FROM THE CORNER

BY DAVID JANKOSKI

Family and friends gathered at the Stanley Area Historical Society museum to "Celebrate the Life of Fred Evans" on Saturday, August14. Fred retired to Stanley in 1998, after a career of teaching in Department of Defense Schools across the world. While born in Stanley, his youth, and until after college graduation, was mostly spent in Sioux City, Iowa. I have often been asked, "Why did Fred retire in Stanley?" He came here to live in the historic Moon Park home that his grandparents built in 1906 and that he fondly remembered from many childhood visits and a few summers of extended stays with his grandparents. We were introduced to Fred by his aunt early on in his move to Stanley and in time became good friends. Our Friday night exploration of area eateries were legendary, some of them expensive as hell and not as good as some of the country bars that also served food and we frequented. While we took turns choosing where to eat on Friday nights, Fred's choice often was not revealed until we arrived on location. Many evenings we also spent playing a few games of cards – often following Friday fish. Fred's "Celebration of Life" included opportunities for sharing memories/stories. Many were stories of his touching lives throughout the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asian countries. If you ever had an extended conversation with Fred you came away with a story, or you learned something about a world location. His home reflected his world travels and his eclectic collection of home furnishings reflected his many life adventures. Fred's "Celebration of Life" taking place at the local museum was appropriate as during his nearly 23 years in Stanley he was a loyal museum volunteer and he served in a number of capacities that resulted in his leaving a mark on local history preservation.

*** Money management is a difficulty for many younger people and actually covers the spectrum of ages. I ran across an interesting approach to teaching children how to manage their money responsibly, and hopefully helping them get in the habit of saving money too. The article began by pointing out that when it comes to money there are two types of people, savers and spenders.

And each type has their extremes, savers who hoard as much of their income as they can, and they find it difficult to buy the things they really want and they may even feel guilty in buying the things they really need. At the other end are the spenders, whose money goes through their hands like water, and they are incapable of resisting impulse buying as all their purchases seem necessary, thus resulting in there never being any money. The irony is that savers often attract spenders in relationships. Money can teach a valuable lesson about oneself and life. I liked the story of how a father taught his children. Each child had three jars on their bedroom dresser. The first one was labeled savings, the second read spending and the third one charity. When the children earned money from doing chores, or were given money for special occasion by grandparents/relatives/ friends, ten percent was put in the charity jar, ten percent in the savings jar, and the remaining in the spending jar. This teaches powerful lessons from the habit being formed — savings 10 percent generally assures one to live in relative financial security and independence, giving 10 percent to charity helps one to learn to give to someone in need, or to a cause one believes in, and the jar marked spending allows spending for whatever one wants, which also allows for the valuable lesson that life is about the allocation of scarce resources. To me, this sounds like a good way to teach children that money is an asset. *** We had lunch with relatives in Thorp on Thursday, August 5.

The occasion resulted in our travel past the former site of Courtesy Ford. The site has been cleared and work is being done to prepare for the building of a Kwik Trip. I am told that the opening date has been moved up to sometime in January 2022. The new store's employees will be trained at the Stanley Kwik Trip. Kwik Trip seems to be moving east with its chain of stores. There is also a rumor that a Kwik Trip will be built near the Highway 29 exit at Withee. To my knowledge, there has not been any announcement regarding this rumor.

*** On Saturday, August 7 we traveled to Owen via County Highway X and saw the yellow ribbons all along the Yellowstone Trail. Certainly the efforts lead by Sheila Nyberg, Director of the Clark County Economic Development and Tourism Bureau was fruitful, as her agency provided the yellow ribbon for each community. Efforts of the town's people lead to the trail being marked with the yellow bows. I don't know what the reception of the convoy was in other parts of the state but they certainly were given memories of their visits to Stanley, Thorp, Withee, Owen, and Abbotsford. *** The Military Convoy, that stopped in Stanley on July 31, got coverage in the four weekly newspapers published between Stanley and Abbotsford. The Thorp paper had a collage of pictures taken at the Stanley stop that was very well done, the two Owen newspapers reported on the pass through, and the Abbotsford paper had what about equaled a page of coverage. Interestingly, the Abbotsford paper reported, "Before arriving in Abbotsford on Saturday, (John) Varner (convoy coordinator) said the group was treated to lunch at the veterans memorial park in Stanley, which drew 5,000 people." Either 5,000 was misprint, or I saw a different convoy. There were more likely 500 spectators in Stanley according to my estimate. *** Smile time. Here are some jokes for the grand kids. Why did the man give up being a taxi driver? There was to much talking behind his back. +++ Did you hear about the restaurant on the moon? Great food, but no atmosphere. +++ What's a snake's strongest subject? Hiss-tory. +++ What musical instrument is found in the bathroom? A tuba toothpaste. +++ Where did Captain Hook purchase his hook? A local second hand store. +++ Where do ghosts prefer to swim? Lake Eerie. +++ What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear? +++ What's black and white and goes around and around? A penguin in a revolving door. +++ Why did the sausage quit playing baseball? He was the wurst on his team. +++ What do you call a cow that just gave birth? Decalfeinated. +++ What did the drummer name his twin daughters? Anna 1 Anna 2. +++ Did you hear the joke about the roof? Never mind, it's over your head. +++ What do you call a rabbit with fleas? Bugs Bunny. +++ What do you call a BBQ by the pool? A swim meat. +++ Why shouldn't you tell secrets in a cornfield? There are to many ears. +++ When Sunday and Monday get into a fight, who typically wins? Sunday, because Monday is a week-day. +++ When should baseball players wear armor? When they play knight games. +++ Who invented fractions? Henry the 1/8th.