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Road trip. Geezer style.
By Bob Ramsey
On a warm, sunny day last summer, four carloads of old men loaded up (bifocals, hearing aids, canes and all) and took off on a road trip across unsuspecting Minnesota. It sounds like the beginning of a bad movie. But it was really just members of the Wednesday morning Breakfast Brotherhood embarking on their annual motor trek.
These nomadic geezers are part of a larger group of retired St. Louis Park teachers—all male—who meet weekly for breakfast. This parent group consists of former junior and senior high teachers who have been meeting regularly for over 25 years. They are now on their third or fourth venue. At least two of their previous breakfast haunts have been closed permanently.
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California’s Crown
By Mark A. Stoehr
Once a largely arid spit of land populated exclusively by jackrabbits and coyotes, Coronado, California now boasts luxury resorts, beautiful sand beaches, and an array of activities for visitors. The “Crown City,” as it has been dubbed, is just a bridge away from downtown San Diego, and it’s rich with literary, film, and military heritage, as well as art, nature, and great food. This relatively tiny island owes its success as a tourist destination and a residential community largely to the construction of The Hotel Del Coronado—or The Del—as the hotel is affectionately known. If you are a fan of Marilyn Monroe, you have probably seen The Del, too. ¶ Remember the award winning 1959 film, Some Like it Hot? When on the run from Chicago
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Memories // Quips & pithy sayings
By Carol Hall
LIKE MANY WOMEN MY AGE … I AM 29. A T-shirt bearing this message is for sale in one of those glossy catalogs I find stuffed in my mailbox on Mondays. I’m thinking of ordering it!
I’m also contemplating: If It Moves, It’s Biology/ If It Stinks, It’s Chemistry/ If It Doesn’t Work, It’s Physics for a chemist friend’s birthday, and another for his twin brother, also in that field.
Such T-shirt “art” has been around—how long? I’m guessing since the 1970s. The first time I ever saw it was sometime during that era, at the Minnesota State Fair. A 60ish man, trudging the Midway, was causing a gawker slowdown as fairgoers stopped to read his T-shirt message: Age and
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Finance // Sowing financial seeds
By Skip Johnson
There’s something about gardening that’s good for your soul. Getting your hands in the dirt, enjoying the sunshine, planting the seeds, watering. Then you wait for those seeds to grow, and you fertilize, weed, and transplant as needed. Finally, after lots of patience, you get to reap the benefits.
Financial investments are very much like growing a garden to ensure a bountiful harvest. Here are some ideas:
Plan and plant. Before taking action, you need to consider the size of your garden, pinpoint your future needs, and determine what crops will meet them. With finances you need to start off with a solid financial plan that gives you the ability to maximize your savings for retirement.
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This month in Minnesota history // ‘The Longest Night’
By Kay-Marie Jurkovich
“Get in the basement!” Those words were heard across the Twin Cities area on the evening of May 6, 1965, when five tornadoes hit the metro area and a sixth struck just outside.
Four of the tornadoes were rated F4, one was rated F3 and one was rated F2. They struck Anoka, Carver, Hennepin, McLeod, Ramsey, and Sibley counties, with each tornado traveling between seven and 18 miles. The first tornado touched down at 6:08 p.m. and the last at 8:14 p.m., causing the event to be nicknamed “The Longest Night.”
Thirteen people died, and 683 people were injured. The tornado also left $57 million in damages. At the time, it was the most expensive weather event in state history.
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My Turn // Old musical men
By Dave Nimmer
I can sure tell that I’m retired: No business card. No performance goals. No personal appearances. No bonuses. And, oh, one more thing: A lot more music. I’m singing along with a college choir, rediscovering a familiar symphony and finding new meaning in old lyrics.
For me, a well-lived life requires music, a key to that part of soul and spirit I can’t reach any other way. I got started last year just before Christmas with a concert by the University of St. Thomas choirs and orchestral ensembles at the Minneapolis Convention Center. And you can bet I wound up one weekend not too long ago with a CD on the car stereo—window down, sound up, tuned in, and turned on.
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