A little bit of stuff

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Thanks for the comments on the blog. I hope that everyone will start to think of it as part of their own blog and add interesting notes on it. I have lots of ideas for it but haven't had time to get much accomplished. My what lovely weather we are having. Wish I had been taking the R&R I needed last week when we had such crummy weather but I'm doing it this week. I am looking forward to doing it.

The recipe on the blog tonite sounds very yummy. I will have to try it out on my grandkids the next time they are up.

The SLFD completed another great Perch Jerkers Contest. It was a good fund raiser for the dept. Next is the Sweetheart Dance with music by The Pretenders and Friends. This is some great listening and dancing music they provide. Good for both the young and not so young. It will be a fun time for all.

April 4th, the dept will be sponsoring the Bullhead & Fish Fry, serving from 4:30 to 7P. I've had alot of people ask me if bullheads aren't fish. We all know they are BUT(as hard as it is to believe) some people don't count them as a fish and if you just put Bullhead Fry they wouldn't show up. So we serve not only Bullheads but this year we will be serving Pollack also. All proceeds of this event goes to the Community Center Fund. Of course we will be serving oven roasted potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, assorted salads (I still haven't made up my mind),bars, buns, coffee and lemonade. All you can eat for $8.00/adult, $4.00 children 5-12years, under 5 free. Hope to see you there.

The SLFD Auxiliary has been busy helping with all these projects and more in the making. The Department really appreciates these people taking time to help out. Thank you so much. Take a Kid Fishing Day is one of our next big projects. As we are anticipating having 100 kids for this event this year we are requesting donations from charitable gambling, churches, businesses, and individuals. We are hoping to raise $3000 for this event. Our goal is to have 100 rod/reel combos for the kids to fish with that day (we have 40 right now) and another 100 rod/reel combos for each to have one to take home. The Department wants to keep rod/reel combos on hand so that any child that shows up in the next few years has a fishing rod to use. We also have life vests but will need to purchase a few more. If you would like to help with a cash donation you can send it to Squaw Lake Fire Department, P.O. Box 382, Squaw Lake, MN 56681. Make a notation it is for Take a Kid Fishing Day. Otherwise, buy a rod/reel combo and drop it off at Mertes Garage or give me a call at 659-4239. Please include your name so that we will be able to thank you.We can also use fishing tackle. I was truly amazed last year at the number of youth that had never been fishing. I guess living here all my life I thought everyone knew how to fish. I was worried last year that some of the older students would think it was boring but after talking to one 14 year old girl who said that she had never been fishing and she had an awesome time I guess the department is doing the right thing. Maybe if we can teach them to fish they will find other areas of interest. This is a great thing the Department started I think over 10 years ago. Thank you Mike Hoeschen and all the others for all your help to get this off the ground. We also need more guides and boats. Have a boat and some time we would love to see you there. I feel you'd be surprised at how much fun YOU would have. Let me know jhemphil@paulbunyan.net or 659-4239.

Back to my wildlife report. The Swans were seen in the river in Squaw Lake today. They are such a beautiful bird. I almost took out a grouse this morning on the am route. It was so close to the bus I could see it's eye very clearly. Scared the dickens out of me. It has been quite a few years since I have seen this many grouse on my bus routes. Haven't seen as many in the Squaw Lake area as in the Dora Lake, Wirt and Gratten areas. I think we still have a little more snow in the woods down here maybe that is the reason for not seeing them. Most of our gravel roads are getting bare so they should start showing up also. I almost got too up close and personal with a deer tonight on my way home with my car. I really expected to hit it but managed to get stopped in time. I should know to watch out for deer by Norma Forss's house but was thinking about getting home. That would have ruined my R&R plans.

If you have a birthday wish or anniversary wish for anyone just drop me an email: jhemphil@paulbunyan.net and I will post it for you. Any news in your area you'd like to share drop me a line. I would love to see things coming in from all our neighbors so we know what is going on. This might prove better than party lines. (Wow, I just showed my age there.)

Before going to the annual Township meeting tonight I stopped at the Crow Bar and Linda served up some very delicious Corned Beef and Cabbage. Thank you. Everyone in Max township must think we are doing a fairly good job because there was only the board and one other person at this meeting. Folks, this is one meeting where you can speak up on any issue that is of concern to you. We are one week late this year because of having to cancel last week due to the storm BUT usually this meeting is held the second Tuesday of March each year.

I hope each of you had a great St. Patrick's day and you find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Take care,
Julie