Brute’s Bleat October 25, 2017

Northern 8-17.jpg

Taking advantage of the nice weather I put off raking leaves for another day last week Wednesday in favor of fishing with George Palmer. We decided on an 11 a.m. start and chose Indian Lake because of the 10-plus MPH wind predicted. Jim Peterson and a grandson were on the lake and they were catching some sunnies. Peterson remarked later they were running small. We didn’t set any records, but Palmer did pull in a 10-incher which was the exception and not the rule. We kept eight after about three hours of moving around. We both decided it was a great day to be out even if the sunfish bite was sluggish. The shoreline was aglow with fall colors and the whisp of smoke and fragrance from people raking and burning leaves made for a perfect fishing day which probably will be our final effort until the water gets hard. . . I put pheasant hunting on hold during last week’s warm days and it was MEA beginning Thursday which puts additional hunters in the field. Palmer commented MEA is the airlines’ busiest time in Minneapolis when they anticipate 20,000 more people will be flying. We both wondered if any of the state’s teachers attended their convention! An unsolicited pheasant hunting story came from Tom Hudek who chose to go hunting rather than clean his garage early last week. He bagged two roosters so it was a good choice! The soybean and corn harvest is going on big time and hunting just may get better after the crops are in.
* * *
I took advantage of the warm days last week to tackle the leaves in our backyard. I managed to compost most of them with a recycling lawn mower Thursday in the afternoon when they were dry and crunchy. The city was instrumental in sweeping the streets and a strong south wind helped by blowing them north down Linden Ave. into the Hwy. 55 road ditch.
* * *
It’s getting close to Halloween (Oct. 31) and the buzz around town is the Haunted House and where is it. The lawn signs give an internet address which we haven’t pursued, so I’m still in the dark for that Halloween outing. There are a ton of signs around the county advertising the event and more power to those in charge.
* * *
This year Veterans Day falls on a Saturday (Nov. 11). Maple Lake’s observance of that day, which honors all veterans, will be on Friday, Nov. 10th, with a program at the school. VFW Post 7664 will again be involved in the the event and will provide a dinner for veterans at The V. Maple Lake’s Legion Post 131’s Color Guard will be participating as well.
Both the Legion and the VFW are two service organizations important to the Maple Lake community. As the years go by we’ve seen their numbers start to dwindle. Some of it is from attrition and a general difficulty to convince veterans of the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars to join either or both of the two service groups.
Both organizations help fulfill needs in the community through donations of scholarship funds, provide a Color Guard at veterans’ funerals in the area, participate in Veterans Day, and provide a Memorial Day program at the community park to name a few. They both are leaders at every level in the establishment and maintenance of memorials and monuments that honor military sacrifice. Both conduct weekly meat raffles to help put funds in the coffers.
At the national level the American Legion is the nation’s most influential, effective and dependable advocate of veteran affairs fighting for better active-duty pay, improved housing for active-duty families and helping to ensure that the VA’s medical system can properly care for veterans.
There is a definite need for more members of both groups in Maple Lake and veterans are encouraged to join and participate. The American Legion Post 131 meets the second Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m., at the Legion Club and the VFW meets the third Wednesday of the month, 7 p.m., at The V. Both conduct twice-weekly meat raffles to raise funds.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply