Germania

 

Every day we face sadness in our lives. It is inevitable. We face loss and disappointment, stress and negativity often with a continuous repetition. To face this we must hang on to every smile and happiness that comes along in a day. My cell phone rang as I typed that last sentence, scared me enough to make me jump. It was my sister Dawn Smith of Ozark, AR. Dawn had been at the dentist and just thought of me and wanted to say she loves me. Now that is a smile I can hold on to all day long. There were many other smiling moments this past weekend and I send a warm hug to all that shared a happy thought or kind word. It takes just a moment to do and it lasts forever.

My deepest sympathy is extended to the wonderful family and friends of Rachael Streich of Montello. Rachael passed away last week, all too young, but God saw a need to call her to Heaven and we know he only takes the best to be his angels. Thank you for sharing your truly beautiful daughter with us.

A bowling benefit will be held in Princeton at Stars and Strikes Lanes on March 10th from noon to 6 p.m. The benefit will help Brody Henke of Montello and Larry Yasick of Princeton with their medical expenses. The cost will be $15 per bowler and you can have your choice of bowling shift. Raffles and prizes will be available as well as food and drink. A 50/50 raffle will be held. Please call Patti at the bowling alley to set up a time. She can be reached at 920-295-3333. Thank you for your support.

Let me tell you, after running out of my prescription for Nexium (acid reflux) and trying all other over the counter drugs available, a few different prescriptions drugs and eating a bottle of antacids, I am thankful to be approved for another year. Since my health insurance will not cover anything to do with this “pre-existing” problem, I was trying to buy out of pocket but at over $6 per pill it was evident that was not going to work for long. I am extremely thankful for being once again approved by the Astra-Zeneca program for assistance. Many thanks to my former bosses Mike Fish and Debbie Albright for faxing my info to the company and helping me get back into the program. There is no other medicine that works for me and I can only hope that a surgery someday will be an option. The good news is that I lost a few pounds. The bad news is that I couldn’t eat without suffering. Now I am ready to make a pot of Grandma’s chili recipe and enjoy it worry free. Bring on the popcorn for a chaser.

Shirley and Don Bethke of Germania were watching a very sad movie when I called on Sunday. Shirley almost had me crying as well as she told me scenes from the movie. I hope it had a happy ending. Tuesday of last week Shirley gave blood in Wautoma then ran off to Oshkosh with Don for lunch at Legens. The couple saw their great-granddaughter Brooklyn while in town. The next day grandson Scott Delfosse surprised the Bethkes and brought his baby Brooklyn to Germania to visit again. Thursday there was still gas in the car so Don and Shirley headed to Montello to do the pub crawl. They had fun at Daye’s Yahooz, Sondalle’s Town Pump and Good Old Days Resort before heading back home. Friday the church group dining friends met at the Eagle’s Nest in Princeton and enjoyed a wonderful meal. Saturday the Bethkes paid their respects to the family of Rachel Streich as her funeral was held in Budsin at St. John’s Lutheran Church. With nearly 250 people in attendance cars were parked in all directions of the church. The population rose briefly in our Budsin hamlet to show love for a sweet young lady. Sunday Glen Tagatz called from Florida to say hello to his friends. He is missing Wisconsin and especially Germania and says hello.

Happy birthday wishes are being sent to Ginny Longtin of Montello. She’s such a sweet lady and Ken Hell the naughty redhead of Newton who both celebrate on Feb. 4. My grandma Marlene Locke Cagney of Westfield and Florida celebrates her special day on Feb. 6. Much love from the frozen tundra. Feb. 7th we wish Becky Rose of Westfield and my great aunt Blanche Yohn of Wautoma a wonderful day. Feb. 9th Doc Nelson of Wautoma, Phyllis Hoffman of Neshkoro, Ann Rozek of Westfield and my cousin Carmen MaGee of Westfield. Happy anniversary my tree friends Don and Pat Sybell of Oxford. You have been blessed with many years together and stand as an inspiration to us all Congratulations!

Denice Bubbles Wells of the Harrisville gated community had her wonderful son Shad and his girlfriend Tiffany over for supper Sunday. Their meal was fabulous and was followed by aerobic exercise. Denice spotted a calf that had gotten loose on the Rosanske farm so she alerted Shirley and helped to catch the sneaky beast. Farmer Fudd and Dawn Albright also came to the scene. They caught the calf twice and it escaped again before finally getting it tied back up. Many were doing the Howard shuffle in the snow-covered yard. Debbie and Kurt Albright watched the commotion from atop the hill. Howard often offers spring exercise classes during rock picking season but this new winter version of aerobics proved to be fun as well.

Jim and Theresa Hopp of Neshkoro took advantage of a mild day to go ice fishing then warmed up with a pizza from the Longbranch Saloon in Germania. Good to see the couple and catch up with my former Timbers co-worker. Mr. Dana of Germania also made it in for his favorite Longbranch pizza while the Pro-Bowl was on TV. I think the players were suffering from sunburns as there were very few tackles. It was a mild game to say the least.

Dave Bignell of Oxford and his longtime friend John Morgan of Fond du Lac enjoyed a day of fishing on Lake Puckaway last Wednesday. They only caught 1 fish, as there was much commotion on the lake just 100 yards from them. To protect the innocent I will not add details to this comment, but please do NOT drive on the lakes, especially near Good Days Resort. If your vehicle drops in you can expect to pay $2500 to get it towed out. If you are extremely lucky it may still run once removed, but if not, a walk home is very cold this time of year and so not worth the risk. Of course I do not eat fish, so what do I know!

We welcome back Chef Collin Coppens to Sportsmen’s Tavern in Harrisville. Chef Collin was gone from the kitchen for a few weeks but he is back and ready to serve you. Vicki Zajda remains as your smiling server. Vicki was happy to see Mr. Jack Frost of Montello out to dinner on Friday. We look forward to having Captain Jack and his crew serving their mouth watering BBQ goodness this spring and summer across Marquette County. Hurry up!

Mark Schumacher of Richford and my dad Roger Goldsmith of Newton were ice fishing on Buffalo Lake last Thursday but hey walked on and left the truck on shore. They both had fish for supper that night.

Vicki Zajda of Harrisville and Elizabeth Peterson Watson of Stillman Valley, IL met in Madison Tuesday to have lunch and catch up. The girls dinned at Red Lobster. Elizabeth was in the area to visit with her step-father Gary at the UW Hospital. She also saw her step-brother and others while Vicki did some shopping to wait for her. The girls had a great time as always. We wish Gary well.

Have a great week everyone and thank you once again for being a faithful reader of this publication and of course of this column. Thanks as well to Norbert Judas of Harrisville for being such an experienced PR man and reading aloud to his fellow neighbors after dinner last week. Now there is a connection to the name as more people realized who the writer was. I do blush easy, but I appreciated your kindness.