Thank you to all....

It seems too little to say Thank You to Lynn and Louise for hosting the reunion, to all who brought food, to Jeff and Anne for bringing the goods to enjoy the food and drinks in etc., to Clifford and Nancy and Don who brought memories in pictures, CDs and scrapbooks, to each and everyone who gave up a week of time to reconnect, to those who shared special words about very special people.......we say thank you.

Saturday Night Dinner and Terry Trivia

Great Night!

Gonna Take a Sentimental Journey......

Nostaligic Arnold's Park Area

Lynn and Louise's Wonderful Lake Home

What a great night everyone had. Lexi even caught a fish! A good night had by all!

Sven and Ole's Tractors

Who Knew!









We all have roots in the Albert City Thresherman's Event so it is not surprising that it was interesting and fun to go to the event today. It was the 40th anniversary of the event.

The Swedish home that was done in honor of Garnet and Cliff was endearing and great to see along with all the other areas set up that teach us and remind us of how the folks did things way back a few years ago. Hope all who could attend it enjoyed it.

Other areas of interest at the event were the blacksmith shop, the threshing events, the food, the old time crafters, and more. Many of our group went on in to downtown Albert City to look around and check out the museum. Some were able to go on out to Lynn and Louise's farm. So it's a good start to Day 2 of the reunion!

Meet and Greet Thursday Night

We're Here - -almost everyone. Cindy , Rick and Andrew made it by the end of the evening and we look forward to the Don Johnson and some Fondroy family tomorrow!!! Everyone else has made it safely and for that we are most grateful!

So, tacos at McKeens was great and the Barefoot Bar Fun! See you all tomorrow at the AC Thresherman's!

New Updates about the Reunion!

Hello Folks! Time is drawing near and we do have some news to share with folks to keep everyone updated. Janice and Paul have written and they will be attending the reunion afterall. NO - this does not mean that Janice and I will be performing as many of you had hoped. :) But we are very glad they can attend.

A reminder about the schedule.

Those who can be there Thursday night we will be going to the taco joint-McKeens Pub and Grill for their yummy taco plate and cold drinks. http://www.okobojibeat.com/bar/mckeens-pub-grill.htm They have a back room we can take over and it will be fun, so Thursday night plan on taco night. They are inexpensive dinners, I believe Louise said $2.50! holy cow!

Friday morning those who are headed to the Threshermans should be up early and on the way to AC. It goes all day,however, we expect people will go early and then head back to the lakes by midafternoon for a cold refreshment. I think there is a parade at 9 am Friday that you are likely all dying to see! Coffee and Rolls will be provided that mrng. at Lynn and Louise's by Janice and Clifford - lunch on your own - and then Friday afternoon (3:30 or so) there will be munchies and cocktails provided by Greg and Diane, Don and Lisa and Vic and Ellie, along with cake from Jeff and Anne. This will serve as dinner also really, there will be plenty of food, however, those who may want to go out later sure can. This night the menu will be veggies, salad, beans, breads, meat and cheese tray, and boneless chicken wings, of course, with cake! I am sure there there will be other chips etc also.

Saturday morning the goodies furnished for continental breakfast at Lynn and Louises are provided by Stephanie Edler and Mollie Tjelmeland! Thanks so much! Lunch will be on your own Saturday --we are thinking people will sort of develop their plans for fun on Saturday as they talk Friday. I know I want to visit The Three Sons and people will want to be on the lake etc. Saturday we also have the park rented thanks to Don Johnson and family. They have the evening meal catered. We just heard from him and here is what he reports in:

We have the Elinor Bedell State Park shelter house in Spirit Lake reserved on the 14 of Aug. until 10 PM when the park closes.

A picnic will be catered by "The 5 Star Catering" at 5:30 PM. It will include pork loin, beans, cold slaw, potato salad, lemonaid, and ice tea followed by brownies. I also plan to have soft drinks and canned beer in coolers during the PM.
Sunday morning we say thank you to Greg and Nancy Clark and Cindy and Rick Donnelly who are providing the breakfast goodies.

Jeff and Anne are providing all kinds of paper products and things that help every meal and Saturday night we will be doing Terry Trivia that Nancy Clark has been working on--if you have good ideas for questions submit them to her via email.

We do have the full attendance list with cell phones etc. We are sending this to all through email only to keep those phone numbers between us and not out for the world to find.

The Lake This Morning

Good Morning Folks. It is looking pretty gorgeous in Iowa today on the lake...are you getting anxious? Anne is working to complete her list for everyone, we have done this through email instead of posting here to keep it between us and not for the world to have access to. If you have not responded to Anne's email for the cell phones and RSVPs please do -this will serve as our final attendees list. We also expect to hear memorial information on Jim this morning and as soon as we have it we will be sure that it is sent around to everyone. Getting excited to see you all!

Janice and Family

We send thoughts and prayers out to the Johnson Family as they grieve the loss of Jim. Of course, we are all saddened to hear this news. There is no memorial news to share at this time but when we have it we will.

Janice and her family are not going to be able to come. Janice purchased non-refundable hotel rooms at the Ramada Inn - This is her situation

I have 3 nights at the Ramada Inn, 2704 17th Street (Corner of Hwy 9 and Hwy 71) Spirit Lake. I understand it to be across the street from the Motel 6. We decided to stay at the Ramada because Motel 6 only had double beds and we needed queen beds or larger. This room has 2 queen beds. The three nights are August 12, 13, and 14 (Thurs, Fri, Saturday). I am willing to take a loss on what I paid, if there is someone who either needs a place to stay, or has a reservation that could be canceled and traded for this one.

Is there someone coming who can help with this? Please call, email, discuss - and see if we can help Janice out with the rooms. Thanks so much.

One Month from Now -Here is where we will be!

Home of you who are hosting events may want to remember the FirePit --great for roasting marshmellows and more!


Thanks to Louise who sent some great pics we will be posting the next month to build the excitement to gather in one short month!

Who are these folks? The countdown begins.

Who are these folks?

I know many of you are hoping beyond hope that I am practicing the piano so I can play alittle tune for you. I am not sure Louise can rent a piano - so it is pretty iffy. I know Mooch was particularly counting on alittle recital during cocktail hour or something.

The countdown begins. Please keep Jim and Tish, Janice, Clifford and Robbie and all of their families in your thoughts and prayers. Of course these new developments in their health and ability to get around affect their ability to come to Iowa. We are praying for strength and ability to increase!

Starter Meal Plans for Thursday and Friday Morning.

We are happy to share news that Janice (Johnson)Davis and brother Clifford Johnson will be providing the goods for Friday morning's coffee gathering at Lynn and Louise's house at the lakes. Thanks Janice and Clifford - we have all meals covered for now - however, we never know when things can change so stay tuned.

Louise had a great idea to go to this little joint they know that serves up a great $2.50 taco plate and they have a large room we can all gather in - so plan on kicking the reunion off Thursday night with a cold drink and a taco! You can see just alittle more about them here --looks like our kind of spot: http://www.okobojibeat.com/bar/mckeens-pub-grill.htm

We will be providing more news as the dates are coming soon! We are currently working on our attendance list - We will be sending it in email - please do let Louise know if you plan to attend at lfaust@evertek.net. We know we do not have everyone's email addresses, etc. so please do not be shy to share information with anyone who may have been missed with lack of contact information.

Stay posted!

News from Stephanie and Mollie

News just in that Stephanie and Mollie ( Fondroy girls) will be providing breakfast Saturday morning. Louise is well prepared to get up and make a good share of coffee for the morning breakfasts. We say thanks to Steph and Mollie for providing the goodies to go with it. Isn't this going to be fun!

We Heard From Don Johnson Today!

Dinner plans for the Saturday Night of the reunion are beginning! We have heard from Don Johnson who writes to inform us they have reserved the Elinor Bedell State Park Pavillion for dinner! Actually they reserved it for the full day until 10 PM when we need to be out. What a terrific Idea. We lave Late Night Stories planned at Lynn and Louise's Saturday night following a fun day in the park. Bring a frisbee!

This is an 80 acre park with walk trails through woodlands, wetlands, and along the lake shore. The pavillion has a kitchenette and bathrooms....it will be terrific.

Reunion Updates and Notes!

Howdy Folks!

We have heard from a few folks and we want to share new updates with you.

This week we heard from Stephanie (Fondroy) Elder and she writes:

Please add my family to the list of those planning to attend the reunion. It will be me, my husband Jeff and kids Wyatt (10), Whitney (8), Sienna (2) and Elizabeth (will be 8 months at the reunion).

Also we have a note from Nancy Clark asking people to bring fun old pictures etc. We are working on some ideas of ways to share information and treasures as you are together. This blog is for you to comment on. Do you have a great idea? Do you want to head up a scrapbook team? Contact us here at ealawhead@aol.com

We welcome your ideas.

Please note the schedule changes to the right! If you can sign up to sponsor the Friday or Saturday mrng rolls and fruit alwo let us know at ealawhead@aol.com

Last but not least - we are gathering email addresses for us in alerting people of blog updates and other news. We hope to have a facebook page ready this week. Please do forward emails on to your family - anyone who should be involved! Absolutely -we ask that you copy the email back to me so I can grow our contact list with your family email addresses so share if you can!

We look forward to keeping people posted on ideas and developments. Let us know when you have your lodging booked etc!

Super 8 A Good Choice for Lodging

Greetings everyone! It's been awhile. As time draws near it is time to start REALLY planning the reunion. The dates are still in place and some reservations have been made at the Super 8 which Louise says is very close........ I know, including Ellie and Vic Johnson, Jeff Lindeman and Anne Taylor , Don and Lisa Mack ( Lindeman) along with Lisa's three kids, Jeff, Matt and Jackson, Mooch and Diane and family, and possibly even more. I am still getting caught up on all the news since last summer.

We will be working to post a new schedule as there is now talk that maybe the trip to the AC Threshermans event would be better held on Friday, which of course is no problem. The event actually opens at 7:00 am each day with the grand opening ceremonies at 9 am Friday, there is a parade at 4:00 Frida . For some this would mean coming alittle earlier, for others it may be that they go directly there first and then to the lakes, just depending on your schedule and location of course. This would mean alittle rescheduling but not alot as all plans up to this time were mostly talk only. However, if people want to get airline tickets and lodging it is time to get final plans made.

Many of you have contacted us previously and for that we say thanks! Now that time is near - please recontact us and let us know of your plans at this point.........and let us know of any questions also....... I hope to talk to Louise, Eleanor, Mooch and others and get a final schedule posted soon. Stay tuned.

Email addresses for communications on plans etc for updates:
gregw@lasersupply.com
lfaust@evertek.net
lindeman0705@gmail.com
ealawhead@aol.com


Another thing that we will very much be needing is email addresses to be able to communicate with all the kids of kids etc. so if you would send those to ealawhead@aol.com that is greatly helpful and we will try to build a list for easy communications and updates. Considering a facebook page as that would make for easy planning, hope to get that set up soon.

Anyway - -lets get back to completing our plans ! We look forward to this great event!