrow”, Chris Thile performing a few Bach violin pieces translated from the mandolin and Chic Gamine singing “All Night”. In the News from Lake Wobegon, a bear visits the town, starting a debate over who will pay to have it removed. Enjoy the show.
Tomorrow night is the annual Gala at the Paramount Theatre in downtown St. Cloud. The Collective Unconscious will perform Abbey Road, celebrating 50 years of the Beatles. Special guest Nicholas David of NBC’s The Voice will perform. It all begins at 6 PM. I hope to see you there. Live auction items include a “meet and greet” with Clint Black. Tickets at paramountarts.org.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with the cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
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