This past week was a interesting week for me. Follow me as I look back.

Monday there was a big girls basketball game out at Lac qui Parle Valley. The Eagles have 10 wins and only 2 losses and the Minneota Vikings were 9 and 3 at the time. Bart Hill and I called the game. The atmosphere in the gym was amazing. There was a great crowd and the LQPV student body section was loud and large. The band was playing and there was a vibe in the gym, like it was a section basketball game at SMSU in Marshall. Minneota jumped out to a 9 to 0 lead. Coach Erickson called a time out and the Eagles fought back and played great after that winning 55 to 44. I appreciated Minneota Coach Al Panka coming up and visiting with us on the postgame show. It’s Al’s first year as head coach of the Vikings. Coach Dylan Erickson was all smiles in the postgame show, along with the player of the game Ayanna Gibson. We believe that was the very first time Lac qui Parle Valley beat the Minneota Vikings in girls basketball. The next day, Bart did some research at the Western Guard to confirm it. Minneota has been one of the best girls basketball programs in the state for many years. It was a fun night at the Eagles nest!

Tuesday, I drove over to Appleton to attend Jim Massee’s open house retirement party at the Farmers and Merchant State Bank. Jim is the same age as I am and is stepping down as President. I enjoyed visiting with him and his wife Sydney. Later Tuesday afternoon I was at the Madison Mercantile to interview Mark Lindquist for the radio. Mark graduated from Ortonville High School a few years back and is now a retired Air Force Veteran. Mark is doing amazing things. He is a humanitarian volunteer and President of the A-Team/Ukraine. Mark is working hard to get supplies to the Ukrainian people who are in a war with Russia. I set up the radio equipment and Mark along with Kris Shelstad from the Mercantile did a live radio show with a live audience and it was fantastic. I could listen to Mark talk all day. He is passionate about what he is doing. Listen to the interview below.

Wednesday I did a phone interview with Gabby Verhelst from Canby. She is a junior at Canby High School and recently placed 2nd at the state VFW Convention in the Cities for her Voice of Democracy speech. I asked Gabby if she could read her speech on the radio. She did and it really moved me emotionally. For such a young girl to have that much wisdom and understanding about what it means to be a veteran in the United States is remarkable. Her speech was amazing. I actually shed some tears listening to her and had a hard time continuing our interview. I was very proud of her. I posted her speech on my social media sites and the response was incredible. You can listen to her speech below

Friday, Roxie and I went to Montevideo to watch our granddaughter Adelyn play basketball for the Thunder Hawks. Adelyn plays on the JV team. She had a lot of family cheering her on. I enjoy watching my grandchildren play sports. She played most of the game and played well, however her team lost to the Morris JV. While watching the game I got to chat with the Morris head girls coach Dale Henrich. Dale graduated a year after me at Madison High School. I also ran into a couple from Montevideo that introduced themselves to me and told me they live in Montevideo and listen to KLQP all day long. They enjoy the local news and the old time show on Saturdays. It always makes me feel good when people tell me or Maynard that they listen to Q-92. After the game we went out for dinner at Table 212 and I always get the Surf and Turf!! It was a good date night with my wife.

One thing I am very thankful for this week is that I didn’t fall on the ice! Thanks for following me along on my journey.