[I remember both guys who are now nameless. The guy holding the fish got it with a speargun while snorkeling. He’s the only guy I can remember who found an Okinawan girlfriend and then lived in town with her . . . ]
[I believe this to be Moon Beach. Tom Morris of Fridley, Minnesota, is sitting . . . ]
[I remember the guy on the left is me. I went snorkeling with the other guy, and he said he almost drowned laughing under water at me. We saw a sea snake swimming around – deadly poisonous – and he said my eyes almost popped out of my mask when I saw it.]
[The evening’s dinner?]
[Nice to walk the beach, exploring around corners and stuff . . . ]
[Roy Gorena, future fellow resident of Arlington, Virginia, employed at the Department of Labor. Roy was part of the group transferred to Okinawa from Vietnam . . .]
[I can’t remember his name either. Kon’nichiwa!]
[Sights along the drive to the beach . . . ]
[Storm clouds would roll in; half hour later it likely would be sunny again . . . ]
[Fishing haven . . . ]
[Tiny coastal village . . . ]
[And we’re at the beach. This time Manza Beach. Like the previous beach shots, these are all on the East China Sea where the beaches are protected by coral reefs. I have to admit – I may have my Moon Beaches and Manza Beaches transposed . . . ]
[We have a raft here. And you can see the coral reef barrier a couple hundred yards out where you can see the breakers – and darker blue water outside the reef . . . ]
[On one of these ventures I got a pretty serious sunburn. If you miss work because of sunburn, you could receive an Article 15. Non-judicial punishment is a form of military justice authorized by Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. NJP permits commanders to administratively discipline troops without a court-martial. Punishment can range from reprimand to reduction in rank, correctional custody, loss of pay, extra duty, and/or restrictions (Wikipedia). Our uniforms were starched. When you put on a clean uniform, it was called breaking starch. Breaking starch with a sunburn was not a pleasant experience – but I never missed work . . . ]
[Not my boat motor on the left . . . ]
[Rafting with the boys. That’s me on the left, I remember the guy without a name next to me (though I’m sure I knew it at the time), Bill Petronus is standing, Terry Bess is sitting. The latter two I pointed out in a previous post. All but me were Vietnam refugees . . . ]
[The raft has undergone a reorganization. I bet Roy picked up my camera and shot these photos . . . ]
[I must be going out in a rowboat . . . ]
[Just like this one . . . ]
[The local fisherman are about a quarter mile from the beach here standing in shin deep water . . . ]
[Yup, a big skerry, and a small boat of GI’s . . . ]
[Snorkelers! Watch out for the sea snakes!]
[Hot day at the beach . . . ]
[Grandmas with the grandkids . . . ]
[The local folks in the water . . . ]
[A GI wife? The only bikini I can ever recall seeing there . . . ]
[Exploring around the shoreline . . . ]
[Enough walking around – back to the beach . . . ]
[OK, walking around again . . . ]
[Let’s go fishing . . . ]
[If you go back 3 photos, you’ll see the walkway from where this photo was taken . . . ]
[Back at the barracks, a soldier . . . and his car . . . ]
[Our wheels around the island . . . ]
Let’s go to the amusement park . . .
[Yonabaru is a town in Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture. It is located at the southern end of Okinawa, on the east coast, overlooking Nakagusuku Bay. As of 2015, the town has a population of 18,410 (Wikipedia). In 1970, when I was there, the population was 9,639.]
[Methinks this place no longer exists. That’s my roomie, Webbo, in the unseatbelted chair in front of me . . . ]
[Yup, the place may have been on its last legs in January 1971 . . . ]
[Nevertheless, nice views . . . ]
[I remember the guy in front of me was from Redlands, California. I just can’t remember his name . . . ]
[Nice view of Yonabaru . . . ]
[As Redlands looks back me, there is no way this place could have passed OSHA regulations . . . ]
[Your cub reporter; butt in hand . . . ]
[If that’s my camera around my neck, who took this photo and how did I get it?]
[Here’s our barracks and parking lot – yes, I remember both guys and that car. Names? Ha!]
[Wondering if the parking lot photo was a prelude to another trip here?]
[Must be – that’s the guy who owned the little red sports car . . . ]
[And another shot of Yonabaru from on high . . . ]
[I must have brought the telephoto lens on this trip . . . ]
[Up close and personal shots of the city . . . ]
Let’s say good night, until next time . . .
Don’t let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants. ~ Japanese idiom
[Executive director Nicole Mulder discussed the upcoming season for Theatre L’Homme Dieu at the Garden Bar on 6th . . . ]
Wow! Such a season upcoming!
May 17
[Sam Miltich is touring the state to discuss mental health with the aid of the Minnesota Heritage Arts & Culture Fund. On this night in the neighboring town of Evansville, he was joined by Dave Karr (89 years old and going strong) on sax, Nathan Norman on drums, and Chris Bates on bass to celebrate the jazz of Thelonious Monk and . . . himself. I took some not very good photos, likely because I was overwhelmed by the great music. Oh, and Sam’s dad, Matthew (he also plays bass with Sam but on this trip was strictly the chauffeur), joined in once with a vocal of “Corcovado” – terrific!]
Sam’s story . . .
[The not very good photos . . . ]
[Also red socks night . . . ]
[The Super bought two of Sam’s CD’s, got them autographed, and we’re listening to them even as we speak. We went to see Sam’s Uncle Anthony at the winery the next day – quite a musical family!]
[Here’s Sam with his uncle, Anthony, who will come to bat next in the blog . . . ]
May 18 (Part 1)
[And here is the aforementioned Anthony Miltich at Carlos Creek Winery as the Super walks by followed by Dave with his wine pick up . . . ]
[Dave with his aforementioned wine pick up . . . ]
[So the Super decided to go pick up ours . . . ]
[Here getting photobombed by Anthony . . . ]
[Looks like the Oberts are going to be busy . . . ]
[Unfortunately we could only spend a couple of hours with Anthony on this day, for we were next off to . . . ]
May 18 (Part 2)
Glenwood!
[After Paul & I parked, the Super and Deb were already in place for fine dining at . . . ]
[The Lakeside Ballroom, before heading to . . . ]
[Central Square . . . ]
[We were there for our old friends, Julie Patchouli and Bruce Hecksel. In 2018 Patchouli & Terra Guitarra went global bringing their music all over the world touring the UK and Europe, China and the U.S. In 2019 their album Spirit Wheel was nominated ZMR “Best World Album”. The duo contines to tour across the U.S. and returns for a 2nd bigger tour in China in July of 2019. Patchouli & Terra Guitarra have performed over 4,500 shows, toured a million miles on the road supporting 21 CD releases, performed on TV, film and are played on radio programs around the World (patchouli.net).
[Bruce’s art, sometimes animated and in 3D, serves as a backdrop . . . ]
[Note: Guitars form the shape of all things in his art . . . ]
[Their introduction from Central Square Executive Director Cheryl Larson . . . ]
[And away we go . . . ]
[After you get done diggin’ on Bruce’s sport coat . . . ]
[It becomes a musical tour de force . . . ]
[Intermission, at what I guess was surprisingly our first visit to Central Square . . . ]
[Of course, always having fun with their audience . . . ]
[Julie as a backdrop for . . . Julie?]
[Finis . . . ]
[Well, until the encore . . . ]
[During which the backdrop was animated guitar playing fingers . . . ]
Sample video . . .
Somewhat improbable story from intermission . . .
[From the Central Square program, I noted that we “know” one of the pictured performers with the upcoming Rochester Symphony (1st two photos). Well, Karen K. Hansen was a guest lecturer on our Viking Panama Cruise a year and a half ago (the remaining photos). Oh, and her husband Bill Gurstelle was also a guest lecturer – about catapults.]
[Our lecturers on the ship – a series of Ted talks, more or less . . . ]
[And Karen K. Hansen was one of them . . . ]
[Along with her husband, Bill Gurstelle . . . ]
May 19 (Part 1)
[Thanks to the Trumms for driving us to and from Glenwood – in the dark, in the rain. We thus survived to make the wine pick up party the next day at Carlos Creek Winery.]
[My head provides foreground perspective – and glare . . . ]
[Entertainment (yes, a concert) was provided by a jazz quartet from the University of Minnesota Morris . . . ]
[Wine tasting and goodies for all . . . ]
May 19 (Part 2)
[And then it was off to the Performing Arts Center at Alexandria Area High School . . . ]
[And rain and cold and wind it did all weekend . . . ]
[This was the grand finale of CLSO’s 10th season. It was destined to be a blockbuster. Joined in this effort by a 70-member Central Lakes Symphony Chorale. The audience was blown away by such as “Mars, the Bringer of War,” “O Fortune,” “Star Wars,” and “Allegro Molto Moderator.” Crank up the volume!]
[Maestro Brad Lambrecht begins each concert with maestro’s notes an hour beforehand. He discusses each song and composer . . . ]
[In our seats, backed by the prince and princess of Ashby . . . ]
[Brad wraps it up . . . ]
[The music makers have arrived and are seated . . . ]
[Fine tuning . . . ]
[The audience settles in – it appeared to be the best ever for the symphony . . . ]
[Brad arrives in performance tails . . . ]
[And away we go . . . ]
[Joined twice by the chorale . . . ]
Just for fun, a sample video of one of the songs performed (and yes, our orchestra sounded just like this) . . .
[Later joined by symphony alumni. As CLSO president Greg Donahue has said, the goal is to fill the stage with musicians so they’re always looking to add new members, especially strings . . . ]
Just for fun, a sample of a previous CLSO performance . . .
[Ann DuHammel’s piano led a strong performance of “Allegro Molto Moderato” . . . ]
[Sneaking a shot through the piano of President Greg with his violin . . . ]
[Ann received flowers but it’s hard to focus on movement from distance . . . ]
[And with the alumni musicians and chorale, the sound engulfed the auditorium . . . ]
[The audience recovered after “O Fortune” to give a standing ovation. After which Brad high-fived the musicians and skipped off the stage . . . ]
Bravo! Bravo!
And for your summer dining and dancing pleasure . . .
Till next year . . .
To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time. ~ Leonard Bernstein
Alleged happenings on Okinawa in December 1970 . . .
[Remember when I noted there are several thousand skerries around Okinawa?]
[Well, I may have photographed every one of them . . . ]
[My guess – sugar cane . . . ]
[You can tell by the blueness of the water this was another trip to the Pacific side . . . ]
[I have reason to suspect this is Ou Shima on the SE side of the main island. I’m pretty sure we didn’t go there . . . ]
[These cliffs were the last defence line of the Japanese forces on the Okinawa island in 1945. Many chose to jump to their deaths rather than be captured or killed by American forces. Today, this area is called Peace Prayer Park (tracesofwar.com).]
[Views from the cliffs . . . ]
[On the SE corner of the country . . . ]
[As noted, it’s a park – heavily frequented by tourists . . . ]
[Likely the village of Mabuni . . . ]
[Another I remember the guy but not his name. I remember this day and this walk . . . ]
[School kids on field trips . . . ]
[And now we’re driving away from the cliff . . . ]
[What the island’s interior mostly looks like . . . ]
[What the island’s exterior mostly looks like . . . ]
[Yes, a long and winding road from an overlook . . . ]
[The next 6 photos are shots along the coast road . . . ]
[Now we’re at the top of the East-West store in Futema, our “home town” . . . ]
[The above is shooting back at our military area and below is shooting up toward the north and Yaetake Peninsula . . . ]
[This is shooting south toward the capital city of Naha . . . ]
[Shooting east across the island . . . ]
[Shooting north along the city’s main street . . . ]
[Looking through the city to the SE . . . ]
[Looking to the NE . . . ]
[Window shopping the street, with the ubiquitous John Morton . . . ]
[I’m not in Minnesota anymore . . . ]
War is life multiplied by some number that no one has ever heard of. ~ Sebastian Junger
Okinawa in the Vietnam era. Let’s meet the guys; where and how we lived in Sukiran – photos from December 1970 through December 1971.
[This, again, is John Morton. Guess I knew him better than I thought. But he had been here a while before I arrived. I think he left for home shortly after this photo in December 1970 . . . ]
[This is my barracks locker in December 1970. Still a relative newbie I hadn’t acquired much yet in the way of stuff (one shirt?). I may have been a PFC at the time . . . ]
[The same locker 5 months later . . . ]
[This is Chet. This is Chet’s GI locker. Chet’s locker interior is “wallpapered” in the common GI style. I think Chet’s last name is Lepinski. But memory, like a hairline, recedes over time . . . ]
[This is the road home from work to our barracks . . . ]
[Officers’ club named “Top of the Rock.” I wasn’t an officer . . . ]
[Where I worked, the communications center of the universe. That appears to be Gary Barnett, a fine chap from Pennsylvania, as I recall . . . ]
[This is Phil Graf. I think Phil was from Texas. We called Phil the Old Fly. I don’t know why. Old fly was the same as lifer (career military). I don’t think Phil was going to be a lifer, but I could be wrong?]
[Based on above photo, self explanatory . . . ]
[This is McKinley Burns. From Kansas City, I think. Good all around athlete. Can’t tell who’s on the receiving end of his pass – he could throw it a long way . . . ]
[This is a Spec-5 two-person room. Not mine. Large groups tended to gather in these rooms. Here we have, standing l-r: Roy Gorena from Texas, Earl Fust from North Dakota, Dolomite (what we called him (don’t know why?), don’t recall his real name), Tom Morris from Fridley, Minnesota; and I remember the seated guy but not his name.]
[Barracks parking lot (obviously) – my Daihatsu featured center. I remember the biker, but not his name; his passenger is Solomon Bramlett from Chicago . . . ]
[Picnic! (Life is tough in the army). Starting with Dolomite on the left, Roy, me, and I can’t remember his name, nor the kneeling guy whose name I also couldn’t remember seated in a previous photo. Oh, and I remember the guy to Dolomite’s right, but not his name . . . ]
[Minnesota Tom and Texas Roy . . . ]
[It’s a PAR-TAY!]
[My Daihatsu outside the house of Tom Morris (he must have been married and had his wife there). The sporty Honda I believe belonged to his house neighbor, Captain Dave Medlar – I have no idea why I would remember his name?]
[A little volleyball where I’m providing the action. The guy holding the net pole was our first sergeant. First sergeant’s are called “Top,” because as senior (and thus experienced) NCO’s they know a lot more about running a company than the young lieutenant or captain they report to. I can’t remember his name, but he was a good guy. Also smart – he was getting straight A’s in a correspondence graduate school program through the University of Maryland . . . ]
[And a football intrudes on the volleyball game. GI’s could bring their families while stationed on Okinawa – thus, the kids . . . ]
[And the following are shots of Sukiran, our military living and entertainment complex. The center building is a barracks, though not of our company, and that’s the field house behind it . . . ]
[This was our immediate area. On the far right along the left side of the road is the paratroopers barracks. The next barracks up the hill from them is one of our barracks, and specifically the one I lived in when “I got a room.” The next one up the hill, facing directly at us, is our other barracks and where I stayed when I lived in the bay. The foreground buildings are basically our equivalent of a shopping mall, the PX (post exchange) – there’s a theater, library, and other stuff. In the distant far right, the tall building (6 stories) is the East-West Shop in downtown Futema – I will later feature photos from its rooftop . . . ]
[Further up the hill from our living area, on the left is the satellite dome of our Fort Buckner communications center . . . ]
[Looking back down hill at our PX . . . ]
[That’s one of our green barracks on the left . . . ]
[The all-in-one photo . . . ]
[Obviously a telephoto shot down to our waterfront . . . ]
[A chopper is landing, with (likely) Kume-shima in the distant background . . . ]
[Our PX (post exchange) where a carton – CARTON – of cigarettes was $1.30! No wonder we all got hooked . . . ]
[Our NCO club and other things here . . . ]
[Remember the guy but not his name (not Billy Crystal, though I think he was a New Yorker). He was going home – ETSing (estimated termination of service) out of the army. Whenever anybody was going home, a caravan would follow him to the airport for hugs all around . . . ]
[Terry Bess, one of a group who were transferred to Okinawa from Vietnam when the drawdown began. He played football for Purdue, a 6’3″ receiver . . . ]
[I remember the sleepy beer guy, but not his name. Then Roy’s telling me he’s No. 1 . . . ]
[Litte known factoid: I invented the selfie in June 1971 . . . ]
[Our room – we painted it purple because we could . . . ]
[Our room attracted a lot of visitors. Roy dropped in to do some reading . . . ]
[My in room entertainment center. Sansui amplifier, TEAC reel-to-reel tape deck, Sonic speakers, and a . . . TV, which soon shortly replaced by a Sony Trinitron, the first super-duper color TV’s. The semi-literate GI at the time was reading such as The Pentax Way, Catch 22, Atlas Shrugged (for opposition research), Unveiling Man’s Origins, and I can’t read any of the others in the bookshelf . . . ]
[Earl and Roy at nap time . . . ]
[Bill Petronus, from New Jersey, another transfer from Vietnam . . . ]
[Gary Mertz, from Olivia, Minnesota . . . ]
[We were at the University of Minnesota together, in the same dorm house, and he somehow found me in Okinawa though he was in a completely different organization? As curiously happens with GI’s sometime, Gary died in a car accident shortly after he was discharged and returned home . . . ]
[Terry Bess again – also a very good golfer . . . ]
[Remember him but don’t have a name . . . ]
[And here’s my roommate Larry Webb (‘Webbo’), from Phoenix. He also had half ownership of the Daihatsu – we never seemed to have issues over who was going to use it and when?]
[Back in “my room” after an exhausting day at work . . . ]
[Dick Frook, also an excapee from Vietnam, who was a 1 or 2-handicap golfer (what we did when not working) . . . ]
[Petronus again, with a falsie . . . ]
[Bill caught some shrapnel in his face from a claymore mine in Vietnam . . . ]
[Terry getting used to contact lenses . . . ]
[The guy in the mirror shot I didn’t know – still don’t . . . ]
[I think he was a guitar player . . . ]
[Ohhh, my eyes!]
[Looks like the end of a typhoon . . . ]
[I recall at least two while I was there. All the married guys stayed home with their families; all the single guys (moi) were stationed at the communications site full-time until it was over, some times two days (we slept on cots). The building had no windows (it was top secret) and thus safe in a storm. We didn’t know what had happened in the surrounding area until we were released when the storm was over . . . ]
[Our room is starting it reach its peak in luxury design and application . . . ]
[Nice place to nap. I’ve now gone to the much cooler wire-framed glasses . . . ]
[Mr. Fust, in all his glory . . . ]
[Roy enjoying a cat nap . . . ]
[Webbo! Tried to find him again civilian life through Facebook, et al, but no luck . . . ]
[Lots of photography experimentation went on in our room. Of course, one of the reasons we were so popular is we bought a window air conditioner. I’m surprised with all the electronics in our room we didn’t blow fuses all over the island?]
[Two full stereo sets and a color TV . . . ]
[And a papa-san chair. Brought it home with me. Dad loved to nap in it . . . ]
[Though I haven’t smoked in years, I may still have that ashtray somewhere?]
[Here’s lookin’ at you, Webbo!]
[Ahhh, remember black lights and day-glo?]
[A skill I picked up over there . . . ]
[Almost a mustache – and I was 23 then . . . ]
[Remember, but no name . . . ]
[Sol Bramlett, again, and Tom Magnuson . . . ]
[Bringing home the groceries . . . ]
[Sol had a great, booming laugh. And the Unitas poster on our door was Webbo’s – he was a big fan. And like McKinley Burns, Webbo could throw a football a mile . . . ]
The military don’t start wars. Politicians start wars. ~ William Westmoreland
Up Next: Track in the can, more Okinawa, a big music weekend ahead?
Continuing our nostaglic journey through my army life on Okinawa, these photos are labeled from Sepember 1970 . . .
[I’m pretty sure, though the mind is a feeble thing, that this is Moon Beach . . . ]
[I’m on another journey up the East China Sea side of the island (the Yaetake Peninsula in sight) . . .)
[I’m traveling with my friend Wayne. We stopped for this photo of a tree-topped skerry, that also included a local farmer pushing a wheelbarrow full of his harvest along the road . . . ]
[Another example of isolated cloud bursts common to islands . . . ]
[The fringes of Nago are in sight . . . ]
[The city’s waterfront ahead . . . ]
[Trees, running in panic for their lives . . . ]
[A densely vegetated skerry . . . ]
[Traveling along the city’s shoreline . . . ]
[Ie Shima in the distance . . . ]
[So, time to talk about Ie Shima. The following are 4 canned photos . . . ]
[And now, the pertinent story: Iejima, then called Ie Shima by US military and media [Ie is the name of the island, Shima is the Japanese word for island], was the major starting point for the Surrender of Japan in World War II. American troops landed on Iejima in April 1945 as part of the Battle of Okinawa and there was heavy fighting from April 16 until the island was secured on April 21. U.S. journalist Ernie Pyle was killed during the battle. There is a monument dedicated to his memory on the southern part of the island. Every year on the weekend closest to his April 18 death there is a memorial service (Wikipedia).]
[On March 31, 2010, the Super and I were driving through the Indiana University campus (her alma mater) where I snapped this photo of Ernie Pyle School of Journalism . . . ]
[Back to our story, Wayne and I are going to visit our communication antennas on the high point of the island . . . ]
[Looking back at whence we came. Yes, it could be dicey for acrophobics – like me . . . ]
[Great views though – here’s Ie Shima again . . . ]
[And again . . . ]
[Not too much farther . . . ]
[Make sure you take this drive on your next visit to Okinawa . . . ]
[Beautiful views . . . ]
[Wayne shows the guard our top secret crypto clearances for access. Isn’t my little Daihatsu a cool car? Perfect for this island . . . ]
[We’re inside the gate – didn’t have to take off our shoes, or anything . . . ]
[But hazy skies are moving in . . . ]
[The main bank of antennas keeping us in contact with the world . . . ]
[And another rain event moving in . . . ]
[But this too soon will pass . . . ]
[Support buildings and living quarters for the folks stationed up here . . . ]
[The low hanging clouds are sticking around . . . ]
[Up there is where we were shooting the antenna and facilities photos from . . . ]
After Part I was posted with all black & white photos, a friend queried as to whether or not future posts would be in color. The correct answer is: b) Yes! I quickly discovered the cheapest and most efficient way to catalogue my time on the island was through color slides. And in those two years, I took boxcar loads. In this modern era, however, the most effective means of display is digital. So a few years back, with time on my retired hands, I began scanning slides. I did not do them all (I think I just quit), but I think I highlighted about a thousand. Hang in there . . .
[As you’ll recall from the original posting, Okinawa is a small island. You can, and we did, circumnavigate it in a long afternoon. The trip was made easier when I ditched my 1965 Mazda for a brand new 1970 Daihatsu, for only $800. This may have been the first trip in that car in August 1970 . . . ]
[If you drove directly east of our base in Sukiran you would shortly arrive at the Pacific Ocean. So this is a good spot to include all the military posts on the island.]
[This, and above and below, are of the Navy’s White Beach Area on the SE side, i.e., the Pacific . . . ]
[Any time you crossed over the island to the east or the west, you had to traverse the central “mountainous” spine . . . ]
[Now we’re back on the west side of the island. I remember those buildings, just can’t remember what they were. Small town or resort?]
[You’ll get a feel for the location of the above photos as that’s the Motobu Peninsula in the distance . . . ]
[It’s the large jut out about 2/3’s of the way up the west side on the East China Sea, if that makes sense. It was known to us as Yaetake (yigh-tok-ee), because that was the name of the military installation there . . . ]
[Not uncommon here, or Hawaii, the occasional rain burst during the day . . . ]
[Sun may be here, but it’s raining there . . . ]
[A skerry is a small rocky island, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack (Wikipedia). Okinawa has thousands of these . . . ]
[We weren’t going all the way to Yaetake on this trip . . . ]
[It appears this was a photo op stop with, I believe, the town of Onna ahead. This is the photo that confirmed I was driving the Daihatsu because that’s its white roof in the foreground . . . ]
[Always stop for skerry views . . . ]
[Likely Onna, a local fishing village . . . ]
[Gorgeous scenery; skerries abound. The island of Ie Shima is in the left center of the photo, just off the end of the Motobu Peninsula. More on Ie Shima later . . . ]
[And this must be Camp Hansen, a marine base. Communications technicians from our Ft. Buckner also did a lot of work here . . . ]
[Another overlook of skerries, Yaetake, and the tall building in the center right likely marks the city of Nago, population 62,000, at the base of the peninsula . . . ]
[Ie Shima can be spotted between the two skerries on the left . . . ]
[It’s time for the beach map . . . ]
[Moon Beach and Manza Beach on the west side were our most frequented beaches . . . ]
[The neighborhood, looking like a sporty resort area 50 years ago . . . ]
[A part-time skerry?]
[The isthmus out to Manza Beach, with Yaetake looming in the background . . . ]
[And again . . . ]
[And now for a little 50-years perspective. Here is what Moon Beach @ Onna (top) and Manza Beach (bottom) look like today. Maybe it’s time for a return visit?]
[And now we’re heading back home. A beautiful drive along the East China Sea in the following 4 photos . . . ]
[Ahhh, ye ole Daihatsu. Ferried a bunch of guys to and from the beaches and golf courses . . . ]
[And based on the above 4 photos, as good a place as any to stick this in. “The Long and Winding Road” will always mark 1970 in Okinawa for me, it always seemed to be on the radio when we drove to the beach, as well as knowing it was the farewell song for the Beatles . . . ]
[And we’re home – looks like some ball games going on as the sun sets on China.]
I had examined myself pretty thoroughly and discovered that I was unfit for military service. ~ Joseph Heller
Up Next: Well, I did go to a track meet yesterday . . .
A classmate recently forwarded an inquiry from her husband regarding my military “career.” I then realized I had never inflicted that history upon any alleged followers of this blog. So, here it begins – but you can’t blame me. A brief summary of my time on Okinawa led off a blog post on March 20, 2012, italicized in the following two paragraphs.
[Self-portrait, in my Army barracks room with my Honeywell Pentax SLR camera with multiple lenses, Ft. Buckner, USASTRATCOM (a/k/a Communications), Okinawa, 1971 (Oy, my Minnesota ‘rithmetic tells me that was 41 [now 48] years ago?)]
In the summer of 1969, I received a very special invitation from Mr. Percy Unumb. Mr. Unumb was the Alexandria draft board, and he advised me that I was about to spend the next couple of years of my life in the service of our country. Now I always thought Mr. Unumb had a perfect name for his position, particularly in a time of war, because when you received his invitation, “you numb.” While the Vietnam War and its era are beyond my abilities to comment upon here, I can report from a personal standpoint I was incredibly fortunate to have spent my entire Army 2-year career on Okinawa.
For military personnel not in a war zone at the time, one of the requirements (as written in your employment contract) was to purchase the camera and stereo equipment to last a lifetime. Most of us did . . . and most of it would have. And thus began my stellar “career” as a photojournalist – meaning some of the time I carried a camera around with me.
I began my life as a soldier in August 1969 with basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Two months later I was off for two months of advanced individual training (AIC) in communications at Fort Gordon, Georgia. While at Fort Gordon, it snowed for the first time in some 50+ years and I watched the Vikings lose their first Super Bowl. After graduation from communications school, it was off to Okinawa (maps above and below), 7,000 miles from home, where I was stationed from February 1970 to February 1972. I will further delve into the whys, what fors, and where fors of Okinawa in future episodes . . .
[Now looking back in the archives, I can’t remember what I did in my first 7 months on Okinawa. That likely means it took me that long to buy my “camera for life.” But these black and white photos began in August 1970, and this first shot is towards the East China Sea from our barracks in Sukiran.]
[Okinawa is only about 70 miles long and 2-17 miles wide. Sukiran (Camp Zukeran on upcoming maps) is within and/or adjacent to the city of Futema (south central on the map) and about equidistant between the island’s two largest cities, the capital city Naha to the south and Okinawa (then, and forever after herein, Koza) to the north . . . ]
[Looking across the street from our barracks to other buildings and facilities within Sukiran – movie theater to the left, gym to the right, and shops and our NCO club (great tuna salad on toast sandwiches) in the middle mall area . . . ]
[Looking further to the left from previous photo – the movie theater now on the right, other military barracks, and the East China Sea in the distance. I will give the Army credit – they showed M*A*S*H, the movie, at the theater . . . ]
[Life in the open barracks. I actually remember this guy’s name was John Morton. I didn’t know him well, so why do I remember his name? Like a lot of guys in the communications field, a somewhat nerdy/geeky college type – such guys were useful sources when shopping for cameras, stereos, et al . . . ]
[Don’t remember him, but all barracks seemed to have guitar players . . . ]
[In the immediate foreground was the paratrooper barracks just below ours. Unlike us “office” types, they actually had to do army stuff. Down at the bottom of the hill was a fieldhouse . . . ]
[This was our workplace. Ft. Buckner was a top secret communications facility just a short drive from our barracks – by regular shuttle buses or you could drive if you had a car . . . ]
[This was the downhill drive from Ft. Buckner to our barracks. My first car there was a 1965 Mazda which at full power could go about 10 mph up this hill to work . . . ]
[From our barracks . . . ]
[We lived in open bays. Okinawa is a subtropical island, ala Hawaii, thus it could get a little hot. Air conditioning was sticking a leg out from under the covers. Since communications was a 24/7, 3-shift operation, there were always guys sleeping – you learned to do it amongst all the activity. When you made it to an E-5 level (specialist 5th class or buck sergeant), you could move into two person rooms which was like moving to the Ritz . . . ]
[Another cool nerdy/geeky guy whose name I can’t remember, but he’s set up back-to-back reel-to-reel tape decks to record from one to the other . . . ]
[Remember him but not his name – I believe I read Kirby on his fatigue name tag . . . ]
[Rain coming in?]
[The bottom middle is a backboard – played a lot of basketball on that court . . . ]
[On top of the hill, “Top of the Rock,” the officer’s club . . . ]
[Our neighborhood, again . . . ]
[These guys were the local braintrust regarding all things electronic . . . ]
[And this is where I discovered I wasn’t in Alexandria, Minnesota, anymore. This is Koza, our nearby big city, with a population of 138,000 . . . ]
[This brings back a lot of memories, my first contacts outside my cultural comfort zone. I loved it . . . ]
[I’m thinking these had to be taken from Koza versions of skywalks . . . ]
[I played a lot of handball – real men played handball and not racquetball. Handball turned your hands into calloused feet!]
[This is Wayne Coleman, my regular playing partner. We hung out together a lot. But he went home, to North Carolina, long before I did, and we just lost touch . . . ]
[I went home for my only leave in August 1971. We stopped at Hawaii on the way home. I took a photo of Diamond Head from the Honolulu airport that may appear sometime in future posts. Home then was Arlington, Virginia, and this is my brother Chris, then 19 and a true peacenik . . . ]
[When your camera has a bellows . . . ]
[Yup, still have these. I was drafted . . . ]
[What the army does to your body . . . ]
[It seemed I ate well, but I was 6-feet tall and weighed 150 pounds. I could slide under doors . . . ]
[I remember him but not his name . . . ]
[It’s hard to believe that to reach retirement age I had to put on 80 pounds?]
[Going topless reduces laundry expenses . . . ]
[Oh, I could generate a grin, at least . . . ]
[Back to the locals. I’m going to throw in the Wikipedia report of the Koza riots of September 1970. This photo was some time after that, but the Okinawans regularly protested our continuing occupation of their country 25 years after the end of WWII. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koza_riot . . . ]
[Despite what you see here, there was never any problem about GI’s going out and about in the local economy . . . unless. Occasionally, a GI would stay out too long at a bar, do something unlawful, leading to protest marches. I think our base was under Condition Green (or was it Red), meaning GI’s had to be back on base by midnight, the whole time I was there . . . ]
[I left the island in February 1972. In May 1972, the U.S. turned Okinawa over to Japan. (Maybe my leaving had something to do with that?) But the locals weren’t particularly happy over that either. They wanted total autonomy for themselves – they are not Japanese, they are Ryukyuans. And then after 25 years of driving on the right, they had to change to left side driving . . . ]
[Views I believe of Futema . . . ]
[With a Ferris wheel on the roof of what I believe was the East West Export store . . . ]
Free The Army
[In this section, we’ll visit the FTA tour performance on Okinawa in 1971. And while the military tried to make it difficult to attend, it did not prevent us from doing so. Lest you forgot, following is an LA Times report on the tour. I think the anti-war aspect was largely supported by our soldiers – we were mostly draftees, were opposed to the war, and any attempt to bring it to an end was appreciated. Shortly that general desire led to a troop draw down, many soldiers in Vietnam were transferred to Okinawa to finish their tours, and even then many got general early outs – including me, 6 months early.
Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere. ~ G.K. Chesterton
Helpful Household Hint #42: What old(er) people often do when up and about at 3:00 in the morning is giggle softly over funny quotes about things . . .
[This is Amanda Seim, with her mother Carol. Amanda is the executive director of the Runestone Museum. We had been at the museum the previous day for its annual meeting, and Amanda suggested we come back the next day as they would be featuring an artist with local roots . . . ]
[This is a photo of Amanda’s dad, John. He’s standing on the far left. Your cub reporter in the St. Louis Cardinals cap is standing in the middle. John and I grew up as next door neighbors in Victoria Heights . . . ]
[This is all about the Runestone and the museum . . . ]
[Here is said artist with local roots. Hans Hintzen graduated from Alex in 1976, and, as I subsequently discovered, lived in Victoria Heights for a couple years in the mid-60’s.]
[I hate flowers. I paint them because they’re cheaper than models and they don’t move. ~ Georgia O’Keefe]
[His story and two photos from the EchoPress . . . ]
[Photos from me again, here’s Hans with the Super . . . ]
[Yes, this picture has a further role. Again, your faithless cub reporter standing in the middle – standing on the far right is Pete Hintzen, Hans’s first cousin. Pete lived up the hill from John and me in Victoria Heights. There are no other Victoria Heighters in the photo. Pete’s dad, Carl, created Carl’s Fireside Steakhouse, which later became Sonny’s, then Weston Station . . . ]
[There are lots of other Victoria Heighters in this picture, but that’s a story for another day . . . ]
[I went to a museum where they have all the heads and arms from the statues that are in all the other museums. ~ Steven Wright]
While we were in the museum, two friends came in and said they had just been to the see the Prince quilt exhibit in Ashby. Well, we had no idea? We had somehow missed the following photo and storyline from the Echo Press, May 10, 2019 . . .
Global quilt exhibit coming to Ashby
Ashby’s quilting center, the North Star Retreat Center, will host a nationwide traveling quilt exhibit featuring a tribute to Prince Rogers Nelson, the Minnesota musical artist who died in 2016. The exhibit will be in Ashby from Thursday, May 9, to Saturday, May 18.
The exhibit is part of an annual quilting challenge issued by Baxter-based Cherrywood Fabrics, and draws entries from around the globe. Themes in previous years have included Van Gogh and the Lion King, and the 2019 challenge is a tribute to PBS painting instructor Bob Ross.
The Prince challenge drew 388 entries, and 165 of them became finalists, broken into three separate tours to travel the country. North Star will host two of the tours simultaneously.
Barbara Williams of Alexandria will be among five finalists appearing with their quilts on Friday, May 17, from 1-1:30 p.m.
Retreat owner Heather Thormodson said she asked Cherrywood Fabrics several years ago to bring the tour to her retreat, and they agreed.
[We have friends in Ashby (population 446, 25 miles from Alex) so we gave them a call. They didn’t know about it either? We said we were coming right up and would see them there. Here’s Ruthie at the exhibit – 90 quilts in hanging panels of three . . . ]
[This exhibit had already been to such places as Virginia Beach, Virginia; Houston, Texas; California – way to go Ashby!!]
[One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art. ~ Oscar Wilde]
[Hey, Marcus, do you know this guy?]
[Just down the road a bit from the Super’s sister Rita in Nashville, Indiana . . . ]
[A picture is worth a thousand words – particularly if you can’t read. ~ Harry Hershfield]
[Graham Sutherland’s portrait of me makes me look as if I was having a difficult stool. ~ Winston Churchill]
[Whistler, with all his faults, was never guilty of writing a line of poetry. ~ Oscar Wilde]
[Henry Moore’s sculpture in Hyde Park looks like something that’s fallen off a jumbo jet. ~ Laura Milligan]
[If the old masters had labelled their fruit, one wouldn’t be so likely to mistake pears for turnips. ~ Mark Twain]
[Heather is the owner of this Center, which recently hosted the Ashby high school prom in this room, and is a participant in this challenge . . . ]
[If you have a burning restless urge to paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass. ~ Fran Lebowitz]
[I would never have taken up painting if women did not have breasts. ~ Pierre Auguste Renoir]
[If a painting can be forged well enough to fool experts, why is the original so valuable? ~ George Carlin]
[When their backsides look good enough to slap, there’s nothing more to do. ~ Peter Paul Rubens]
[I’ve always been partial to Little Red Corvette . . . ]
[This is either a forgery or a damn clever original. ~ Frank Sullivan]
[Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves they have a better idea. ~ John Ciardi]
[Rembrandt painted 700 pictures. Of these 3,000 are in existence. ~ Wilhelm Bode]
[This was the Super’s favorite . . . ]
[A final look around . . . ]
[To draw you must close your eyes and sing. ~ Pablo Picasso]
[North Star Retreat Center quick facts: Sleeps 24, over 11,000+ square feet; Fully equipped commercial kitchen; 17 new single beds with 1 double and 3 king sized beds; 5 bedrooms all with own bathroom, 2 rooms with over-sized Jacuzzi tubs and walk in showers, 1 room with jets in the tub, 1 full bath & 1 room with a 3/4 bath; Main area is 40x 30 feet with 16 foot high pressed white tin ceiling with 2 beautiful cathedral style windows with a ton of natural light. Great lighting so leave your lamps at home!; New adjustable height tables, new armless task chairs, new telescoping LED Ott lights, 2 big boards for ironing and big irons, 3 cutting mats, and fireplaces; Linens, towels, washcloths and hand towels provided.(www.northstarretreat.com).]
[And 11 room shots from the Super . . . ]
[Having a camera means you never have to pass up an opportunity for a selfie . . . ]
[He was our greatest living painter, until he died. ~ Mark Twain]
[Our local Ashby friends arrived and were greeted by the aforementioned Heather . . . ]
[The Center was originally a church, so there is a spiral staircase to places on high . . . ]
[The view from on high . . . ]
[And that’s Ashby’s Pelican Lake in the distance . . . ]
[The Super shooting photos in this top room . . . ]
[And here are four of them . . . ]
[Helen and John were blown away by this exhibit in their little town’s midst . . . ]
[So, we obviously had fun having them model it all . . . ]
[As the Super would say, Missing U at the Prince quilt exhibit . . . ]
[Exiting the Center, heading for fine dining in downtown Ashby . . . ]
[Back home with our Hans Hintzen mug . . . ]
[Also from the museum, Big Ole. You’re suppose to take him with you on overseas trips for photo ops. He’ll be going with us to Norway . . . ]
Art is anything you can get away with. ~ Marshall McLuhan
Anthony Miltich will be at Carlos Creek Winery on Saturday, May 18, 2 – 6:00 . . .
Uncle Anthony and Nephew Sam together . . .
Patchouli will be at Central Square in Glenwood, Saturday, May 18, 7:30 . . .
The Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra will be at the Alexandria Area High School’s Performing Arts Center, Sunday, May 19, 2:00. This is the last concert of the season, completing CLSO’s 10th year . . .
All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff. ~ Frank Zappa
So, get out there and enjoy! And Happy Mother’s Day!
Well, finally made it to a spring sporting event. The weather thus far has not been conducive to outdoor activities. But I had been looking forward to seeing our girls and boys track teams, both of which had been outstanding in earlier meets. And I was especially looking forward to seeing our girl throwers, by all measures the best in the state. So, let’s begin at the end with a short video of McKenzie Duwenhoeger and Mya Lesnar, the top two in the state in shot put and discus . . .
[Upon arrival, looks like a pretty nice day – but it was still heavy jacket temps . . . ]
[Across the road is Grand Arbor where we have our Community Ed movies . . . ]
[And from the far side of the field looking back at the school. This meet was a makeup from a postponement two days prior. It did reduce the field from 5 schools to 3 – we hosted Willmar and Little Falls . . . ]
[A track meet is impossible for one person to cover. The are multiple events happening simultaneously. In the one meet I attended last year, the girl throwers competition was delayed by muddy conditions. I finally left for the comfort of home before they started. This time I was determined to cover them, so I did to the exclusion of all else . . . ]
[Here, they’re doing team warmups . . . ]
[Then off to the field – they need room to operate . . . ]
[Bad weather always looks worse through a window. ~ Tom Lehrer]
[I’m still learning the team, but here I believe we have Hailey Gill on the left, I’m not sure of who’s in the middle, and Mya, McKenzie and Christina Palmer on the right . . . ]
[Beginning with Hailey in the discus . . . ]
[I had the camera on continuous shoot through their throws . . . ]
[And thar she goes!]
[Christina is next up . . . ]
[Then Mya . . . ]
[Then McKenzie . . . ]
[And then we have not had enough meets for me to know our 5th discus thrower?]
[The Amazing Mr. Ripley is still around covering events. And I still have white lens envy.]
[In search of her identity . . . ]
[With Mya looking on . . . ]
[Back to Christina . . . ]
[Big effort . . . ]
[And follow through under the eye of the judge . . . ]
[And Mya again . . . ]
[Unfortunately the throwing cage support often got in the way . . . ]
[And away . . . ]
[I lost it in the sun?]
[Then Mac again . . . ]
[The launch angle appears to be about the same for all of them . . . ]
[And it’s off . . . ]
[And our mystery-to-me thrower again . . . ]
[No foul . . . ]
[I go running when I have to. When the ice cream truck is doing sixty. ~ Wendy Liebman]
[Hailey . . . ]
[Ye Olde Southpaw . . . ]
[I hope there were no low flying ducks . . . ]
[I love watching gymnastics, swimming, and track and field. ~ Mia Hamm]
[Christina . . . ]
[I don’t think the discus will generate any interest until they let us start throwing them at one another. ~ Al Oerter]
[Mya . . . ]
[To be number one, you have to train like you’re number two. ~ Maurice Greene]
[Mac . . . ]
[And release . . . ]
[Running is like mouthwash; if you can feel the burn, it’s working. ~ Brian Tackett]
[And the boy sprinters have been doing great. Here is our No. 1, Drew Olson . . . ]
[Looks like our 4 x 100 team, in the top 3 in the state . . . ]
[You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming. ~ Frank Shorter]
[Unknown Cardinal high jumper . . . ]
[It hurts up to a point and then it doesn’t get any worse. ~ Ann Trason]
[I don’t think jogging is healthy, especially morning jogging. If morning joggers knew how tempting they looked to morning motorists, they would stay home and do sit-ups. ~ Rita Rudner]
[There were a lot of relays in this meet. And I believe we set a few school records . . . ]
[I’m sorry I don’t know her – looks like a sprint medley . . . ]
[Track and field was very big when I was growing up. ~ Usain Bolt]
[The trouble with jogging is that by the time you realize you’re not in shape for it, it’s too far to walk back. ~ Franklin Jones]
[Done with discus; warming for shot . . . ]
[When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. ~ Theodore Roosevelt]
[Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. ~ Will Rogers]
[This looks like the multi-talented Kaye Paschka in the lead . . . ]
[Kristen Hoskins in the foreground, likely leadoff on a relay, looking to Drew Olson bringing it home . . . ]
[And there’s Drew . . . ]
[Summer Gerhardt leading off the shot . . . ]
[She’ll likely be a starter on the basketball team – tall and speedy . . . ]
[We can’t all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. ~ Will Rogers]
[Community Ed folks should recognize the judge – Mike Donahue who helps us establish the movies for the year . . . ]
[Summer’s a spinner – I haven’t seen many high schoolers using that technique . . . ]
[MARK IT!]
[Christina . . . ]
[MARK IT!]
[Hailey . . . ]
[Much to the joy of herself, her teammates, and the fans, Hailey joined Mya and Mac in the 40-foot club in this meet . . . ]
[MARK IT!]
[Once they say set, I’m in beast mode. ~ Sierrah Negrette]
[Mac . . . ]
[MARK IT!]
[Mya is a spinner . . . ]
[Who is probably No. 1 now . . . ]
[Balance is tough for spinners, but Mya held it together on her last throw . . . ]
[Summer Gerhardt]
[Christina Palmer – 38 feet]
[Hailey Gill – this was her 40-footer]
[All top international athletes wake up in the morning feeling tired and go to bed feeling very tired. ~ Brendan Foster]
[I believe this is Bethany, one of the three distance running Miller sisters . . . ]
[In a moment we hope to see the pole vault over the satellite. ~ David Coleman]
[Run like hell and get the agony over with. ~ Clarence DeMar]
ALEXANDRIA TOP THREE FINISHERS- GIRLS 3200M- 1st- Aleah Miller 12:18.20, 2nd- Heavyn Bordak 13:34.20; BOYS 3200M- 1st- Noah Struck 10:34.00, 3rd- Joel Brault 11:20.00; GIRLS 1600M- 1st- Emma Ecker 5:42.89, 2nd- Stormy Hegg 5:44.82, 3rd- Taylor Dummer 5:49.37; BOYS 1600M- 1st- Brian Denke 4:45.34, 2nd- Joseph Carlson 4:57.55; GIRLS 300M HURDLES- 1st- Kaye Paschka 45.95; BOYS 300M HURDLES- 1st- Joshua Kietzmann 42.29, 2nd- Daniel Jantzen 45.00, 3rd- Adam Pohlen 45.14; GIRLS HIGH JUMP- 1st- Addison Rodel 5-00.00, 3rd- Sierra Cory 4-08.00; BOYS HIGH JUMP- 2nd- Adam Pohlen 5-06.00, 3rd- Sean Klein 5-04.00; GIRLS POLE VAULT- 1st- Alexis Cole 7-03.00, 1st- Bria Luepke 7-03.00; BOYS POLE VAULT- 2nd Jaegar Steele 10-09.00, Xavier Holmvig 10-03.00; GIRLS LONG JUMP- 1st- Isabella Schweich 14-10.50, 2nd- Anna Doherty 14-09.00; BOYS LONG JUMP- 1st- Kristen Hoskins- 20-10.00; 2nd- Derrek Piepho 20-08.75; 3rd- Cody Branson 20-07.00; GIRLS TRIPLE JUMP- 1st- Margaret Shercliffe 32-03.05, 3rd- Tausha Lang- 31-04.50; BOYS TRIPLE JUMP- 1st- Joshua Kietzmann 41-10.50, 2nd- Graham Peterson 39-02.50; GIRLS DISCUS THROW- 1st Mya Lesnar 137-02, 2nd- McKenzie Duwenhoegger 133-07, 3rd- Hailey Gill 121-09; BOYS DISCUS THROW- 1st- Jamison Wolkow 135-10; GIRLS SHOT PUT- 1st- Mya Lesnar 43-06.00, 2nd- McKenzie Duwenhoegger 41-10.00; BOYS SHOT PUT- 1st- Jamison Wolkow 49-05.00
On May 7, both the boys and girls claimed True Team Section titles. Of note, each team could enter three competitors in each event – it looks like if the Cardinals could have included Christina and Summer in the shot, we may have finished 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Amazing.
BOYS TRACK AND FIELD
On Tuesday, in Brainerd the boys track and field team claimed our first True Team Section title since 2002 and have earned the right to compete at the True Team State Track and Field meet next Friday, May 17th at Stillwater High School beginning at 3:10pm. The Cards recorded 19 personal bests in the meet. Team scores: 1) ALEXANDRIA 989, 2) Moorhead 910.5, 3) St. Michael-Albertville 872, 4) Brainerd 823, 5) Bemidji 739, 6) Sartell 721.5, 7) Apollo 705, 8) Sauk Rapids 595, 9) Tech 495, 10) Buffalo 472
Individuals in the top 10:
110 hurdles- Daniel Jantzen, 6th, Joshua Kietzman 9th (personal best 16.63) and Adam Pohlen 10th
100m dash- Drew Olson 1st, Kristen Hoskins 2nd and Nolan Morical 6th
400m dash- Ethan Schoreder 2nd (personal best 51.13), Jack Theien 6th (personal best 52.08
300 hurdles- Joshua Kietzmann 2nd (personal best 41.18), Daniel Jantzen 6th and Adam Pohlen 8th
200m dash- Drew Olson 1st (personal best 22.32), Kristen Hoskins 2nd (personal best 22.85) and Derrek Piepho 4th (tied personal best 23.38)
3200m run- Dane Galloway 9th (personal best 10:14.63)
High Jump- Adam Pohlen 10th
Pole Vault- Nic Huss 10th (personal best 11-0)
Long Jump- Cody Branson 5th and Joshua Kietzmann 6th
Triple Jump- Joshua Kietzmann 4th and Graham Peterson 7th (personal best, 40-10)
Shot Put- Jaymeson Wolkow 4th and Beau Granning 10th (personal best 44-7)
Discus- Jaymeson Wolkow 1st (personal best 142-6)
Top 3 relays:
4×200 1st- Derrek Piepho, Cody Branson, Graham Peterson and Wade Odland
4×100 1st- Kristen Hoskins, Cody Branson, Nolan Morical and Drew Olson
4×400 2nd- Caden Scheunert, Graham Peterson, Jack Theien and Ethan Schroeder
Other personal bests not yet mentioned:
1600m- Myles Sansted (-12.85)
400m dash- Caden Scheunert (-.74)
800m run- Nathan Schneiderhan (-.67) and Lewis Lindner (-1.33)
3200m run- Jacob Kleven (-2.29) and Brian Denke (-4.58)
Pole Vault- Xavier Homelvig (+6″)
GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD
Alex Girls Track & Field Secure the Three-Peat at 8AAA Section True Team Championships
The emotions were high after finding out that BOTH the boys and girls track and field teams won the 8AAA True Team Section, punching our tickets to the state meet! We train with each other (boys and girls), so to share in such a special, team-orientated, victory was incredibly meaningful, especially since our program has not experienced a shared win at True Team Sections since 1987! Overall, the girls were fierce competitors, had incredible mindsets, and supported each other from start to finish. This win was truly a measure of our entire team’s depth as every athlete earns points based on how she places (30pts for 1st place, 29 pts for 2nd place…all the way down to 1 pt. for 30th place) and there is an opportunity for the entire 1st place team to advance to the state meet in Stillwater, MN. This type of meet celebrates not just the athletes who typically place in the top 8 – every single athlete contributes to the team total and is fighting to scrap one point at a time as they work to pass, out jump, or out throw their competition.
True Team Section champions included the 4x800m team of Hattie Galloway, Myah Kremer, Caitlin Bright, Emma Ecker (9:58.77); Kaye Paschka in the 100 Hurdles (15.21), 300 Hurdles (45.21), and Triple Jump (35-7.5); Mya Lesnar in Shot Put (47-1.5); and McKenzie Duwenhoegger in the Discus (135-5). Kaye Paschka also broke her own school record in the 300m Hurdles, which is extremely impressive given how early it still is in the season!
Individuals placing in the top 10 include:
· 100m Hurdles – 1st: Kaye Paschka (15.21), 9th: Sydney Gray (17.45).
· 100m – 9th: Erika Roderick (13.46)
· 1600m – 4th: Jaelyn Miller (5:23.99), 5th: Aleah Miller (5:25.75)
· 400m – 4th: Erika Roderick (61.89), 6th: Addison Rodel (62.09), 9th: Meg Shercliffe (63.27)
· 300m Hurdles – 1st: Kaye Paschka (45.21), 7th: Lexi Cole (50.80)
· 800m – 3rd: Aleah Miller (2:24.86), 5th: Myah Kremer (2:27.90)
· 200m – 6th: Anna Doherty (27.58), 8th: Micah Summer (27.86)
· 3200m – 3rd: Caitlin Bright (11:40.19), 9th: Stormy Hegg (12:01.49), 10th: Taelor Dummer (12:13.11)
· Long Jump – 3rd: Kaye Paschka (16-8.0), 8th: Meg Shercliffe (15-6.25)
· Triple Jump – 1st: Kaye Paschka (35-7.50), 3rd: Hailie Kent (34-2.5)
· High Jump – 5th: Bethany Miller (4-8), 10th: Sierra Cory (4-8)
· Shot Put – 1st: Mya Lesnar (47-1.5), 2nd: McKenzie Duwenhoegger (41-1.5), 3rd: Hailey Gill (38-1.25)
· Discus – 1st: McKenzie Duwenhoegger (135-5), 2nd: Mya Lesnar (133-3), 4th: Christina Palmer (116-1)
Relays placing in the top 3 include:
· 4x800m – 1st: Hattie Galloway, Myah Kremer, Caitlin Bright, Emma Ecker (9:58.77)
· 4x200m – 3rd: Addison Rodel, Christina Drown, Anna Doherty, Erika Roderick (1:50.29)
· 4x400m – 2nd: Addison Rodel, Aleah Miller, Jaelyn Miller, Myah Kremer (4:09.56)
Personal Bests: Sierra Cory (100m Hurdles), Jaelyn Miller (1600m), Kaye Paschka (300m Hurdles and Long Jump), Caitlin Bright (3200m), Stormy Hegg (3200m), Taelor Dummer (3200m), Rachel Boyden (Pole Vault).
Season Bests: Kaye Paschka (Triple Jump), McKenzie Duwenhoegger (Discus), Aleah Miller (1600m, 800m), Erika Roderick (400m), Addison Rodel (400m), Myah Kremer (800m), Whitly Netland (200m).
Team Scores: 1. Alexandria 1089.5, 2. St. Michael-Albertville 1020.5, 3. Brainerd 994.5, 4. Moorhead 934, 5. Bemidji 678.5, 6. Sartell-St. Stephen 668.5, 7. Sauk Rapids-Rice 570.5, 8. Buffalo 481.5, 9. St. Cloud Tech 473.5, 10. St. Cloud Apollo 425.
The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again. ~ Erma Bombeck
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