In as much as milking cows has no respect of seasons, nor even
day of week, a winter vacation to the south remains merely a
pondering proposition. We have some very good friends, the A. E.
MAUGANS who pass these months at their home in Safety Harbor, Fla.
That at least enhances a destination if one could obtain some sort
of ‘leave of absence’. This month us dairymen get in
sister another wedding anniversary, which due to a blizzard, ended
up on a Feb. 29. Nevertheless us dairymen can still get our chores
done on a 7 day week.
As for the weather, I like the seasons; and spring has a greater
‘fancy’ having surpassed the adverse elements. Winter also
sets a stage for many forms of sports; as well as ice fishing
contests which offer fabulous prizes. Needless to say I’m no
angler, but occasional trips to nearby Trollhaugan Ski Slide is a
must. LENNART JOHNSON shoulders the responsibility of maintaining
the numerous ski tows, and gladly explains the workings of the
equipment envolved; the rope and T-bar lifts, the snow making
machines and the various safety measures to protect the public,
catering to this sort of pastime. A second T-bar lift was recently
installed. It too capable of taking 1200 skiers per hour to the top
of the hill. Trollhaugen’s facilities have doubled in recent
years to accommodate the hundreds of ‘stretch pants’ that
ply the hillsides daily. Although we have curtailed taking movies,
we find to do justice there, movies have no substitute. There is
continuous action and such array of gaudy colors.
The Ninth Winter Olympics at Innsbruck Austria has set a good
example of how the barriers of International boundaries are simply
needless tensions, that people have no natural tendency to hate one
another; in reality our differences are minor obstacles. A
universal application of the Golden Rule, would make defense
spending seem absurd. Would that still more countries could
participate. Perhaps some day there may be an international league
setup to promote this form of good will among nations. It is my
firm contention that had that 28 million spent on a rocket to the
moon been used to promote international participation we’d be
heading in the right direction; that personal relations would bring
about a better understanding toward peace among nations.
One can hardly mention fishing or winter sports without
recollecting as of last November, when a 16 year old girl, LINDA
LUNSMAN, from nearby Danbury, shot what is believed to be the
largest black bear in Wisconsin. It weighed 635 pounds and measured
over 7 feet in length. It took 7 man 2 hours to get it out of the
woods. Reports are she sold the bear to a local business man for
260 dollars who had it mounted at a cost of $1,000.00 for future
display in said town. Wonder if Texas can top this one.
Winter months too is when the fun of corn shredding plays its
part. Some 15 years ago custom corn shredding pressed me for time,
but as of today is almost a thing of the past. Helping out here the
first belt-up last fall was our veteran Album reader GEORGE
CHRISTIAN and a more recent enthusiastic subscriber RONNIE
GJERNING. They are pictured by our Massey Harris 4WD. These two
buddies have a deeper significance to me than merely Album readers.
For many years George was my faithful standby in threshing, wood
sawing, corn shredding, silo filling, baling and lumber sawing,
until he moved to Swan Ville, Minn., some 150 miles west of here,
where his daughter and son-in-law operate a grocery store.
Occasionally we would take jaunts to lookup sawmills, steam engines
etc. He still attends many reunions with us, from Austin, Canada to
Mt. Pleasant, la. Now to fill in for help I have high hopes in
Ronnie as a ‘runner-up’ who shares the same interests, tho
he is still ‘handicapped’ by schooling. Ronnie was with us
over to STAN PETERSON’S at Shell Lake on a corn shredding
shindig. Stan belted up his 10-20 Titan to his 4 roll Rosenthal
working out about 5 acres of corn. To add to the fun Stanley
cranked up his steel wheel Fordson to help haul in the bundles. It
takes plenty of technique to maneuver a Fordson not to mention the
snow drifts he encountered. Good going Stan. A recent addition to
his 2 cylinder collection is a 1918, 12-20 Oil Pull No. 20340.
