It is good to be home from a nine day trip that took us to sites in Berea, KY, St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, Savannah, GA, Beaufort, SC, Pooler, GA, Columbia, SC, and Cincinnati, OH. Being a …
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It is good to be home from a nine day trip that took us to sites in Berea, KY, St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, Savannah, GA, Beaufort, SC, Pooler, GA, Columbia, SC, and Cincinnati, OH. Being a history buff, I was most interested in two museums we visited. The first was the Paris Island Museum, which contained a very well done Marine Corps history of the training base located there. A great video introduced the rigorous training that Marine recruits go through in order to qualify as a graduate. We were told that six percent of male recruits don’t pass and thirteen percent of females don’t complete the training. The other great visit was to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, OH, which featured the history of slavery and the runaways who made their way to Ohio, on their way to Canada where they could gain their freedom. Always nice to go and always nice to be home! *** This little story is dedicated to all my friends who are like me, realizing it is time to slow down and enjoy the rest of the trip. Dedicated to all seniors. You know, old age comes at such a bad time. It is when you finally know everything, then you start to forget everything, then you start to forget everything you know! * The pilot of the fighter jet slows down, flies alongside the Air bus and greets the pilot of the passenger plane by radio: “Airbus, boring flight isn't it?" "Now have a look here." He rolls his jet on its back, accelerates, breaks through the sound barrier rises rapidly to a dizzying height, and then swoops down almost to sea level in a breathtaking dive. He loops back next to the Airbus and asks, "Well, how was that?" The Airbus pilot answers: "Very impressive, but now you look!” The jet watches the Airbus, but nothing happens. It continues to fly stubbornly straight, with the same speed. After 15 minutes, the Airbus pilot radios, “Well, how was that?" Confused, the jet pilot asks, "What did you do?" The Airbus pilot laughs and says, “I got up, stretched my legs, walked to the he back of the aircraft to use the washroom, then got a cup of coffee and a chocolate fudge pastry.” The moral of the story is: when you are young, speed and adrenaline seem to be great. But as you get older and wiser, you learn that comfort and peace are more important. This is called S.O.S.: Slower, Older, Smarter. *** Did you know these tidbits of information? An ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated. * Butterflies taste with their feet. * An Ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain. * An estimated one billion people – roughly 15 percent of the global population – live with some form of disability. * I wonder who comes up with some of this stuff? *** When I was a stamp collector, I used to look yearly for the annual Duck Stamp. The beauty of them far surpassed any regular stamps that were going on sale back then. Recently, I noted that for the sixth time, Minnesota artist Joseph Hautman was the winner of the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest. Hautman lives at Plymouth, MN. His painting of three tundra swans flying over a wetland won the contest and will be on the 2023-2024 Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp. The “Duck Stamp” sells for $25 and raises approximately $40 million to support conservation efforts to protect wetland habitat in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Wisconsin resident Frank Mittelstadt, of Beaver Dam, placed second in the contest. *** Local information: Did you realize that Mead Lake, located in Clark County, is a 310 acre lake that has a maximum depth of 18 feet. The lake has public access landings. Fish include Musky, Panfish, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass and Walleye. Mead Lake County Park promotes a family camping atmosphere. It is located 14.5 miles from Stanley. * Rock Dam Lake, also located in Clark County, is an 118 acre lake that has a maximum depth of 10 feet. Rock Dam is located 17.9 miles from Stanley. Both are reached off County Highway M south of Thorp. *** Were you ever fortunate enough to have visited Elmer’s Auto and Toy Museum, when it was located near Fountain City? If you didn’t, you missed seeing Elmer Duellman’s lifetime of collecting many national museum quality metal toys, a large collec- tion of pedal cars and many fine automobiles. At a recently held dispersal auction, the 2,020 item auction brought $8.5 million in total overall sales, with bidders coming from all over the world. The top selling vehicle was a big block, 4-speed 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS which brought a bid of $242,000. Among the 162 motorcycles sold, the top seller was a 1940 Indian Four, which brought $99,000. From the pedal car, bicycle and kiddie ride selections there were three pedal cars that were specially commissioned by Mr. Duellman and hand built featuring correct proportions. They were a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird pedal car that sold for $59,000, a Richard Petty themed 1970 Plymouth Superbird that sold for $47,200, and 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona that sold for $37,760. This outstanding lifetime collection was sold by Mecum Auctions, the world leader in live auctions of collector and classic cars, antique motorcycles, vintage tractors and Road Art memorabilia. *** Rumors are flying! Look for a major new business develop ment south of the railroad tracks. I’ll leave it at that for now. *** According to the U. S. Census Bureau voter turnout in 2018 was 53.4 percent higher than in recent midterm elections. The highest voter turnout occurred the state of Maine and was 65.6%. Wisconsin was second with 64.6%. Get ready for November 8, it is right around the corner. Stanley residents will again vote at the Stanley Community Center in Chapman Park. *** Smile time. Who cares if it's conservative or progressive? Right or left? The questions that matter are: Am I loving my neighbor? Are my actions hurting or helping? Are all welcomed at my table? +++ May we look at freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right. +++ From the “Blooms” In Bloomer column: During a phone conversation, a young man mentioned to his aunt that he was taking a psychology course at the university. “Oh great,” she said, “Now you’ll be analyzing everyone in the family.” “No, no,” he replied. “I don't take abnormal psychology until next semester." +++ An old man went to the doctor complaining of a terrible pain in his leg. “I’m afraid it’s just old age” replied the doctor, “There is nothing we can do about it.” “That’s can’t be” fumed the old man, “You don’t know what your doing.” “How can you possibly know I’m wrong?" countered the doctor. "Well it quite obvious," the old man replied, "My other leg is fine, and it's the exact same age."
BY DAVID JANKOSKI