Wednesday August 31

Saying for the day: I can't do His will my way.
------- Lots of white rabbit sightings in Pigeon Falls today, some by tourists and one by a local. They all described the rabbit as being about two feet tall with a pink sweater and carrying a yellow duck. It winked at them and then hopped away and sort of disappeared. Most of the sightings were down by the train station. This is one mystery that begs for some solution. There can't be a two foot high white rabbit in a pink sweater, let alone one carrying a duck. But then what accounts for the sightings ? Somebody suggested it is some sort of mass hysteria. Somebody else said it will turn out to have something to do with the Bubster. We can now rule out Mrs. Wilson McMorison III's cat as it came home last night with six little kittens dragging along behind. That mystery at least is solved unless of course you want to find the father.
Towner was practicing for the big dance tonight when the patch on his accordion let go. The hole now is so big there is no way to fix it without having a new bellows installed. Pastor Marvel was visiting when the bellows broke and he told Towner he could borrow his accordion for the night. I don't think anybody even knew that the good Pastor had an accordion. It seems his mother made him take lessons when he was a kid when he really wanted to play the guitar. He can only play three songs, "On Top of Old Smokey", " A Finnish Polka". and "Away in a Manger" so he couldn't play for a dance. Towner borrowed the accordion and will play tonight. Well I'll keep you informed.
----- Had a good night last night until 4:00, then I got a leg cramp. I stood up to clear it and the hose came off of the breathing machine and the alarm went off. Poor Betty jumped up , stumbled to the door and turned on the light. I think she thought something terrible was happening and on our anniversary. In the morning I ran trains and put some new metal wheels on some cars that had plastic ones. The new air mattress came and we blew it up and tested it. It has a special part that raises like a hospital bed so I can sleep on it. We will use it when we stay at the kid's house. Betty went to Tops. She gained 1/2 a pound. In the afternoon she put together a thing to hold all the racks, shovels, etc. in the garage. I fixed some track out by the second tunnel. One of the trestles on the far end fell down and the train kept disconnecting there.
Betty will fix that tomorrow. I came in and worked on our web page but it is far from done. Then Betty and I went out for an anniversary supper. We had planned all week on going to Bev's which is just outside of town near the Wisconsin border but when we got there it was closed because of some sort of water problem. So we drove to Spread Eagle where we found a nice little supper club way back in the woods. I had a black Angus steak and Betty had meatballs. We'll both have indigestion tonight but an anniversary is only once a year. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Tuesday August 30

Saying for the day: He who dies with the most toys is still dead.
------A tourist, Nellie Bronkson from Bullput Iowa, saw the white rabbit today. She swears it had on a pink sweater and was holding a duck. It was standing on the end of the station platform and it winked at her. But she turned to see if there was anybody else she could show it to and when she turned back it was gone. The white rabbit story was running its course but this fuels it up again. Now everyone will be looking for white rabbits. In a few days there will be T-shirts that say "I saw the white rabbit in Pigeon Falls." And to go with them little white rabbit key holders. Our local merchants know a good thing when they see one or even when they don't see but just hear about one. I suspect some Sunday Pastor Marvel will show up in a giant bunny suit. In a small town like Pigeon Falls a little goes a long way.
There was almost no music for the dance tomorrow night as Towner Helto's accordion sprung a leak and he couldn't get any music out of it. Eino Jupola came to the rescue and super glued a patch on the bellows. Lets hope it holds for the dance. If worse comes to worse the guitar player and the drummer will have to do the best they can without him. The Old Timers musical group only has three members. It used to have six but two moved away and one died. They still do a good job for dances though. Well keep your eye open for that white rabbit and I'll keep you informed.
-----Good night last night. I spent all morning on the computer reworking the church web page so it would load faster when people go to it. I think the final product is considerably better than what I had before. Pennie sent her copy of Publisher 98 so now I have two copies, from famine to feast. Betty spent the morning cleaning and washing clothes. She went to the doctor in the afternoon and he pronounced her healthy. Our new rolling shelf to take trains to the layout came and we finally got it together. Betty went to the store to get some more craft items to make loads for the trains. I took the plastic wheels off of five cars hoping the metal ones will come tomorrow. I continued cleaning and organizing the study. I made three pages of quilting pictures for Betsy Hagberg who is putting together an album. In the process I found a missing program disk. I did some work on the family website but the revision is not ready to publish yet. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Monday August 29

Saying for the Day:"Kindness is like sugar, it makes life taste a little sweeter."Carla Yerovi
------Pigeon Falls is getting ready for the big closing celebration. On Wednesday Pigeon Days comes to an end in a grand fashion. There will be family contests of one kind or another all day. In the evening the main street will be closed off and a big street dance will be held. The Old Timers musical group will provide the music and our Pigeon Queen will have the first dance with the Grand Pigeon. People are looking forward to the event .
School started last Thursday in Pigeon Falls. Mrs.Hilary Henry had here fifth and sixth grade class write three line statements of what they liked or disliked about Pigeon Falls. Here are some of the things they wrote:
Where else can you see a drunken moose on the main street.
All the trains coming and going are fun to watch.
We have the best parade in the country.
I like pigeons and the pigeon statue.
We have our own song, the Pigeon Song, co co co.
There is nothing to do. I hate it.
We might see a white rabbit in a pink sweater.
Walking on the yellow brick road to the mill pond and swimming.
Lots and lots of pasties. We have the best pasty makers.
Pastor Marvel and his funny costumes makes you almost want to go to church.
Family saunas at Jack's Sauna. We are really clean.
Great stories like the pasty eating bear. If I see a bear I'll give him a pasty.
Mrs. Hilary thinks they are pretty good answers. Well I'll keep you informed.
------Good night last night. In the morning I worked on the computer. Betty got up at 6:00 and took out the garbage. Went up to the church and found where the secretary was putting the pictures. Got a haircut to get ready for our anniversary, Betty has been after me for weeks. In the afternoon I put together a magazine rack for the bathroom. Betty cleaned house. I went back to working on the church web page. Its done and out on the web. Now I can start on our web page which is going to be greatly revised. Betty has gone to a bible study at the church. I need a breathing treatment but I'll have to wait for her to come home.
GBYA

Sunday August 28

Saying for the day:And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men.Matthew 16:22-23
--------Jack from Jack's Sauna, preached at Last Lutheran Church today. For a lay preacher he does a great job and he is short. He preached on things to do with a rock. Peter was the rock on which Jesus could build his Church but he was also the rock that causes people to stumble. We can either be building blocks in God's Kingdom or we can be rocks that people stumble over trying to get there. Jack made it clear that the choice was ours.
It was another dreary day at Pigeon Falls, dark and overcast, threatening to rain. People were still watching for the white rabbit in a pink sweater as well as Mrs. Wilson McMorison III's cat. Neither one was spotted although a tourist said he might have seen the rabbit out by the edge of town as he was riding in on the train. When he got off he went and looked where he thought the rabbit was but there was no sign of any rabbit.
Just a few days of Pigeon Falls, Pigeon Days left and then the town will return to normal. The number of tourists will decrease and there will be fewer passenger trains coming in. It will stay that way until deer season when the hunters begin to arrive. Perhaps one of the deer hunters wills see the white rabbit if it hasn't been found by then. Well I'll keep you informed.
------Fairly good night last night. Worked on church web page all morning but I need the September calendar from the church to finish it. Betty went to church and served coffee after the guitar service. In the afternoon she washed clothes and I worked in the garage. I put up two new shelves and arranged the trains by type. Betty came and worked on her car loads. After watermelon I worked on the family web page but am far from finished. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Saturday August 27

Saying for the Day:"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?""Martin Luther King, Jr.
------ Mrs. Wilson McMorison III has everyone in Pigeon Falls talking today because she swears she saw a two foot high white rabbit standing on her back stairs. It had on a pink sweater and purple pants and was holding a little duck. It turned its head and looked right at her. That's when she fainted. When she came to the rabbit was gone. One could dismiss the whole story and say she is just getting old and her mind is slipping but she makes perfect sense in everything else. They wanted Pastor Marvel to go and talk to her but he is away on vacation this week. Old Doc Jones did go and see her and he says that nothing is wrong with her. Some are saying she had too much elderberry wine for lunch but that's not very likely. So we can add a white rabbit with a pink sweater to the growing lists of Pigeon Falls mysteries. Mrs. McMorison's cat, by the way, has not returned. The story of the rabbit was told and retold and now even the tourists are looking to see a white rabbit with a pink sweater, no one has of course. The town funny man suggested it might have been the cat dressed up in a rabbit costume, still ashamed to come home. I'm surprised he didn't suggest it was the Bubster , kneeling down and using a hand puppet. Well I'll keep you informed.
---- Had a pretty good night last night but I am still having indigestion. In the morning Betty baked a raspberry pie while I worked in the garage. I took a gondola that we couldn't use on our layout because its hook and loop coupler was upside down and too high to hook in to our rolling stock. I cut off the end and glued an Aristo hook and loop coupler to the underside. It worked very well. Now I need to get metal wheels for it. Then we went shopping in Iron Mountain. I got two pair of pants. We got a bag of dirt for Betty's flowers, some shelving, and a microwave dish for cooking corn on the cob. In the afternoon we went to church at United. It is always good to gather with the people of God for fellowship. A nice lady from Sheboygan sent me a copy of Publisher 98 which works fine. Now I will be able to renew the church and my family web pages. I should have that done by Monday. There are still good people in this world. I put out a request on Freecycle in Green Bay and she answered. Thank you Tarri. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

The big train 

Friday August 26

Saying for the day:Lack of will power has caused more failure than lack of intelligence or ability. Flower A. Newhouse
------It was a dull and dreary day in Pigeon Falls today.It was a day for mystery or confusion. The sign that disappeared from behind Wink's Woods was found today. Some sharp eyed tourist saw it on the roof of the fire station as he rode by in the train. He thought it was odd that the fire station had a keep off sign on it's roof and asked if people climbed up there a lot. Well the hook and ladder boys got it down and its back on the loading dock. The mystery continues, however, since no one seems to know how it left Wink's and ended up on the fire station roof. It certainly didn't go there on its own. Nobody can think of anyone who could climb to the top of the fire station without a ladder and as far as anyone knows there has been no ladder. So the mystery continues. Our local joker suggested it was taken by Mrs. Wilson Mcmorison III's cat which still hasn't returned. He says its so ashamed of itself that its in hiding. At least he didn't suggest it was the Bubster person or a drunken Moose.
The M&CL railroad has a new small boxcar that was built locally with a new super strength plastic. It is lighter and will cost less to haul. In addition its just the right size for those small but important loads that would look silly in a great big boxcar. Its possible this could be a new cottage industry for industry poor Pigeon Falls. Well I'll keep you informed.
-----Had another bad night last night a lot of gas and indigestion. In the morning I worked in the garage putting metal wheels in place of the plastic ones that leave a residue on the track. Betty worked at cleaning up my breathing tubes. After lunch we went grocery shopping . In the afternoon we ran the LGB engine with 12 cars. It was fun to watch.I got stung, however while watching and it still hurts. Betty is painting new loads for the cars and enjoying doing that. I sorted screw drivers into type. Betty took pictures of the train and of the new hole in the old hospital wall. It won't be too long before the hospital building is gone. We will miss it. I hope a copy of Publisher 98 comes tomorrow so I can upgrade the web sites. I had another nice E-mail from Bree. She is the only one that writes to grandpa with any frequency. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

hospital hole 

our boxcar 

Thursday August 25

Saying for the day:A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked. Bernard Meltzer
-------It was a wild day in Pigeon Falls today as two drunken Moose came staggering through town. They knocked people down, scratched cars and broke a window at Wink's Woods. People rushed to get out of the way and then followed after them to see what would happen. At the edge of town they stopped and staggered back in again. Now all the people who had been following were rushing again to get out of the way. The moose finally collapsed in front of the Fly Inn. Oscar Mantela who was coming out of the Fly Inn's bar saw the drunken moose falling down in front of him and swore off liquor forever. He thought he was hallucinating. The DNR came and took the two moose away , I suppose to sober them up. The question then became how does a moose, a protected animal , end up drunk? It took a lot of detective work but they think they have an answer. They followed the path of destruction out to the farm of Geo Maki. Here they found an old horse trough a quarter full of fermented apple juice. It seems Geo's brother Bill had sent Geo several milk cans of apple juice in an unrefrigerated railcar. In the 90 degree temperature the juice fermented and became quiet strong. Geo decided it wasn't good for anything so he poured it out into the old horse trough at the edge of the woods. He figured it would just evaporate and not pollute anything. The moose came along and drank deeply and then they started for town. One has to wonder if after the DNR sobers the moose up if they will come back looking for another drink. They could become the first mooseaholics.
The potato judging ended today and the Melvin Jamson farm won again. That's three years in a row for Melvin. Well I'll keep you informed.
------- Bad night last night. Forgot to take my purple pill and had a lot of indigestion. This morning we finished the railroad car. It looks pretty good for a first try. I designed it and Betty made it out of plastic scrap left over from the gas station building. In the afternoon we ran a couple of trains and Betty took some pictures. She also went and took pictures of the hospital building which now has a huge hole in the side. Then we worked at cleaning the garage and we are making progress. You can see the floor in some places. We discovered we have six gas cans , all of them red. We found some baseballs and baseball gloves we are going to give to my grandsons and some dollhouse stuff we are giving to my granddaughter .We threw away a barrel of trash. I still don't have a copy of Publisher 98 and without it I can't keep up the church's website. We had to use the printer to download Betty's pictures as we haven't found the Kodak installation disk. Betty went out to water the flowers. I received an E-mail from my grandaughter. It was so good of her to think of me. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Wednesday August 24

Saying for the day:"I still say a church steeple with a lightening rod on top shows a lack of confidence."- Doug McLeod
-------Moe left today after having announced that everything including the Crippled Creek upper tunnel was passable. She'll be back in a month to check everything again. The ladies at the Methodist Church will sure miss her pasty making talent and her pie making as well. The blueberry pie she made for the big celebration was one of the best they had for sale. Pastor Marvel is going on vacation this weekend and Jack, from Jack's Sauna, will cover for him at all the services. Jack is a pretty good lay preacher and has a loud strong voice. It was such a nice day in Pigeon Falls that a good number of people went visiting. This always results in a barrage of rumors that quickly spread across the town. The latest rumor is that one of the animals Rodney gave away was bought by a collector for $300. Because of the rumor some of Pigeon Falls good people have taken the little animal away from their children and placed them in plastic bags to keep them clean. Geo Maki said he was going to do that with the one that they brought home but the dog wouldn't give it up. The dog thinks it belongs to him. Geo says that with his luck that would be the one worth $300 and by the time the dog finishes with it maybe $.10. Geo isn't unhappy though because he loves that dog and its really enjoying it. Geo never was one to take things too seriously. Our two mysteries continue and you can add to them a missing cat. Mrs. Wilson Mcmorison III's cat has disappeared. She has offered a $10 reward for anyone that finds it and brings it back. The same fellow who suggested the Bubster took the sign now is saying the Bubster took the cat. I hope he is still joking. Well I'll keep you informed
-----Good night last night only two interrupts to sleeping. In the morning I went out and got the trains running . There was a little trouble at first but then they settled in and ran very well. Betty went to Tops and while she was gone I put another shelf in the garage, and continued to clean up as well as keep an eye on the trains. When she came home we built the little boxcar. I designed it and Betty put it together and painted it. We will finish it tomorrow. My Kodak software is not working and I had to find another way to download the pictures from the camera. I finally downloaded through the printer which has a card slot. I can't find the Kodak installation disk. I am still trying to find a copy of Publisher 98 so I can update our web pages. Someday I will learn to put things where they can be found. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Two trains 

Tuesday August 23

Saying for the day:"If God can work through me, he can work through anyone."- St. Francis of Assisi
----------It was another beautiful day in Pigeon Falls. A day for walking in the sunshine and eating Pretzels. The Pretzel man is doing so well he has decided to stay another week and so has the cotton candy man. The mystery of the sign continues without any solution in the foreseeable future. Now the town has two mysteries; where is the sign and where is Fred Bubster. Someone even suggested that the Bubster had snuck into town and stole the sign but he was just kidding. we don't know enough about the Bubster person to know if he would steal a sign . Mrs. Wilson Mcmorison III is still convinced he wanted to steal her money but she still doesn't have a clue as to who he is. These are two mysteries that may never be solved and could even become the stuff that legends come from.
They installed a new bumper at the end of the railroad track behind Wink's Woods. It even has a light on it. That should make Moe happy. Moe, of course, is Morning Sun Rises Material, the state inspector, who has been shaking things up around Pigeon Falls. She still has not approved the Upper Tunnel at Crippled Creek but that should happen this week and then there will only be the pasties to keep her here. Well I'll keep you informed.
----Good night last night. Betty mad a blueberry pie this morning. We had it for super. Most of the day we worked in the garage on building a little freight car from scratch. We didn't get it finished but all the parts are cut out and painted. At 4:00 we went to Snyder's to get a prescription filled and we bought a few other things. Betty has gone to Bible study but it is lay lead and I just get in the way. Well I have to wait for her to come home before I can have a breathing treatment. Perhaps I'll take a bath.
GBYA

Monday August 22

Saying for the day:Insults should be written in the sand, and praises carved in stone.
------It was a beautiful day in Pigeon Falls today, summer has returned. Tourists were back out on the streets enjoying Pigeon Days. The pretzel wagon that came in for the parade stayed and was doing quite a business. It was just the right kind of a day for pretzels. It was also a day for mysteries. The keep off sign from the end of the loading dock behind Wink's Woods disappeared. One moment it was there and the next it was gone. Now this is a big sign and you couldn't hide it under your coat and walk away with it. It is taller than Tommy, the undertaker's kid, who was , of course, the first suspect. But Tommy was away visiting some cousin or another and so he was not guilty. No one saw a truck or a car drive up near the place. The men who work there had taken a break from unloading a Coca-Cola freight car and when they came back the sign was gone. There was a full case of coke on the dock and not a bottle was touched so if it was a robbery it was a very selective one. But who would want a sign that says "Keep off! Restricted area"? It is simply a mystery. Of course its not the kind of thing you call in the FBI for and I don't think our Constable is much good at mysteries. Everybody is looking and hoping it will just show up.

Nellie Hokansen is still enjoying the position of Pigeon Queen. She got to ride in the parade in a special Pigeon Queen open car, reign over a horse pulling contest, be first to dance at the Pigeon Days Dance, and so much more. Her mother is so proud of her. This may very well be the highlight of her young life. She also gets to go on to try to become the UP queen. Well I'll keep you informed.
----- Fairly good night last night except for the indigestion. In the morning we continued working in the garage. We clear coated the two houses Betty had finished so we could get them out on the layout. In the afternoon we put a new road on the lay out , past the gas station. This is the first road we built on the layout rather than in the garage. We poured cement on a black cloth underlayment. It looks like it will work. Then we put transfers on the Town hall and all the vehicles for the parade , along with two signs. Betty then put them all on the layout. But in the process one sign disappeared. We looked everywhere but couldn't find it. The Holmes stopped by and looked over the layout. They were impressed. Coming in I called Peter and gave him an apartment to check out. Patrick sent us an E-mail note so we know he is okay. Pennie was at Peter's yesterday and so we know she is alright. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Our gas station 

Sunday August 21

Saying for the day:You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Simon Peter
-----It was cold in Pigeon Falls today , a reminder of how quick Upper Michigan weather changes. Yesterday they wore short sleeves and today jackets. The street crew was busy today picking up after the parade. They should be glad there were no horses in the parade. Down at Last Lutheran they tried something called a Polka Service they got from some church in Crystal Falls. I believe Pastor Marvel was almost dancing during the liturgy and some people danced down the aisle to communion. Pastor Marvel preached on the question "Who is your Messiah?" . He wanted people to move their dependence from false messiahs to Jesus, the only true Messiah.
In the afternoon the big horse pulling contest was held out at Jupola's field. Some of those horses could pull really big loads. They also produce a lot of fertilizer. This years winner was an old horse, named Moose, that belongs to Jon Bergal. Jon said that this was probably the last year he would enter him. Jon really loves that horse.

Rodney McDonald packed up and left today but the big McDonald's freight car got left behind. Rodney said he had a wonderful time and appreciated how well he was treated by the local people. He said he felt like a big movie star. His clown friends told him not to let it go to his head. The Sesame Street Band left as well on the same train. They also seemed to enjoy their stay in Pigeon Falls. Well I'll keep you informed.
----Very good night last night. Spent the morning trying to fix computer programs and finally got my printer working. Betty went to Church again as she had to serve cake at a baptism coffee. It was cold and dreary so after lunch she spent a couple of hours playing Nancy Drew. She finally caught that fish. Then we spent some time cleaning the garage and she worked on the one house we have left to put out. We both got very cold and came in. I worked on the computer and she went to the grocery store. I called Patrick but he wasn't home. Well I need a breathing treatment and a bath.
GBYA

The start of the parade 

Saturday August 20

Saying for the Day: He who laughs last thinks slowest.
------It was a beautiful day in Pigeon Falls and Mayor South was so happy she almost turned a somersault on main street. Now that would have been something to see. Rodney McDonald led the parade followed by two of his clown friends. He handed out little stuffed animals which came in the boxcar. People acted as if they were getting a treasure. Behind the clowns was the Sesame Street Band which consisted of four members. How they could march, play instruments, and wear those heavy costumes is beyond me. They did a wonderful job/ Next came a nurse and a fireman representing the service professions. Then , the Scottish bagpipe player, sounding like somebody had a cat by the tail, but everybody loved it. Then the Great Pigeon , in a car with a great pigeon in the rumble seat. Buddy East only hauls that old car out for this parade. Then there were various floats from one group or another including a big Winnie the Pooh in a dump truck. Santa Claus rode in the back of a truck with a case of huge Coca Cola bottles. People thought he might give out cans of Coke but he just waved. All in all it was an impressive parade for a small town like Pigeon Falls. The tourists who lined the sidewalks and sat on the benches the city put out for the day seemed to feel it was worth coming for, a touch of old America. Well I'll keep you informed.
------ I had a good night last night. In the morning Betty and I worked on creating a rail school bus. We bought a $6.00 Bus from Wal Mart and cut part of the bottom off. Then we installed a train motor we bought at the convention. Now we have a working rail school bus. It runs well as long as we don't run it too fast at the curves. We added the gas station, two new lights, and the parade group to the layout. We rehung the Pigeon Falls banner. Then we added some extra shelves to the garage for the trains. Betty got the maill and there was a couple of CD's from Chris with family pictures. Some of these we'll post to the family web site at www.familylinna.com .We cleaned up and went to Church. Jack preached which was a surprise. Pastor Tammy and Jay and their two kids were there visiting. It was good to see them again. After Church Betty went off with her birthday club so even if I need a breathing treatment there is nobody to give it.

GBYA

Friday August 19

:Saying for the day: Sometimes one must backup to go forward.
------ Rodney McDonald came in today on a special train with a big McDonald's freight car towed behind. People are wondering what's in that car. I'd bet that the costumes for the clowns and the Sesame street band are at least part of the load. It is parked at the loading dock behind Wink's Woods. They caught Tommy, the undertaker's son, trying to sneak a peek inside twice. He might just make it yet. The big thing in Pigeon Falls today wasn't in Pigeon Falls it was over at Crippled Creek. They ran a special train out for the big fishing contest. There were people along the river all the way up to the Red Roof Cafe and beyond. The person with the longest fish and the person with the heaviest fish each got a $25 Savings Bond. Several people fell in and had to be fished out. Tommy, the well you know the rest, pulled one out and wanted credit for the heaviest catch of the day but the judges said it had to be a fish. Toivo Jupola , who knows that river like the back of his hand, caught the heaviest fish. A tourist named Henery Aukee caught the longest. It was a fun filled day for all. Preparations continued for the big parade tomorrow. I'll keep you informed.
---- Good night last night. In the morning I worked on fixing the computer and caused new problems, several of my favorite programs won't run. Betty and I added a gas pump and tires to the station and set up the figures for the parade. Then we went to Sagola to meet Dawn and Paul and Kevin and his family for lunch at the cafe. It was three days after Kevin's birthday and we celebrated it. Dawn wrote a song and two of Todd's kids sang it. Kevin was embarrassed. From Sagola we went shopping in Iron Mountain and spent too much. Coming home I discovered my new hearing aid had come. It is nice to be able to understand what Betty is saying and not have to keep saying Huh. My computer is still not back to normal but its getting better, I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Thursday August 18

Saying for the Day: "The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention. Duguet
-------It rained all day today in Pigeon Falls. People dressed in old time clothes are not as enjoyable when they are soaking wet and even less enjoyable if you are soaking wet as well. Wink's Woods and the Fly Inn restaurant, bar and hotel were full of tourists getting out of the rain. M&CL railroad had to pull its open passenger cars and scrounge for some extra covered ones. They ended up using the passenger cars from the Thomas the Tank specialty train. Rain sure does complicate things. Mayor South is hoping there will be no rain on Saturday when the big Pigeon Day Parade is set to take place. She said that we wouldn't want Rodeny McDonald to get his clown suit soaking wet. Speaking of Rodney, McDonald's is sending a special railroad car in with him. People are saying that it will contain some things for Rodney to give away in the parade. Well have to wait until Saturday to find out. Coming with Rodney will be two fellow clowns and the Sesame Street Band. The committee has also arranged for a Scottish bagpipe player so it should be quiet a parade. Potato farmers have started bringing in their best potatoes for next weeks judging which will name the farmer of the year. There are four entries already. The first was from the Melvin Jamson farm. Melvin won last year and is looking to repeat. Well I'll keep you informed.
------ Good night last night. Betty got up early to cook for a funeral. She left at 9:00 for the church and worked until 3:00. I put metal wheels on more cars. The new Aristo engine had a disconnect and then went so fast it fell off of the curve , too far in for me to reach it. I had to wait until Betty came home and by then it was raining cats and dogs. She finally went and got the engine during a break in the rain. She was really tired from standing all morning at the funeral coffee. I painted the base to glue the figures to for the parade. Then I tried to find a fix for my computer problem with no luck. Pretty dull life isn't it? Oh! Nancy Drew finally sewed that dress correctly. Well I need a breathing treatment
GBYA

Wednesday August 17

Saying for the day:"Power is the ability to do good things for others.":Brooke Astor
------The big spouse carrying race was held today on the main street of Pigeon Falls. They set up an obstacle course consisting of four children's wadding pools, two filled with water and two with mud. Two small hay bales they had to step over, six tires, and in the middle a ladder that went over a temporary wall and a ladder coming down the other side. You had to climb up one side carrying your spouse and down the other. They put air mattress on the sides in case somebody dropped a spouse and sure enough some did. There were twenty five couples entered. Which seems to say that I was wrong when I said people aren't willing to carry their spouse anymore. Toivo Jupola and his wife Sarah ran up to the first pool when Toivo tripped and dropped her into the pool. She was so mad she screamed at him that he did that on purpose and pushed him into the pool. They quit the run and went away laughing. The crowd which lined the sidewalk enjoyed the entire incident and clapped for them. But they didn't finish the race so they get no sweatshirt. The winner of this years race was Amelia Ann Heronbill who carried her husband around the course in a record time of ten minutes and thirteen seconds. She is the first women to win in the fifteen years of the race. She receives the T shirt that says "I carried my husband to the end" and sixteen frozen pasties. I hope they don't thaw on the train. Amelia by the way had muscles enough to be on All Star Wrestling and had a puny little husband. Pigeon Falls is the only place that runs this race that lets either spouse do the carrying. Well I'll keep you informed.
----- Good night last night. Every morning I spend and hour or so on the computer looking at my E-mail and checking my blog for comments as well as checking my children's blogs. This morning Betty decided to use the hour she has to wait after her morning pill to play Nancy Drew. She is the point in the game when she has to sew a dress. All I heard over and over this morning was "That's not good enough !Do it over. or " Would I wear that? No! . What happened to quiet PC games, where you had to read everything. After breakfast Betty went to Tops and I ran trains. I also finished two more street lights for the town. When Betty came home she glued the gas station to its base and gave it a clear coat of paint to protect it. She also clear coated the street lights. I ran trains. I had three visitors. My metal wheels came and I have four more cars I can use on the layout after I replaced the plastic wheels with metal ones. I had trouble with the computer so this blog is a little later than usual and Betty is back to playing Nancy Drew. I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Tuesday August 14

Saying for the day:The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.Norman Vincent Peale
------Old time week continues in Pigeon Falls with many of the residents wearing clothes from 100 years ago. It is a wonderful sight to walk down main street and feel like you have been transported back to 1905. Periwinkle over at Periwinkle Gas is wearing and old English costume and asking customers if they would like a spot of gas. He may look like 100 years ago but his gas prices are the prices of today. Mayor South has been asking tourists what they think of our pigeon statue. Mostly she has been getting very nice comments but one family from Green Bay gave her some surprising answers. The mother said "I would never have it in my yard. It is far too gaudy "The daughter said " I suppose you could climb on it but that would tire you out." But the comment that really broke Mayor South up was from the four year old son, Luke, who said " I don't like it there is too much pigeon poop on it". One does wonder why the pigeons seem to target the statue erected in their honor. Mayor South reminded everyone that tomorrow is the traditional spouse carrying contest and they should get their entries in. It seems only five couples have registered and there are usually twenty or so. I guess in this age its every person for themselves and nobody wants to carry their spouse anymore. I could be wrong. I'll keep you informed.
------Good night last night until 4:30 in the morning when I got a leg cramp. I started out making a base for the gas station while Betty painted a new house she is finishing. Then Betty painted the base and I started on the new light poles for the town. In the middle of that my battery operated drill ran out of power so I set it to recharge . Betty painted the tops of the poles that hold up the garden railroad and that took all afternoon. I ran trains and changed some plastic wheels for metal ones. We don't run plastic wheels anymore because they leave a residue. The trains ran almost without incident. I added a few passengers to our open air passenger car and glued them down so they won't fall out. It was an enjoyable day. We are still trying to decide what to do In January. We found and extended stay motel in Appleton with a microwave and a refrigerator for $40 a night. That would leave us free to stay in Madison for a couple of weeks as well. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

GBYA

Monday August 14

Saying for the day:You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jelly beans. Ronald Reagan:
------It looked a bit like Little House on the Prairie in Pigeon Falls, today, as Old Time Week began. I don't know where they find all those old clothes . Even Pastor Marvel was wearing tabs instead of a clerical collar, wow. Well Jon Bergal had his chance today. He told this story in the Liar's Club contest, entitled, "When the Space Ship landed". " It was some years ago, before our kids were born, when I was out working in the garden. Suddenly this large saucer shaped craft landed in my hayfield ,behind the barn. Out of it came two beings. They looked sort of like people except their skin had a deep purplish tone and they had four arms. As they came toward me I could see they were carrying some kind of machine which I discovered translated from our language into theirs and from their language into ours. They told me they had come to find out about earth people. Well I welcomed them and told them that people in Pigeon Falls were downright friendly . I invited them in for supper. Donna had just mad some pasties and I explained to them that this was a popular local food. Each one of them ate two and a couple of cans of pop, Pepsi as I remember. The next thing that happened is they became violently ill. Apparently pasties don't fit well into their digest system. Well you have never seen anything as horrible as two purple beings turning green. They pushed a button on the belt of one of them and two others came from the ship and helped them back. I kept saying, over and over, how sorry I was but they were too busy being sick to listen to me. The door on the saucer shut and I never saw them again. Now if you don't believe me you can look in the back issues of "Pigeon Food" our weekly newspaper and you'll find that at the time of this story there were many sightings of UFOs. For this story John got eight 10s and two nines. This gave him a score of 9.8 and he becomes the Liar's Club Champion. He gets a T-shirt that says "Boy can I lie". I'll keep you informed.
------Bad night last night , lots of leg cramps and I woke up every two hours. The belt on the mask hurt my head. In the morning I worked on the computer and ordered some metal wheels for the trains. Betty worked in the garage on the gas station which by the end of the day was almost finished. In the afternoon I ran trains and repaired track. I am getting better at preventing disconnects. In the evening I did a scan of the computer and found one virus. Betty was back to playing Nancy Drew. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Betty's flowers 

Sunday August 13

Saying for the Day:Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.----Today was the day of Pigeon Falls pulpit exchange and Pastor Marvel ended up in the Methodist pulpit. He came dressed as an old time Methodist and started his sermon by introducing himself as John Wesley. This is an excerpt from that sermon:" I want to share with you the most astounding experience I had at a place called Aldersgate. I had been reading Martin Luther on how the just shall live by faith. Suddenly my heart was strangely warmed and I knew that I was saved not by my good deeds but by what Jesus did for me at the cross. Jesus was now as real to me as you are. My life as a Christian really began at that point. Now I know that Jesus died for me and all people. God wants to save all of us. He wants you to have the same experience I had. You need to put aside your depending on good works and put your faith in Jesus. Then you need day by day to live out of that new faith with holiness supplied by God through the action of the Holy Spirit. Jesus loves you and wants you for his own." There was of course more to the sermon but this should give you an idea of what Captain , I mean Pastor, Marvel said. In the afternoon the entire town was invited to gather round the bandstand and sing hymns. They blocked off the street and quite a crowd showed up. Its wonderful what can happen in small towns. The only other thing on the agenda was the pie social at St. John's Methodist Church. I tell you those Methodist ladies like to cook. They make great pies too. Well I'll keep you informed.
------I had a rough night last night with lots of leg cramps. In the morning Betty and I went to the Methodist church to hear Jack Koivisto preach. It was a good sermon in which the good news of Jesus was clearly put forth in an interesting manner while being true to the text. When we came home Betty continued to work on the gas station for the train layout. I worked on the computer and added a background hymn to the church home page. After lunch Betty got all the siding on while I ran the trains and took pictures of the flowers. Betty should finish the garage tomorrow. I added Betty's flower pictures to our web page at www.familylinna.com. Well I need a breathing treatment and a bath.
GBYA

Saturday August 12

Saying for the day:Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.Will Rogers
------They picked the Pigeon Queen last night and the judges choice was a complete surprise. Everyone expected it would be one of three girls: Amelia Jupola, Francis South, or Stephanie Stir. The judges choose to interview five of the twenty girls whose names and information were submitted to them. The five included the expected three plus Emily East, the present Job's Daughters Queen. But the fifth one was Nellie Hokansen . Her father had run off some years ago and her mother lived on welfare. Four of the girls had beautiful new dresses that looked like they had been purchased just for the occasion but Nellie had on a dress that probably came from St. Vincent De Paul. The other girls talked among themselves asking , loud enough for Nellie to hear, why they had invited trash like her to the interviews. This, however, upset Emily who went over and sat with Nellie and tried to make her feel comfortable. This got her some nasty looks from her friends. After the interviews the judges went into a back room and spent about an hour working out the winner. Emily East was named Pigeon Helper (First Runner Up) and then Nellie was named Pigeon Queen. You could have heard a pin drop in that place when the announcement was made. Sometimes justice and mercy prevail even without a Fairy Godmother.
The yellow brick road race was run today. There were fifty runners. Winner was Thomas Already from New York. He said it was really hard running on bricks. Pat Linna came in third which is pretty good for a sort of old guy. His three boys were there cheering him on and I think they were disappointed he didn't win. Well I'll keep you informed.
----Very good night last night, no leg cramps. Ran trains all morning with both the LGB and Lionel engines pulling the trains. They ran very well and there was very little trouble. Betty cut some of the siding for the garage and painted it red. She'll finish it tomorrow. We had four people from Rhinelander stop in and admire the layout. One of them collects Marx trains. Two kids stopped in. Ray Pfeiffer who use to live in Crystal Falls but now lives in Minnesota came by. In the afternoon we watched the train program on PBS. Then we went to church. Not a bad sermon. After church we went grocery shopping. Coming back I worked on adding sound to the family linna web page. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Finn-Fest Cahirs 

Friday August 11

Saying for the Day:People often need love the most when they deserve it the least.
-----Today more runners showed up for the Yellow Brick Road Race which takes place tomorrow. Runners included Pat Linna another old friend of Eino Jupola from school days. Pat always wanted to run in the race and tomorrow he has his chance. Today was Donna Bergal's chance at the Lion's Story telling championship. This is the story she told entitled "When my Pastor went to Jai"l: " Some years back, if you remember, we had a young Pastor who twice a year went with his wife by train to Marquette to go shopping. There they would rent a car and hit the biggest of stores. Before leaving he always took a lasix before he left because on long trips he tended to fill up with fluid. Well they had just gotten to the really big store when the lasix hit. Pastor told his wife to go ahead and shop and he would find a bathroom and then find her. Then he asked a clerk where the bathroom was and she told him that the men's room was out of order and wouldn't be fixed until the plumber came that afternoon. Well he really had to go so he went outside and ran over to the next door McDoinald's which he knew had a restroom. Normally he didn't go into fast food places but this was an emergency. He rushed in and straight to the rest room and then disaster struck again, his zipper stuck. Well someone was in the booth and he really had to go so he dropped his pants. Just at that moment the police officer who was in the booth , flushed, and came out. Seeing Pastor standing with his pants down in plain view of the door he decided he was some kind of pervert . He ordered Pastor to pull his pants up and put handcuffs on him, and took him to the patrol car. Then with sirens blazing he took him downtown to the police station. Here, the desk Sargent, lucky for Pastor, turned out to be an old friend of Pastor's from college days. They had a good laugh over what had happened, reminisced a bit about college and then drove him back to the really big store. In the meantime Pastor's wife Betty had continued to shop happily without being aware that anything had happened. Pastor soon found her and her full cart but I don't think he ever told her what had happened. Now if you don't believe me you can call the Marquette Police Department and ask for Captain Anderson and he'll verify the story if he's still there." for this story Donna got seven 10s and three 9s for an average of 9.7 putting her in first place with only her husband Jon to go on Monday. Well I'll keep you informed.
------Good night last night until 4:00 when I woke up with leg cramps. We left early in the morning for the Suomi Conference meeting in Marquette. We stopped at Menards to pick up a few things for the train. It was nice to see all the painted chairs on the way to the Church. They were there for Finn-Fest. At lunch we renewed a lot of old friendships. We saw Pastors Les Niemi, Wally Leno, Norman Lund, Anti Lepisto, and Ken Merckx. We also saw Professor Walter Kukonen and his wife. He was one of my favorite Professors when I was in seminary. The meeting itself was pretty dull, two much reading of written reports that we could read for ourselves. It was good to hear Bishop Voitto Huotari from Finland and Professor Paul Niemisto from St.Olaf College. All in all I'm glad we went. On the way back I took some picture of the Finn-Fest chairs . We stopped at Dawn's house and she gave us blueberries, lots and lots of blueberries. She shared with us that Chris had called her from the Milwaukee Zoo . With cell phones you never can tell where people will call you from. When we got home our package of track cleaner had arrived and tomorrow we will clean track. The bill came from the plumber and it wasn't as bad as we expected. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Thursday August 11

Saying for the day:Swallow pride/it's non fattening.
----The variety show , last night, was as good as everyone had come to expect with just a few surprises. Mayor South's husband forgot one of his lines and turned beet red. After all the chiding he did of Angela he will never live this down. She won't let him. Vicki added a new verse to her Pigeons Return song and the audience loved it. They joined in the coo coo coos with real gusto. All in all it was a grand finish to this years variety show. Tonight they decided on the Pigeon Queen we'll let you know how that comes out. The Liar's Club story telling contest resumed today with ten judges instead of five. The first one of the three finalists , order drawn by lot, was Tom Ellingsen, Tommy's father. This is his story entitled , "He sang him to life". " It was many years ago when my friend Tom Kirpatrick had a massive heart attack and was taken to the big hospital in Marquatte, that was when Marquette had two hospitals, For several days he hovered between life and death and then it looked like death was going to win. The hospital called his children and told them their father was dying and if they wanted to see Tom one last time they should come immediately. His three sons, and two daughters were there within the next five hours. They sat in the room and Amanda, his youngest daughter held his hand . He opened his eyes and in a terribly week voice he said, " Could you sing for me one last time?" So the five children joined together and sang the song the verses of which contain" But it stopped short Never to go again, When the old man died" . The nurses were aghast at the singing of such a song to a dying man but then something truly strange happened. Tom's face began to glow as his color returned and he began to move from death to life. With each verse you could see he was gaining strength and by the end of the song he looked and acted like a new man. It was a first class miracle. It seems they sang him from death to life . Now if you don't believe this story you can find it written up in a back issue of the Marquette Mining Journal."
Tom, the undertaker got 5 10's, 4 9's and an 8 for a final score of 9.4. A tough score to shoot at for Donna Bergal who goes tomorrow. I'll keep you informed.
------ Very good night last night. This morning I took the remote control for the train apart and tested the batteries. they were fine. When I put them back and tested it, it worked fine. I replaced the insulators on the temporary track on the far end. Then Betty put the track back together , no easy job. Where is Elijah when we need him?. After that we went back to work on the gas station and by the end of the day it only needed the siding to finish it. Before quitting for the day we put our new road in place and Betty placed the houses next to it. We finished up Betty's blueberry pie but Dawn called and said she had some more blue berries for us and we can get them tomorrow when we go to the Suomi Conference meeting in Marquette. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Wednesday August 10

Saying for the day:When one door closes, another one opens. It's the dark hallways that scare us.
----- Last night there was a big storm in Pigeon Falls and it knocked down one of the town's two lights and took out electricity to the entire town and surrounding houses. Within an hour and with the storm still raging our town's two electrical people had the power back on. I asked why they felt that had to go so fast and Tom Wignins, head electrician, said " You have obviously never faced an angry old lady who doesn't want to miss her favorite TV program". Today they got the street light back up. It was a quiet day today except for the non-campaigning of the Pigeon Queen candidates. By tradition one does not try to get selected Pigeon Queen but you couldn't tell that from the actions of the candidates. Amelia Jupola, Toivo's sixteen year old daughter was going around being extra nice to everyone, not her usual behavior. Francis South, Mayor South's sixteen year old daughter, was crying on people's shoulders about how hard it was growing up as the daughter of the Mayor. Stephanie Stir, Roger Stir's sixteen year old daughter, was calling up all her Job daughters friends and suggesting they put in a good word for her with the judges. They were all doing a good job of not campaigning. Of course the judges tomorrow could pick someone else entirely but these three think they have the inside track because of who their parents are.
Some runners have shown up early for the big race on Saturday. the original announcement had the date off by one day but it is Saturday. The Variety show was even better last night and you can't get a ticket for tonight. The place is sold out. Some people are going back to see it for a third time. Well I'll keep you informed.
-----Had a good night last night. This morning I got an early start at running trains and everything looked like it was going to work fine. Had one visitor in the morning and he enjoyed the trains and was impressed with the layout. Nobody came in the afternoon. Betty went to Tops. It was good that nobody came in the afternoon because everything went wrong. The hand control could no longer stop the train and we don't know why. I will have to open it and check the battery when I get a chance. Betty came home and we painted the new road to look like a dirt road. Then we put our new houses on the layout but left final positioning until the new road is in place. Betty glued the atreet light back in place. Then we started on the gas station that we bought material and directions for at the Garden Railroad Convention. We hope to finish it tomorrow. Betty brought home a disturbing article on aspartame and I think I will quit drinking Diet Soda. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Picture by Susan Johnson 

Tuesday August 9

Saying for the day:. Coincidence is God's work - when He chooses to remain anonymous.
-----Well last night was the big variety show. It was the best Pigeon Falls has produced in twenty years of variety shows. I know because everyone said so. Esther and Vicki sang old time songs and if there was a dry eye in the place when they finished I couldn't find it. After their old time songs Vicki sang the Pigeons Return Song, When the pigeons return to pigeon falls, and got everyone to sing the coo, coo, coos. You would have thought the place was full of pigeons. Mayor South got all of her lines right and on time and her husband was much relieved. It was a very funny piece. People really sang the old time hymns with Rachel playing the organ and using songs provided by Last Lutheran Church. The act that stole the show was Toivo and Eino's rendition of "Tuna Casserole" .Eino came on wearing a dress and a bonnet and acted out calling people to super. Then Eino brought in big casserole with chips on top. At the close they put on angel wings and halos as they mimicked going to heaven. It was wonderfully done and their singing was even better than usual. Tommy, the undertaker's kid did his tap routine which was enjoyable but a little frightening because he carried a slingshot and kept pretending he was going to shoot it even as he tapped. There were other numbers , of course, but all in all it was $2.00 well spent. Today was a quiet day in Pigeon Falls and it rained. Well I'll keep you informed.
------Had a very good night last night possibly because I took a hot bath just before going to bed. Today I spent a lot of time on the computer as there was a huge storm in the morning.
It ended just about the time Dawn and Paul came with rocks for the railroad. We went to lunch at Fob's with them. Then we went to Iron River to get some patching cement only to find the bigAce hardware closed but the little hardware store in the mall had a tube of patching cement which I bought to finish the road. It worked well . I think. The storm took down the light pole on the model railroad but didn't seem to damage anything else. Betty spent the afternoon building a cute little house from a kit we bought at the train show. I went looking through the E-Bay G scale stuff and marveled that people are willing to pay much more than if they bought from a merchant. Like I bought seven seated people made by USA trains for $7.00, on E-Bay the same seven people were up to $30 and the bidding hadn't ended yet. I guess there are people who don't check around. Betty is playing her new Nancy Drew computer game in which she gets really involved. Last night she didn't get to bed until after 12:00. Well I need a breathing treatment so she'll have to quit for a little while.
GBYA

Monday August 8

Saying for the day:Life is to short / to miss today
------Well they had the last round of story telling today and three of the four were eliminated. Tom Ellingsen, the undertaker, made it into the last round with a story he called "The Man who wouldn't stay dead ."Here is the story:" It was some years ago now when the phone rang and the
hospital called me to pick up the body of Thomas Allwater who had died just a few minutes earlier. So I got the hearse out and drove to the hospital and picked up the body. No sooner than I had him in the prep-room than he sat up on the table and asked where he was. Well I don't know who was more surprised ,him or me. I called the hospital and had them send an ambulance. They came , picked up Thomas and took him back to the hospital. The next day they called and told me he had died again and would I come and get him. They assured me that this time two doctors had pronounced him dead. Well back I went. They loaded the body in the hearse and I headed for the funeral home. A few miles from the hospital I hit one of those potholes that we are famous for and Thomas sat up and again asked where he was. well I turned right around and took him back to the hospital where they put him back in the same room. This went on for six days. I would pick him up, somewhere along the drive he would sit up and I would take him back to the hospital. Finally I suggested to the hospital they send him to one of those big city hospitals. So they sent him by train to Rochester and the Mayo Clinic. As far as I know he is still alive. Now if you don't believe me you can go out to the cemetery where you will find a stone for Thomas Allwater with the death date chiseled off." For the story he got one 10, three 9's and an 8. So he will meet Jon and Donna Bergal in the final round .I'll keep you informed.
-----Fairly good night last night. In the morning I worked on a new roadway for the layout and Betty painted the poles that hold the layout together. She used a spray painter and it went fast. I ran out of patching cement filler for the road and she ran out of paint so we went down to Slivensky's hardware, She got some paint but they had no patching filler. When we came back we decided it was too hot to go on so we took the sprayer apart and cleaned it,
Betty went to the Church for a meeting. I worked on the computer, searching for information on hearing aids. I also added some new links to the blog. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Betty cutting the grass 

Sunday August 7

Saying for the day:For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.John 1:17
-----Well everyone knew it was going to happen , sooner or later. They were waiting ever since Tommy, the undertaker's kid, started calling Pastor Marvel, Captain Marvel, after the old comic book character. Well today Pastor Marvel entered the pulpit dressed in a red jump suit with a big yellow lightning bolt on his chest and a white cape with yellow edging. He hollered 'Shazam" at the top of his lungs, and of course nothing happened. Then he pointed out that if he was really Captain Marvel he would have become Billy Batson the newspaper boy. "We Christians", he continued, "don't have any magic words that give us super powers and the God's that supposedly gave Captain Marvel Power didn't exist. But we do have power available to us that is as life changing as Shazam was for Billy. Our power comes from our relationship with Jesus. It comes by grace because the God of all power loves us. We can tap into that power through prayer and by reading the Bible where God speaks to us. " Of course there was more to the sermon than that but I don't have room for all of it. This afternoon the rehearsals for tomorrow's variety show continued. Angela South is still forgetting her lines and her husband is getting desperate. He is threatening to be sick tomorrow so he won't have to be embarrassed. Tommy, keeps taping and his father said its driving him insane. Well tomorrow it will be all over. I'll keep you informed.
------Had a restless night last night, I have no idea why. In the morning I put the flower pictures on the church web page. The Ahlberg's stopped by to look at the layout. Then Betty and I worked at putting the restaurant figures together for the red roof cafe. Then we put them out on the layout. We also added a pretzel wagon and a cotton candy wagon. We put new cars out on main street, added a fisherman or two to Crippled Creek. In the afternoon Betty and I took pictures of the pool and waterfall then added them to our family web page. After that I worked at cleaning up my hard drive. I found thousands and thousands of pictures of me and Betty sitting in the office. They were stored when we were using the web cam. I deleted them all. Then I backed up part of the hard drive on two DVDs.
Betty built little picnic tables and benchs from a kit. It was really delicate work and she does it well. WEll I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Pigeon Falls 

Saturday August 6

Saying for the Day:"Wise sayings often fall on barren ground; but a kind word is never thrown away."Sir Arthur Helps
-----It was a busy day in Pigeon Falls , people were rehearsing for the local variety show coming up on Monday. Mayor South and her husband were working on an Abbot and Costello routine about baseball. Angela kept forgetting the punch lines which did not seem to please her husband. I think he is sorry they ever volunteered for the show. Toivo and Eino are going to sing the same song they sing every year, Tuna Casserole, which they got from the Garrison Keillor program on PBS. They sound like two alley cats with their tails tied together but the song carries the day. Tommy the undertaker's son, is going to do a tap dance, though his father asked him not to. you could hear the sound of his taps coming from the funeral home. Esther Kivi and her daughter Vicki are dressing up in 1800's costumes and singing some old time songs. It was good to hear them rehearsing. Rachel, the church organist at Last Lutheran Church is going to play some traditional church music on the theater organ for a sing along. It is shaping up to be a great program and I don't think anybody will be disappointed. Of course while all this rehearsing was going on Art on the Yellow Brick Road continued. Eino's friend sold all of his metal creations and has left. I don't understand why anybody bought them but I guess I don't understand art. The painting with the kid and the spaghetti got sold before I could buy it. Well I'll keep you informed.
-----Good night last night but Betty turned the air conditioner on and I woke up chilled. In the morning I continued to clean the garage while Betty painted a mountain. The garage is beginning to shape up, another ten years and it will be done. We ran the old track cleaner but it didn't seem to do much good. In the afternoon we watched the model train program on PBS. I went on the web and read Andrew Greely's homily for this week. I sent a copy to the Bishop. I went and took pictures of the layout and added them to www.familylinna .com. Then we went to Church. We went early so Betty could take pictures of the flower garden. Jack preached and it was an excellent sermon filled with the Good News. I am really glad I can get out to church now. After church we went to the grocery store and got some things to make a pie with the blueberries Dawn gave us. She gave so many we made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Betty is cooking the pie as I write this blog. I loaded her pictures into the computer and tomorrow I will add them to United's web page www.undlutheran.com . Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

The Lionel 

Friday August 5

Saying for the Day:"The center of human nature is rooted in ten thousand ordinary acts of kindness that define our days.":Stephen Jay Gould
-----Donna Bergal, Jon's wife, was the first story teller today in the Liar's Club contest. This is her story:" I suppose you have all seen a bear or two in your life and most of you I hope have eaten a pasty. If you haven't eaten a pasty the Methodist ladies are selling them in front of the Methodist Church all day today. If you haven't seen a bear stay around for a while and you will. Well this story is about bears and pasties or to be more exact about one bear and pasties. It all begins two or three years ago early one morning in the spring. I heard this noise on my back porch and I looked out the window and saw a big black bear looking very hungry. I looked around for something to feed him because I didn't want him to eat the chickens or start on a cow. The only thing I could find was one of those extra big pasties that I was planning to have for supper. So I opened the door very carefully and put it down on the porch, then retreated inside. Sure enough he lumbered over and gulped down that pasty and then much to my surprise he seemed satisfied and wondered off into the woods. I figured he'd have one bear size belly ache and wouldn't come back again. I was wrong the next morning he was back on the porch and I gave him the last pasty from the refrigerator. That day I made some pasties for the Methodist ladies pasty sale, did I tell you that was today? They were sitting on my table the next morning as I hadn't had a chance to take them to the church. So when the bear showed up I gave him one of those. That afternoon I went down to Lundny's pasty shop and bought two cartons of pasty seconds. These didn't look so good but I figured the bear wouldn't care. Every day after that the bear was at my door for his breakfast pasty. One day I was late getting up and I heard this knocking on my back door. I looked out the window and there was the bear standing on two legs and knocking. Well I hurried and gave him his pasty for the day before he wrecked my door. Well this went on until it was almost winter and then he stopped coming. I never saw him again. I like to think that the DNR captured him in one of those big cages and moved him to the National Park where he is telling the other bears about the wonders of pasties. Now if you don't believe this story I have a picture in my wallet of the bear knocking on my back door and your welcome to see it." Well Donna got four 10's and one 9. She moves on to the next round where she'll meet her husband in head to head competition. Well I'll keep you informed.
------Had a hard time getting to sleep last night everything ached or itched. Once I fell asleep it was a good night. The large breathing mask is a real joy. In the morning Betty sterilized some of my breathing equipment while I put together a shelf for the trains in the garage. Betty brought up the Aristo Engine from the basement. We then took it out to the track to run it and it wouldn't go. I looked all over for an off and on switch but there didn't seem to be any. Then Betty read the book that came with it. The switch was hidden as part of the boiler. Once the switch was thrown it ran well. In the afternoon we began having trouble with it as the tracks had a lot of dirty spots. We then ran the Lionel for awhile. Betty wanted to run the circus cars but the one with lion cages on it got stuck in the tunnel. Soon the Lionel was having trouble on the dirty track as well. So we gave up put them way and came in. Then we went grocery shopping. When we came back Betty did some housework and I made a birthday card for Betsy Hill. She is part of Betty's birthday club. I put the pictures from the family trip on the web under family pictures. That's at www.familylinna.com . Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Thursday August 4

Saying for the Day: * The things that come to those who wait, may be the things left by those who got there first.
-----The Liar's Club contest continued today but the stories were so bad that nobody got over a six, or else they just had a tough bunch of tourist judges. In any case I won't share any of today's stories with you. Art on the Yellow Brick Road continues today and there is some really wild art. Some friend of Eino, I think he runs a junk yard for a living, has welded all kinds of odd things together and is charging a good price for them. His creation called yesterday and today had a part of an old Ford radiator welded to a new Ford tailpipe for this he wants $200. This is not art the way I remember it but tourists are buying and saying they got a bargain. Of course there are regular artists with pictures that you can understand. My favorite was a painting of a child in a high chair with a bowl of spaghetti on his head. It was entitled "Smile". Tom Hautamaki was back with his tree carving . He had eagles and bears and I think a deer. All of them were carved from tree trunks, very impressive, very expensive. He was selling them for $500 to $600 apiece and they were selling. I don't think he'll have any left by Saturday. I prefer a $500 bear to a $200 radiator part but I'm not buying either one. I just might buy the kid and the spaghetti. I'll keep you informed.
-----Very good night last night following my long relaxing bath. This morning I worked at cleaning up the garage and putting things away, a job never done. I also canceled my Ancestory.com subscription and called about our Disney Card. Then Betty's sister Susan came and we showed her and Bob the train layout. Ran a couple of trains for them. Then Betty showed off the new bathtub. Bob said it gave him some ideas. We went to lunch with Bob and Sue at Fob's. Afterward they went golfing and we came home. In the afternoon I changed the couplers on the Thomas the Tank Engine and cars to hook and loop to end the disconnects. We then took it out to the track to test it and no disconnects. We did have some derailments. We ended the afternoon by running the new Lionel engine. What a beauty . I'll take a picture of it tomorrow and post it on the blog. Well I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Pat and the Boys 

Wednesday August 3

Saying for the Day:You can observe a lot by watching.Yogi Berra
------Well they set up for Art on the Yellow Brick Road today. Lots of artists and lots of different kinds of art from paintings to carvings. They will be exhibiting all week. The Liar's club started their Pigeon Days story contest today. In the end it is designed to pick the best story teller in the Liar's Club. The idea is to tell a story that could be true but at least it has to have the ring of truth. They seal off one side of main street and put up a little platform next to the bandstand for the story teller. Five tourists are selected to do the judging and they sit in the bandstand and hold up cards from 1 to 10. The speaker needs to get an average of 9 points to go on to the next round. There are four speakers each day and no speaker can talk for more that ten minutes. Fifteen people have entered the contest. The first speaker was Jon Bergal, a local farmer. This is his story." Have you noticed there are no railings at the front of the Post Office even though Federal regulations require them? There used to be a beautiful railing there until Bullfrog Jupola came down with arthritis. The pain in his knees would get so bad when he was walking down town that he would grab those railings and twist and chew on them to dull the pain. As the pain got worse he chewed and twisted more and more. Finally when he passed away the railings were in such bad shape that town council had them cut off at the base and fully intended to replace them. Now if you don't believe me go over to the Post Office and you will find the stubs in the sidewalk where the posts were cut off". Jon Got two tens, two nines , and an eight. He will go on to the next round. The other three contestants for the day failed to get better than a seven. Well Fred Stir might have done better but he went over the ten minute limit by ten minutes. He just doesn't know when to stop talking. Well I'll keep you informed.
------Good night last night. The garage door stuck open last night and some animal went through the garbage. Betty went to the Tops picnic and I ran trains in the morning. It was so hot. In the afternoon I ran trains had visitors from Lansing who stopped to see the trains and my wife's dentist's hygienist who stopped to see the trains. Did I say it was hot. It was also humid. Betty came home and worked at painting a house for the layout. I worked on the computer and made some more pictures from the trip. Well I need a breathing treatment and a glass of pop or maybe a glass of pop and a breathing treatment.
GBYA

Chris and George at Greater America 

Tuesday Aug 2

Saying for the Day: * Resentments are like stray cats: if you don't feed them, they'll go away.
------Today was the big pasty eating contest in Pigeon Falls and the Methodist ladies turned out bright and early to make the pasties. There were 100 entries, lots of tourists tried to see how far they could stretch their stomach .After the first hour four hundred pasties had been eaten and we were down to 50 contestants and some of them looked a little green. Now these were not your little hand held bite size pasties! No, these were full plate belly busters and how anyone could eat more than two is a mystery with no solution. After the next half hour we had ten contestants left and five of them looked pretty sickly. At the end of two hours there were two contestants left, Jon Bergal , a local farmer, and Joseph Horning, a pesky tourist. Both had eaten ten pasties. They each ate two more and Jon threw in the towel. Joseph ate one more just to show he was the king and from the looks of him he could have eaten another two or three. This is the first time a tourist has won the pasty eating contest and the locals vowed to do better next year. Jon said he probably shouldn't of had that big breakfast before coming to the contest.
In other local news, Mo struck again. She noticed there was nothing to stop the train from running off the end of the siding behind Wink's Woods and she threatened to close it down and issue a citation if something wasn't done quickly about it. Poor Dr. Fortress doesn't have enough problems with the upper tunnel still closed but he said he would take care of it So Mo stayed to see that it was done and helped the Methodist ladies make pasties. Well I'll keep you informed.
------ Very Good night last night. Had a relaxing bath and slept in my own bed. Today we started testing the running of trains and it was hot. A nice young man on a bicycle stopped and we talked trains for a bit. We had lots of derailments and disconnects but Betty and her little shovel fixed a lot of track and by days end they were running well. WE even filled a milk car, which kept derailing, with water to give it more weight and that worked well. Dawn called and invited us to meet her in Sagola for super. We went and were surprised that Kevin and family drove over from Norway. It was a nice get together. We brought the pictures from our trip and shared them. Came home and put all the trains away. Found a nice item on the net and mailed it to all my kids and Chris. well I need a breathing treatment.

Monday August 1

Saying for the Day: A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.Sir Winston Churchill
---- Well the Pigeon Days celebration officially began today with the Pigeon calling contest. There were fifteen contestants. They had ten minutes each to call the pigeons to them at the Bandstand. They could use the loud speaker system if they wanted. There was a lot of cooing but the pigeons didn't seem to notice. For a moment when Larry Jackson , who was home visiting his mother and only tried because and old school buddy dared him to, was calling a pigeon seemed to be flying in his direction. But the pigeon flew right over his head. So nobody won the $1000 again this year. The $ 20 prize for best call was given to Larry but our five judges were split on that decision. All in all it was a good beginning for Pigeon Days. The committee also announced that they have a Scottish bagpiper coming to play in the parade. Tommy, the undertakers kid, wanted to know if that's one of those people whose instrument sounds like someone is pulling the cats tail. Well we'll all find out when the parade comes.
In other happenings the town council by a three to two vote decide to put in two new street lights. It seems some of the tourists complained about how dark it was on the end of the street. Local citizens have been complaining for years but it takes a tourist to get action. The M&CL railroad bought a new engine of which Dr. Fortress is very proud. He says it will improve passenger service considerably. Well I'll keep you informed.
---- Had a good night's sleep last night. The motel had very friendly people and very low rates. After breakfast we returned my nail gun which needed an air compressor and got an electric nail gun in its place. They were very friendly and helpful and there was no problem making the exchange. Then we went to Best Buy and got a new cartridge for the printer and Betty got a new Nancy Drew game. We went to Peter's house and said goodbye to two of my grandkids, Laurie, and my daughter Pennie. Peter was working. We arrived home around 5:00 and found piles of mail which included the little bagpipe figure for the Garden Railroad. This three day adventure was the first time that I have been away from the house, except to the hospital for more than a day at a time. I think it went very well even if we had to haul the breathing treatment machine, the C-pat machine, all my medications, and a think to push the mattress up since I can’t lie flat. Well I think that catches me up I need a breathing treatment and a restful bath.
GBYA

Sunday July 31

Saying for the day:"If God be for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31
…..The Pigeon Story
In the beginning Pigeon Falls was called Potato Grove , since it was the potato crop that sustained the village. It provided both food to eat and food to sell. Farmers from Finland and Sweden had settled here and after moving tons of rocks began growing potatoes. For a few years everything went well. Then without warning a strange new bug appeared. No one knew where it came from but it attacked the potato plants with a vengeance. Pastor Helve Tillinen said it was God’s vengeance because the farmers were such bad givers and didn’t go to church much. He predicted the end of Potato Grove. The Pastor at the Methodist Church , Justin Cooper, said God wasn’t like that but urged people to pray for divine intervention. Just when things were at their darkest a the huge flock of pigeons swooped in and ate all the bugs, every last one of them. The crop was saved and the farmers decided that as a way of thanking the pigeons they would change the town’s name to Pigeon Falls and refrain from eating them. They also decided to raise money for a big pigeon statue to stand at the edge of town as a constant reminder of what the pigeons had done.. And so we continue to celebrate the start of Pigeon Falls.. This is the official story as it is engraved on the Pigeon Statue on main street.
-----Of course last night was bad, same motel, same matters. We got up a 5:30 so we could have the car packed and ready to go by 8:00. Peter went on the hotel public computer and found us a route to Greater America without the road construction we went through on the way down. He did a great job. All three cars were packed and ready to go by 8:00, no easy task with five kids. We arrived at the park at about 9:30. My sister Chris and George met us at the park. It has been a long te since I last saw her so it was good to spend the day with her.Pennie and I rented electric wheel chairs. I would never have mad it through the day without it. It was hot. The kids seemed to have a good time as did their parents and Aunt Pennie. I am really thankful that the families took some of their free time so that we could all be together as a family. I am thankful to chris and George for driving over and spending the day with us. At 6:30 we left the park. Pat and family left for Madison and the other two cars left for Green Bay where we arrived at about 10:00. Betty and I stayed at the Excel Inn and the beds were much better. I had a breathing treatment
GBYA

Saturday July 30

Saying for the day:"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on."- Carl Sandburg
Today was the start of the annual Pigeon days celebration which runs through all of August, Mayor Angela South stood on the Town Hall steps and read the official proclamation from the town Council. It read as follows.
…..In as much as Pigeon Falls exists because of the good deeds of pigeons;
…..And in as much as it is good to remember how we came to be;
…..And in as much as the good deed happened in the month of August;
Therefore let us;
…...1. Set aside the month of August to be celebrated as Pigeon Days.
…...2. Set August 20 as the day for the annual Pigeon Days parade.
…...3. Be extra considerate of pigeons for the entire month.
…...4. Pick a Pigeon Queen –contest to be held on August 17 at the Methodist Church.
…...5. Learn the Pigeon story and be sure to tell it to all the tourists.
…...6. Invite relatives and friends to visit Pigeon Falls during this period.
Having finished reading the proclamation the Mayor tacked it to the door of the Town Hall for all to read. This is necessary because probably only three or four people stopped to hear her read it.
In all fairness, to the good citizens, it is the same proclamation every year. Usually it is tacked next to the Pigeon Story, itself. Well I'll keep you informed.
------Well Friday night at the motel was really bad. The mattress was the worst I ever slept on. Saturday we went to the National Garden Railroad Convention at St. Charles, Illinois. It was truly great. I discovered that Garden Railroad people, in general, are helpful, polite, friendly, and always willing to share an idea or two. I got to talk to the man who puts out Large Scale on line, a very nice person .He was taking pictures so I didn't take many because I know he will share his on the Large Scale website. We also discovered that at least one of the dealers is very honest. The dealer was the man who makes the figures called Just Plain Folk. We bought some figures from him and Betty gave him what she thought were two twenties . We got half way down the aisle when he came running after us because she had given him three twenties by mistake. The entire experience was good. My grandchildren enjoyed the big train layouts with running trains and that was good. We bought more than we should have. I got a Lionel G scale locomotive, some figures, fake rock, two milk cars, and a few other things. In the afternoon we went back to the motel and my kids and their kids had a terrific time in the pool which they had all to themselves. We went out to supper at Old Country Buffet in Carol Stream. When we came back I took a breathing treatment.
GBYA