September 19th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
The squash is looking good. I once had to pay $7 for a large Butternut squash at Target, so it is nice to see them just laying on the ground. There is nothing better than making Alyssa’s Vegan Squash Soup on a Sunday afternoon. The horseradish refuses to die, so maybe in the spring one of you would like to harvest a little bit. This has been a great year for lawn growth, except it is hard to grow grass under walnut trees. Maybe a truck load of river rock is the way to go.
MPR Connects is coming to town. Movie Maven Stephanie Curtis is the special guest. She is heard on MPR’s The Daily Circuit and co-hosts Cube Critics. She will talk about the changing state of Hollywood and how to improve your experience as a film goer. Dave Kansas, the COO of Minnesota Public Radio, will also be at MPR Connects.
When: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 Time: 5:30 – 7 pm. Where: Holiday Inn and Suites , 75 37th Avenue South, St. Cloud. The event is free, but you should register at mpr.org/stcloud. I hope to see you there.
The APHC show on Saturday is a live broadcast from The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. It is the annual season opener and Meatloaf Supper and Street Dance. Special guests include pioneering bluegrass quartet Hot Rize, songwriter Sara Watkins, harmonica revolutionary Howard Levy and singer Lynn Peterson. Even if you can’t make it to the show at 5 PM, you can enjoy the supper and street dance afterwards. Garrison and the gang will be on the outdoor stage and you may even enter the “Loon Calling Contest”.
“Dreaming about a thing in order to do it properly is right; but dreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong.” Oswald Chambers
September 12th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegville,
It is a beautiful crisp morning here in central Minnesota. The temp fell below 40 degrees for the first time. Fall is just around the corner. My daughter has lots of Butternut Squash and loads of tomatoes in “our garden”. All I did was plant the Yukon Golds and the seeds for the squash. This is the second time that I have planted Butternut, I chose them because they are the easiest to remove the skin from. The Vegan Squash Soup recipe from Barby’s daughter calls for “cubed squash”. There was some sort of blight on the Yukon Golds. It was necessary to cut around the holes and even the baked potato that I fixed this week had a spot in the middle. Next year I will try a different source for the seed potatoes.
It has been a year since Auntie passed. There are many stories to tell about Auntie, but my favorite came from her son Kevin. They had been visiting Kevin’s uncle in Alexandria and Kevin told Auntie that he wanted to get back to Upsala so he could watch the Preakness. The speed limit on County Road 17 is 55, so Kevin was doing 60. Auntie said, “You drive slow Kevin”. Kevin stepped it up a bit and a little while later, Auntie spoke up again. “We’ll never get there at this speed.”. “Ma, I don’t want to get a ticket.” , but he dutifully stepped it up again. There was silence for a while and then: “ Kevin, why don’t you just pull over and let me drive”. Kevin owns a four wheel drive pickup. Auntie was 91 years young. We miss you Auntie.
The APHC show this week is the final summer break repeat, from June of 2012 at the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Arlo Guthrie plays “Oklahoma Hills”, the DiGiallonardo Sisters harmonize on “Because”, and Heather Masse sings “He’s Gone Away.” In the News From Lake Wobegon, the meanest woman in town passes away. Enjoy the broadcast, and remember, it is rebroadcast on “Heartland Radio” on the internet on Wednesday evening. Get the iPhone app.
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” Steve Jobs
September 5th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
I never have been much of a fisherman. When I was young, Dad was not around and besides, I was too busy as a juvenile delinquent getting into trouble in Upsala to care about fishing. Then in 1973 we bought a place on Cedar Lake west of Upsala and the next spring, I purchased a rod and reel. The warehouse manager at General Office Products, Earl Benson, instructed me on the art of bass fishing. Erik was only 2 years old when we started fishing out of brother-in-law Jackie’s boat. We mastered the art.
Every June the five Osberg brothers, plus Erik and his son Willie go fishing on Leech Lake. There is a traveling trophy for the largest walleye. Needless to say, my name has never been on the trophy. But this year, Erik and I returned to Cedar Lake and I landed a 17 inch bass in front of the place that we used to own. I was going to have a ‘bass trophy’ made with my name on it and I planned on bringing it to Leech next June, but alas, on Labor Day, my 10 year old granddaughter Anna, caught a 19 inch bass on another Cedar Lake near Aitkin. A photo is attached. Maybe next year.
The APHC show this week is another re-broadcast of a show recorded in March of 2013 at the Fitzgerald Theatre. Special guests include Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell singing “Till I Gain Control Again”. Heather Masse and Jed Wilson sing “Ring Them Bells” and Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele shake the Fitz with “Hold On, I’m Coming”. In the News From Lake Wobegon, Pastor Liz and Clint Bunsen spend some time together while digging a grave for Liz Tollefson. Enjoy the show.
“What every child wants to know is: ‘Do your eyes light up when I enter the room? Did you hear me and did what I say mean anything to you?’ That’s what they are looking for. That is what everybody is looking for” Toni Morrison
August 29th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good rainy morning from Collegeville,
Labor Day weekend may be wet. Our family is lucky enough to have a cabin to go to every year. The main attraction every year is the food anyway, so no big deal. Dominos and a game of Hearts will have to suffice. The kids may get a little bored, but there is not much you can do about the weather.
Today is MPR Day at The State Fair so bring your poncho. One year Ma and I went to the fair, just the two of us. She was slowing down, but she wanted to see the “Sand Castle Exhibit” that she had read about. We used the park and ride and it was a very enjoyable day. She talked a lot about the year that she and her sister, took their seven children to the fair and how much fun they had.
The APHC show this week is a broadcast of tonight’s live performance from the Grandstand at the State Fair. Special guests include transcendent vocalist Aoife O’Donovan and the North Star State’s singing sisters Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele. The Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Fred Newman will perform skits that are sure to entertain. Richard Dworsky heads up the band with Richard Kriehn on mandolin and fiddle. The latest News From Lake Wobegon will focus on the end of summer. Enjoy the show. If you have the MPR Radio app on your smart phone, you can catch the APHC show Wednesday evenings on the Radio Heartland stream.
“Dost thou love Life? Then do not squander Time; for that is the stuff Life is made of.” Benjamin Franklin
August 22nd, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
This week my oldest granddaughter will be moving into her very first apartment. She will be setting up household starting from scratch, just like her forefathers and foremothers. In the sixties the trend with the Upsala kids was to rent a house and get a bunch of roommates. She will be by herself. It is a nice apartment just a stone’s throw from a Coborns grocery. Very convenient.
I roomed with a buddy, Arnie, in Minneapolis, in a home owned by a classmate of his, Virgil. Virgil had a very nice console TV/Stereo and whenever he went home to Upsala, he would but a chain and padlock on it. We did not get along. Once we had a wrestling match in the Upsala liquor store. I lost that one too. The summer of 1965 I rented a room in an old mansion on Lake Calhoun Boulevard owned by a widow, for $10 per week. That was a nice place. I put the Chevy on blocks and walked every day and took a bus to work in NE Minneapolis at the Honeywell Stinson Plant. I think there is a song about the summer of ’65. I lost fifty pounds.
The APHC show this week is another rebroadcast, originally broadcast from the Cuthbert Amphitheatre in Eugene, Oregon in June of 2012. Special guests include Elvin Bishop singing “That’s My Thing”, Sam Bush performing “Freight Train Boogie” and the Portland Cello project plays “Take Five”. In the News From Lake Wobegon Luanne Peterson copes with the arrival of a new patient in the pediatric intensive care unit.
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau
August 8th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
I am a recovering entrepreneur. I couldn’t work for the man, I had to be the man. Every one of the attempts failed. I read in an in-flight magazine, that 25% of the population are “risk-takers”. All of the entrepreneurs come out of this group as do all of the criminals. I am not sure where I inherited the trait since neither of my parents were entrepreneurs, but my mother’s brother Eldon was. I was a juvenile delinquent. My first attempt was Draftech, Inc. a contract drafting service run out of my basement in our home in Coon Rapids. It was not long before I went to work selling office supplies and furniture for General Office Products. My second attempt was an energy management company “Office Environmental Systems”. My office was in the Allstate building behind the car wash on Division Street in St. Cloud. I was probably the only one in the state out there on straight commission trying to sell computerized energy management systems to owners of large office buildings. I sold three systems in three years and then back to selling office furniture.
Now I am able to help other entrepreneurs to “get the word out”. There is a family in Brooten, Minnesota making cheese curds on their farm. On Tuesday I drove to the Redhead Creamery. It reminded me of the movie “Field of Dreams”. I brought along a fresh loaf of St. John’s bread and the owners and I broke bread and wrapped the slices over freshly processed cheese curds. It was wonderful! The milk was still in the cows that morning. Simply Google “Redhead Creamery” and follow the MapQuest directions. Enjoy the trip and enjoy the curds. You should call ahead.
The APHC show this week is another summer rebroadcast, a repeat of the April 14, 2012 show from The Town Hall in New York City. Renee Fleming sings “The Scarlet Tide” the Punch Brothers play “Patchwork Girlfriend” and Heather Masse and Aoife O’Donovan team up for “Time’s a Hoax”. In the News From Lake Wobegon, Bud learns a lesson about friendship while putting the dock in the lake.
“You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give”. Eleanor Roosevelt.
August 1st, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
26 years ago I took a job in Charlotte, North Carolina. I was the General Manager of an office furniture dealership, Contren. The deal came with a company car and a “Motorola Brick”, a cell phone. The thing weighed about 5 pounds. It was very handy and when I came back to Minnesota for summer vacation, it even worked from the picnic table down by the lake. The only thing that you could do on the “brick” was to make or receive telephone calls.
Last weekend I was at Brother Brian’s cabin with my son and his family plus another friend, Joe and his family. One of Joe’s teenagers showed me how to download a video, taken on my iPhone, to YouTube. It took her all of five minutes. It is a miracle! If you want to see Joe’s son Joseph catching a bass and watch the body language of my grandson Willie as he waits for Joseph to land the fish, all you have to do is type “Gary Osberg Joseph’s Bass” in the queue on YouTube. Those folks at Apple are very cool.
The APHC show this week is another great re-run from the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Special guests include Sheryl Crow, Martin Sheen, k.d. Lang and Heather Masse sings “Midnight Sun”. In the News From Lake Wobegon, Pastor Ingqvist counsels prospective newlyweds. Enjoy the show.
“Aside from the strictly moral standpoint, honesty is not only the best policy, but the only possible policy from the standpoint of business relations. The fulfillment of the pledged word is of equal necessity to the conduct of all business. If we expect and demand virtue and honor in others, the flame of both must burn brightly within ourselves…honesty begets honesty; trust, trust; and so on through the whole category of desirable practices that govern and control the world’s affairs.” James F. Bell
July 25th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good rainy morning from Collegeville,
Barby and I shared the very first Yukon Gold last weekend. I pulled a large weed that I had missed and the potato came with it. Even though I did not get them planted until very late, they are doing well. This year Kerry suggested that we get rid of the horseradish, so we had the farmer plow it under. With a lot of persistence on her part, the roots are dwindling. Now it is much easier to keep the weeds under control. I should have been up there last evening to run the tiller but instead I worked the MPR promo table at the last show of the Sunset Stages series on campus of the College of St. Benedict.
Robert Robinson and his group performed and they were the perfect way to end the season. Robert had all 500 or so folks on their feet singing the parts to his final number. He patiently taught the sopranos, altos and basses in order. When I left, there was still a line of fans buying his CD’s, autographed by Robert. Place this series on your calendar for next year. In early June simply go to csbsju.edu/finearts and the program highlights will be there. Three great organizations sponsor the event, Dr. Gustavo Pena and his new fitness center The Club on highway 23, D.J. Bitzan Jewelers and Collegeville Community Credit Union. Be sure to thank them when you visit their places of business.
The APHC show this week is another re-broadcast of a show originally performed June 30, 2007 at the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Special guests include James Taylor, violinist James Laredo, Sharon Robinson and Inga Swearingen. In the News From Lake Wobegon, the Hansen’s dove-breeding business goes awry.
“You are not merely here to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” Woodrow Wilson
July 18th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
The scene is the parking lot of the credit union after Walter White has withdrawn cash and handed it to Jesse Pinkman with instructions to buy the RV so that they can start cooking meth. Jesse: “Yo, Mr. White, tell me why you’re doing this?” Mr. White: “Why do you do it?” Jesse: “Money”. Mr. White: “There you go” Jesse: “Nah! Someone like you with a giant stick up his ___, at age 60, just goes out and breaks bad? It doesn’t make sense!” Mr. White: “I’m 50.”
I have just started watching ‘Breaking Bad’ for the second time. After my own brush with the “Big C”, the show takes on a different angle. The viewer is torn between empathy for the high school teacher, with lung cancer, gone bad and disdain for his illegal activity and the lives he wrecks.
In my case, what I thought was a liver spot on my chin turned out to be “Lentigo Maligna, cannot exclude focal lentigo maligna melanoma”. I was visiting my doctor for a rash on my arm and he suggested that I have the dermatologist take a look at the brown spot on my chin. On May 12th Dr. Labine did a scrape and on the Friday of Memorial weekend, I spent the day at the St. Cloud Hospital Surgical Center. At 6:30 that evening they wheeled me out to Barby’s car and sent me on my way. I looked like Frankenstein. They had also cut into my neck to take out a lymph node just to be sure. The results are all good. No melanoma was detected. The lesson my children is: Get it checked out. Don’t put it off.
The APHC show this week is a rebroadcast of a show from June 4, 1994 celebrating the re-opening of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Special guests include the Everly Brothers singing “Blues Stay Away From Me” and Chet Atkins plays “Mystery Train”, plus music from Vince Gill, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mark O’Connor and an appearance by the Hopeful Gospel Quartet. The News From Lake Wobegon features the opening of the Whippets baseball season. Enjoy the show.
“No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear.” George MacDonald
July 11th, 2014 by Gary Osberg
Good rainy morning from Collegeville,
The 29th annual Osberg/Hagstrom Golf Open was held last Saturday at the Little Falls Country Club. My mother’s sister, Leone, Auntie to me, married Duane Hagstrom, owner of Hagstrom Chevrolet in Upsala, Minnesota. Between the two sisters there are 10 of us children. This was the first get-together without Auntie. She was greatly missed. Auntie’s youngest, Kevin, is a very good golfer and for many years he and I won the best ball event every year. There was a time when you had to use at least one drive and one putt for each of the team members. Now there are no such rules. There is a traveling trophy with the names of the winning team engraved on a brass plate. Kevin and I are due. It has been a while. This year my sister’s husband Duaine led his team to victory. After golf we gather at my brother Bill’s house for a picnic and the award ceremony. We are fortunate to have tradition in our family.
Rupert showed up at the Sunset Stages event last night on the College of St. Benedict campus. Rupert is a performance act that just shows up on occasion. He was very entertaining. He crashed The New Standards, a trio from Minneapolis. They were awesome and this time the rain held off. I will have a table at next week’s event also. The Great River Jazz Collective will entertain beginning at 7:30. This is a free event and the root beer floats are only $3. See you there.
The APHC show this week is a rebroadcast of a classic from way back on November 23, 1985 from Bridges Auditorium at the Claremont College in Claremont, California. Special guests include Willie Nelson, Chet Atkins, Johnny Gimble, Peter Ostroushko and Butch Thompson. Tom Keith performs his version of “Turkey in The Straw” plus in the News From Lake Wobegon, Senator K. Thorvaldson’s mysterious love Laura comes to town to meet his family.
“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
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