Annual harvest festival to be held
GRANTSBURG – The end of a glorious summer will be marked by the Harvest Festival to be held by the Immaculate Conception Church in Grantsburg. The festival will be held Sunday, Sept. 12, at the church on Hwy. 70, beginning at 11 a.m. and serving till 2 p.m. The festival will be preceded by Mass at 10 a.m. featuring special music by Gary and Pat Fender and Cathy Tweet. The Men’s Club will be grilling chicken and ham. The festival will feature a raffle, large bounce castle for the kids and a Bid or No Bid cash prize game for the adults. Games and prizes will provide fun for all ages. There will also be a country store and farmers market, crafts and baked goods. Entertainment will include outdoor music by Gary Fender and The Good Timers. “This year’s festival promises to be a great time for the community,” says Mike Myers, festival chair. “The Harvest Festival is organized and run by the entire parish. The participation makes it fun and meaningful for all,” added Myers. Mike Cole (co-chair) added that it will be fun to meet and greet the past parishioners returning for this event. The price of the chicken and ham dinner is $8 for adults and $4 for children age 6 to 11 (free for 5 and under). Dinner includes beverage and all the fixings, including homemade pie. Express carryouts will be available. For more information about the festival, please contact Mike Myers at 715-431-0352 or Mike Cole at 715-463-2688. - submitted
When Jim walked into the office, he knew something was up. Joe Roberts There was a message on his desk that the boss wanted to see him as soon as he arrived. The boss didn’t look very happy when Jim reported to his office. The older man didn’t say anything, he just pointed at the newspaper on his desk. It was opened to the sports page, and there was a picture of a smiling Jim, holding up the trophy for winning the local golf tournament the day before. “I just checked. You called in sick yesterday!” the boss said. “What if everybody just claimed to be sick and took off whenever they wanted to? What do you have to say for yourself?” There was a moment of silence in the big corner office, until Jim finally spoke up, “I was really surprised to win the tournament, sir. I have never played that well. Think of the score I could have had if I hadn’t been sick!” ••• There was a family that had a parrot that was always embarrassing them by cussing and other stuff like that. So one day the boy took the parrot and stuck him in the freezer. Two hours later the squawking stopped. The kid checked the freezer and the parrot said, “OK I’ll stop cussing, but I have one question.” The boy said, “What is it?” The parrot asked, “What did the turkey do?” ••• Two Minnesota hunters were driving through the country in Wisconsin to go bear hunting. They came to a fork in the road where a sign read “bear left” so they went home.
Just for
Laughs
Doc talk Communicating effectively with
Cold Turkey
your doctor is critically important and often difficult to achieve. The patient may find it difficult to dis- John W. Ingalls cuss personal and sometimes embarrassing circumstances. The individual may also find it hard to describe their problems in medical terminology so they use common terms, frequently slang but colorful and sometimes they use symbols such as #%&%$#@*!!! Women are much more detailed when describing their symptoms. If a woman was explaining how she broke her toe it may go like this. “I was painting my nails a new color called Tango-Mango and I decided to get up and make myself a cup of green tea. I think green tea is good for you, don’t you think so? Anyway as I walked around the coffee table I stopped to pick up a copy of my Macy’s spring catalog. I stepped on the dog’s tail and he jumped up. I didn’t want him to scratch or smear the Tango-Mango nail polish so I shoved my foot under the table and hit the leg of the table with my toe. It immediately turned a reddish purple color like a dress I saw at the after Christmas sale at Bloomingdales last year.” I almost never have to ask for more details in these circumstances. Men rarely give details and rarely think there is anything wrong. Most of the time a man is accompa-
AUGUST 25, 2010 - INTER-COUNTY LEADER - NORTHERN CURRENTS, SECTION B - PAGE 3
I had my friend Andy over last week. Andy is my oldest friend, a term he does not like, as it could be interpreted to mean he is very old (and he is older than me—by Carrie Classon one year). But he is really my oldest friend because I have known him since I was 15. I invited him over, which was a good thing because, unless I have company, I tend not to notice that the harmless little dust bunnies (the inevitable result of pet ownership) have morphed into mutant dust buffalo and are roaming freely down the hall and congregating in corners and behind doors. I was herding these prolific beasts when it occurred to me that Andy would not likely notice the dust and, if he did, he wouldn’t care. Andy is a bachelor and a self-described curmudgeon with an enormous heart. Our friendship has endured more than 30 years and numerous moves across the country and overseas. It has lasted through broken hearts and changed careers and times of confusion and sadness. Andy has always been there with a sensible word when nothing seemed to make sense, and helped me find my way when the way looked terribly murky. He has always done this and he has always made me laugh. We have a shared history that started the afternoon I emptied a tube of toothpaste on his head to get his attention (I was bored, he was busy) and has continued through the decades. We have rarely gone longer than a week or two without contact, even when I lived in Africa and communication was more difficult. I have been blessed with wonderful friends. It has been important to me, as my life changed, to make new friends that could share in these changes. I’ve
Letters from
Home
made a lot of new friends but, as the old rhyme goes, one is silver and the other’s gold. Andy remembers the dog I grew up with before she went blind. He remembers me from before I went to college, before I was married, before I was divorced. He remembers how my father called him “the freeloader” because he always showed up at my parents’ house right before mealtime. Andy generally knows what I am thinking more clearly than I know myself and always states it more bluntly. A good friend is like a compass, he won’t tell me where to go, but he’ll remind me what direction I’m headed if I take the time to consult him. Andy is always honest with me and usually kind (except when he is really mean—and then he apologizes). After most of the dust buffalo were corralled, Andy came over. We had a nice bottle of white wine with some fresh bread and good vegetables from the garden. We talked about what we were doing, or thinking about doing. I told Andy about some misunderstanding that my beau Daniel and I had recently, and expressed my amazement that Daniel had somehow gotten the wrong end of the stick. “He doesn’t know you’re a free spirit,” Andy said. I suppose he is right. And the truth is, until Andy said it, I didn’t know I was either. I am always stumbling on things that I would never have known about myself if a good friend hadn’t been there to show me. My eyes are suddenly opened and I see something that I wouldn’t have seen without them. Like dust buffalo, old ideas about myself tend not to get examined—until I see them through the eyes of a good friend. Till next time, —Carrie
133rd Burnett County Agricultural Society Fair begins Thursday, Aug. 26 GRANTSBURG – The 133rd Burnett County Agricultural Society Fair is this Thursday – Sunday, Aug. 26-29, in Grantsburg. Highlights of the fair include a horse show on Thursday evening, which will include games of fun and skill. The show features local riders of all ages, and starts at 6 p.m. Also that evening, music will be in the air or under the tent when Jeff and Gary host karoake. The event begins at 7 p.m. and runs until 11 p.m. They will be there again on Friday night, same time, same place. On Friday, after all the judging, Grandpa Jim’s Animal Farm will open up in the cattle barn. Grandpa Jim and his family will be there with their furry friends Friday and Saturday afternoon and evening and for a while on Sunday afternoon. The grandstand will host the first of two demolition derbies. Friday evening’s event will start at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, it is all about tractors at the fairgrounds. The featured tractor will be the John Deere but the othercolored tractors are invited to come. Tractor games will be held from 9-11:15 a.m., and will be on display until 1:15 p.m. A vintage show of corn cutting and threshing will happen around noon. Concessions will be available at the show.
The fair parade at 1:30 p.m., starting at Memory Lake Park area, will wind its way through town and make its way to the fairgrounds. The tractor pull, featuring modified and stock tractors, will be the grandstand feature of the evening, and starts at 5 p.m. Black Octane, a local rock band, will entertain under the tent. The dance runs from 8:30 p.m. - midnight. This is a free dance. On Sunday, the talent show starts at 1 p.m. A chain saw competition begins at 2 p.m. and sawdust piles for kids 12 and under at 2:30 p.m. The exhibits, including the animals, will be leaving the fairgrounds starting at 4 p.m. Make sure you check out all of the exhibits before they go home. The final show at the grandstand will be the demo derby. It will start at 6 p.m. Earl’s Rides will once again be providing the entertainment on the midway. There will be special prices on Thursday from 5 – 9 p.m. and wristbands on Saturday from 4 – 9 p.m. Remember, the fair is free to get in and free parking, including handicapped spots, so come often and enjoy the last days of summer at the fair. - submitted
www.the-leader.net nied by a note from his wife giving detailed descriptions about that which she is certain the man will never talk about. Sometimes the visit is preceded by a phone call from the wife about MD the note describing her husband’s problems. This doesn’t mean that men don’t care or aren’t aware of medical problems, it means that men communicate differently. I have spent countless hours in boats while fishing with friends. A deep conversation with another man is often limited to a nod, a belch and a couple of grunts. Maybe a passing remark about the weather and “How’s your car running?” and you’ve had a pretty good day. Men understand men just like women understand women only in fewer words. I have been able to use this ability to help understand the problems that men may face when going to the doctor. Men can relate to health issues better when you use common analogies. Men relate to concrete issues. If you can discuss your health issues as if you are describing cars, hunting, fishing, football or golf then you are communicating on a personal level. If a man comes in and gives me a classified ad from the newspaper that reads, “1976 Ford truck with some rust, oil is low, the dipstick is broken and problems with the muffler,” I will know exactly what he is describing. He
is really a middle-aged, blue-collar worker with aching knees that are bothersome but he can live with it, he has troubles with personal issues and wants his prostate checked and a colonoscopy. If he said “The engine starts good but lacks power on the hills,” then I would know that he may have some heart or lung concerns. Simple and straightforward. If men come in for a physical and don’t really have any concerns or a note from a wife then I know that using a golf analogy will likely reveal the true reason for the visit. “How’s your golf game?” “OK but it’s hard to get a good score.” “Problems with your drive?” “Nope, good drive.” “Short game?” “Yep.” “Putter?” You can clearly see that we have dealt with an embarrassing problem with few words and understood perfectly well the man’s concern. Communicating with your doctor is simple and straightforward if you can relate on these levels. Better communication leads to better outcomes and improved patient satisfaction. If you are having trouble describing what concerns you, then try these tricks for better communication. Even if you don’t feel better you might find out a new fishing spot.
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