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| Altruism (al' trōō iz əm). n. the principle or practice of unselfish concern for, or devotion to the welfare of others. The Auburndale friends and family of Francis and Laurina Draxler have put this principle into action. They, like so many, have had loved ones and friends affected by cancer, and have found a way to focus their feelings into a positive plan. Three years ago, Alyssa Eiden, then age six, of Amherst wanted to do something to remember her uncle Glen and other cancer patients. She chose to donate her hair to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for chemotherapy patients. Her desire to help inspired her mother, Marie Eiden, who pulled together friends and family of the Draxler clan to find their own way to make a contribution. They decided to participate in the Team Schierl Walk/Run Event to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. They chose to align their efforts with this grass roots movement because all of the monies raised stay in Wood, Portage, and Marathon counties. It is used locally to help fund such projects as research, education, Hope Lodge, and Camp Hope in Rosholt, to name a few. Camp Hope is a therapeutic recreation center for children who have lost a parent to cancer. Recent advances in cancer care include such things as the PET scan, targeted therapies, a new vaccine for cervical cancer, and gene therapy for melanoma. Such developments are made possible in part by monies raised for research by activities like this one. The Schierl family started the fundraiser sixteen years ago in memory of one of their own who was stricken. In addition to their own corporate team, Schierl recruits teams from other area businesses to participate. The Draxler family team is the only one not affiliated with a corporate sponsor. Each team member accepts donations for his or her participation in the walk/run. The 2006 event will mark the Draxler family's third year of involvement in this project. They expect to have twenty-five people on their team again this year. They come together from as far as Green Bay, Oshkosh, Wausau, Wisconsin Rapids, and even Minnesota to be a part of this event. It is a labor of love and they call their team "Steps of Hope." "Steps of Hope" was a carefully thought out name. "Steps" refers to the walk, but also, to steps in the fight against cancer. "Hope" refers to hope for a cure, hope for better therapies, and hope for those currently fighting this disease. The group hopes to set an example for the family youth and teach the value of compassion, family unity, and charity. Each year this team walks in memory of someone special. In 2004, they dedicated their efforts to Glen Willfahrt, Auburndale, who died after a lengthy battle with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Last year Martin Bauer and Aunt Marcy were remembered, and this year walkers will participate in memory of Diane Newburn. The family has found that their participation in this event has given those left behind a way to "do something constructive." The 16th Annual American Cancer Society/Team Schierl Companies Walk/Run Event will be held on Sunday, September 17, 2006. Registration begins at 10:30am and the walk/run starts at noon at Bukolt Park in Stevens Point. There is no better way to enjoy the outdoors than by walking or running on a fall day in Wisconsin and helping others at the same time. Last year's event drew more than 600 participants and raised over $72,000 to support local area programs of the American Cancer Society. The goal for this year's event is to raise $80,000 with 800 participants! If you would like to be a part of this event, you may register on the website at http://www.acswalkrun.com or come to Bukolt Part on Sunday. Anyone wishing to support Team Steps of Hope with a contribution may mail a check payable to: American Cancer Society to: Steps of Hope, Box 92, Auburndale, WI 54412. The team expressed their appreciation for the many friends, family, co-workers, and businesses that support their efforts. Everyone reading this article is reminded to schedule your annual physical. Early detection and treatment of cancer is critical to a good outcome. Do not neglect the recommended screening tests for your age and gender. The life you save could be your own. |
| "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." -- Winston Churchill "A modest little person, with much to be modest about." -- Winston Churchill "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." -- Clarence Darrow "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway) "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" -- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner) "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." -- Moses Hadas "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." -- Abraham Lincoln "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -- Groucho Marx "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." -- Mark Twain "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." -- Oscar Wilde "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play, bring a friend... if you have one." -- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." -- Winston Churchill, in response "I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here." -- Stephen Bishop "He is a self-made man and worships his creator." -- John Bright "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." -- Irvin S. Cobb "He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." -- Samuel Johnson "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." -- Paul Keating "He had delusions of adequacy." -- Walter Kerr "There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -- Jack E. Leonard "He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." -- Robert Redford "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." -- Thomas Brackett Reed "He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them." -- James Reston (about Richard Nixon) "In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." -- Charles, Count Talleyrand "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." -- Forrest Tucker "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" -- Mark Twain "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." -- Mae West "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." -- Oscar Wilde "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." -- Andrew Lang (1844-1912) "He has Van Gogh's ear for music." -- Billy Wilder |
I say "tuh MAY toh" and you say '"tuh MAH toh." That's what it's all about. One of the most glorious fruits of the vegetable garden effort every year is the fresh garden tomato. Whether you eat one out of hand as you pass down the tomato row, or dress it up in a tomato sandwich or BLT, little in the food year can surpass it. The specific name, lycopersicum means "wolf-peach" and its common name is "wolf-apple." Technically, the fruit is an edible, brightly coloured berry although in a food sense, it is treated like a vegitable. The heaviest tomato ever recorded was one of seven pounds, twelve ounces, grown by Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986. The word tomato derives from a word in the Aztec Nahuatl language, tomatl. The tomato originated from Central America where the Indians tamed the wild plants but its popularity quickly spread around the world.. The tomato now enjoys a prominent place in our food habits year 'round. Comercially, tomatoes are often picked unripe and green, then exposed to ethelyene gas while in storge to stimulate ripening. Not surprisingly, tomatoes ripened this way have less flavor than those ripened on the plant. The enzyme that ripens tomatoes stops working when it is subjected to temperatures below 55 °F. Once an unripe tomato drops below that temperature, it will not continue to ripen. That means that many green tomatoes are still in your garden at this time of year, searching for a purpose. There are a number of ways to use those green beauties. Be creative and try new combinations. The California Tomato Commission offers the following suggestion: Spaghetti with Sicilian Green Tomato Sauce Ingredients 1/3 cup pine nuts 1 lb. green tomatoes, preferably with some pink blush, very finely chopped 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 large cloves garlic, minced 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes 1/ lb. spaghetti salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 dozen fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces Directions Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Toast pine nuts on a baking sheet until they are golden brown and fragrant, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool. In a wide, shallow serving bowl, combine tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and hot pepper flakes. You can make this mixture 1 to 2 hours ahead and let stand at room temperature. Do not add salt at this point as it will draw out the tomato juice. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Just before spaghetti is ready, season sauce generously with salt and pepper and stir in basil leaves. Drain pasta and transfer to large serving bowl. Toss to coat with sauce. Scatter with pine nuts on top. Note: You may freeze the sauce before you add the fresh basil for up to 6 months. When ready to use, thaw and add basil to sauce. That recipe would probably be a great sauce over grilled fish or chicken as well. Paula Dean offers the recipes for Walnut Spice Cake and Fried Green Tomatoes with Dijon Dipping Sauce. Walnut Spice Cake Ingredients: 2 1/4 cups sugar 1 cup melted vegetable shortening 3 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 cup raisins 2 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes 1 small can Angel Flake Coconut Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar, shortening, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour, salt, soda, and spices. Stir to blend. Stir in the nuts, raisins, and tomatoes. Grease a 9 X 13 inch pan. Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the coconut over the top. Bake for one hour. Fried Green Tomatoes with Dijon Dipping Sauce Ingredients: 3-4 large firm green tomatoes Salt 2 cups vegetable or peanut oil for frying 1 cup buttermilk 2 cups self-rising flour Directions: Slice tomatoes 1/4 inch thick. Lay them out in a shallow baking pan and sprinkle with salt. Place them in a colander and allow the water to drain out of them for 30 minutes. Heat oil in skillet for over medium high heat. Dip the tomato slices into buttermilk and then dredge them in the flour. Deep fry until golden brown. Serve with Dijon Dipping Sauce. Serves 6. Dijon Pepper Dipping Sauce 1 cup Dijon mustard 1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1 tablespoon white pepper 4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper 1/2 vegetable oil 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns Directions: In a food processor, combine mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar, white pepper and 1 tablespoon of the black pepper. Beat until just blended. Set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the oil, the remaining 3 tablespoons of black pepper, the red pepper flakes, and the whole peppercorns. Heat mixture until hot. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool. Strain. With the food processor running, drizzle the seasoned oil into the mayonnaise mixture. Process for an additional two minutes. Makes two cups. Ginger Tomato Preserves (An old Pennsylvania Dutch recipe) Ingredients: 6 pounds of green tomatoes 2 pounds red tomatoes 5 pounds granulated sugar 1 teaspoon whole cloves 3 pieces ginger root 3 lemons, slices Directions: Scald tomatoes, peel and cut into quarters. Add sugar, spices, and lemons. Bring to a boil in a large pot, then reduce the heat and cook slowly until mixture is thick. Fill eight sterilized pint jars and seal. Process in boiling water bath for ten minutes. Old Fashioned Piccalilli Ingredients: 2/3 cup salt 4 pecks green tomatoes, peeled and chopped (4 pecks equal one bushel) 1 cup grated horseradish 2 tablespoons ground cloves 2 tablespoons cinnamon 2 tablespoons allspice 2 tablespoons dry mustard 4 tablespoons ground black pepper 2 cups brown sugar vinegar Directions: Sprinkle salt over the chopped tomatoes and let stand overnight. Drain in colander. Place drained tomatoes in a large kettle. Add horseradish, spices, sugar, and enough white vinegar to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for twenty minutes. Fill sterilized jars and seal. Process in hot water bath for ten minutes. Makes about 20 quarts.. |
| I take the car for a relaxing ride to explore North Road from its southernmost point in the town of Hansen. All is quiet save for the occasional farm folks already hard at work. I am at the low end of North Rd. and I feel the car climbing. The land is largely wooded here interrupted by the intermittent clearing with cultivated fields and a farmstead. Individuals have chosen this area to build the occasional lovely home in the woodlots, isolated and remote. The warm rays filter through the forest canopy to shed light on the floor. Other spots are so thick as to seem impenetrable, virtual thickets. In a clearing, I spot a large red-tail hawk atop a dead tree warming itself in the sun. It is probably his favorite resting place. The field below him and all that it holds lies in full view. He flies to a safer distance when I stop and stare too long. I proceed slowly and find a substantial stone marker for the "Maple Lane Farms Simmental of Arpin." The black cattle graze quietly behind the marker. An errant calf trots down the drive to investigate me. As I try to take her picture, she has a sudden attack of shyness and lopes back up the lane toward the barn. The land is a patchwork of woodlots, hay fields, soybean plantings, and cornfields. The soybeans betray just a hint of yellow and the fact that they soon will be harvested. One hay field is dotted with round bales awaiting collection. Other farms have already piled round bales around the barn for the coming winter when the stock will need to be fed. Now and again, the road crosses a small stream. A Heron stands silently in a pool waiting for movement and its first meal of the day. Two horses graze contentedly. Power's Bluff stands boldly to the west. I am slowly traveling uphill. Amish buggies ferry the faithful to their Sunday meeting place. Approaching Auburndale, the land is more cultivated, the farms more numerous and more prosperous looking. The elevation seems to plateau in the Auburndale area. A woman enjoys the morning with a vigorous walk, arms pistoning. In Auburndale, the Community Cemetery lays on the east, the tire recycling plant on the left. I cross the tracks and Hwy 10 and soon pass the High School. The football field is ready for gridiron action. The Wiskerchen Cheese Factory marks the intersection with Hwy H. As I cross Hwy Y, the land begins to fall away once again. I head downhill into "Owl City." The road passes a collection of beehives and narrows to a single lane. I follow it to its end at the south bank of the Little Eau Plaine River and along the edge of a section of the George Mead Wildlife Area. It's been a sixteen mile ride that took one hour and ends in the town of Day, Marathon County. What a relaxing start to a beautiful day. Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. - Confucius |
| "All great truths begin as blasphemies." George Bernard Shaw In 2003, a group of scientists collectivley known as Steorn Ltd. of Ireland, undertook a project to develop more efficient micro generators. Early into this project the company developed certain generator configurations that appeared to be over 100% efficient. Further investigation and development has led to the company’s current technology, a technology that produces free energy. The technology is patent pending. Steorn’s technology produces free, clean and constant energy. This provides a significant range of benefits, from the convenience of never having to refuel your car or recharge your mobile phone, to a genuine solution to the need for zero emission energy production. It also provides a secure supply of energy, since the components of the technology are readily available. The technology is in a constant state of development. The company has focused for the past three years on increasing power output and the development of test systems that allow detailed analysis to be performed. Steorn’s technology appears to violate the ‘Principle of the Conservation of Energy’, considered by many to be the most fundamental principle in our current understanding of the universe. This principle is stated simply as ‘energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only change form’. Steorn is making three claims for its technology: 1. The technology has a coefficient of performance greater than 100%. 2. The operation of the technology (i.e. the creation of energy) is not derived from the degradation of its component parts. 3. There is no identifiable environmental source of the energy (as might be witnessed by a cooling of ambient air temperature). The sum of these claims is that our technology creates free energy. This represents a significant challenge to our current understanding of the universe and clearly such claims require independent validation from credible third parties. During 2005 Steorn embarked on a process of independent validation and approached a wide selection of academic institutions. The vast majority of these institutions refused to even look at the technology, however several did. Those who were prepared to complete testing have all confirmed our claims; however none will publicly go on record. In early 2006 Steorn decided to seek validation from the scientific community in a more public forum, and as a result have published the challenge in The Economist. The company is seeking a jury of twelve qualified experimental physicists to define the tests required, the test centres to be used, monitor the analysis and then publish the results. Steorn has decided to publish its challenge in The Economist because of the breadth of its readership. "We chose it over a purely scientific magazine simply because we want to make the general public aware that this process is about to commence and to generate public support, awareness, interest etc for what we are doing." |
| It's 5:52 in the morning here. The world is utterly silent except for the hopeful chirp of crickets just outside. The air is still. . .no movement. The corn stalks stand, mute messengers, tall and dark against the faint pink blur lapping at the eastern horizon. Wisps of gentle fog cling to the tassels in a soft embrace. A contrail punctuates the solitude of sky and the early birds flirt with mother earth as they look to break their fast. Day slips over Pleasant Hill. |
Today’s Chuckles... 1) When I die, I want to die like my grandfather--who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car." --Author Unknown 2) Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: "Take two aspirin" and "Keep away from children." --Author Unknown 3) "Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar." --Drew Carey 4) "The problem with the designated driver program, it's not a desirable job, but if you ever get sucked into doing it, have fun with it. At the end of the night, drop them off at the wrong house." --Jeff Foxworthy 5) "If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there is a man on base." --Dave Barry 6) "Relationships are hard. It's like a full time job, and we should treat it like one. If your boyfriend or girlfriend wants to leave you, they should give you two weeks' notice. There should be severance pay, the day before they leave you, they should have to find you a temp." --Bob Ettinger 7) "My Mom said she learned how to swim when someone took her out in the lake and threw her off the boat. I said, 'Mom, they weren't trying to teach you how to swim.'" --Paula Poundstone 8) "A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: "Duh." --Conan O'Brien 9) "Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God.... I could be eating a slow learner." --Lynda Montgomery 10) "I think that's how Chicago got started. Bunch of people in New York said, 'Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough. Let's go west.'" --Richard Jeni 11) "If life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead." --Johnny Carson 12) "Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography." --Paul Rodriguez 13) "My parents didn't want to move to Florida, but they turned sixty and that's the law." --Jerry Seinfeld 14) "Remember in elementary school, you were told that in case of fire you have to line up quietly in a single file line from smallest to tallest. What is the logic in that? What, do tall people burn slower?" --Warren Hutcherson 15) "Bigamy is having one wife/husband too many. Monogamy is the same." --Oscar Wilde 16) "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.. But I repeat myself." --Mark Twain 17) "Our bombs are smarter than the average high school student. At least they can find Afghanistan." --A. Whitney Brown 18) "You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'" --Dave Barry 19) "Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer." -- W. C. Fields |
| Friday is a slug day. . .I can feel it coming. Hence the canned entry. GAMES FOR WHEN WE ARE OLDER Sag, You're it. Pin the Toupee on the bald guy. 20 questions shouted into your good ear. Kick the bucket. Red Rover, Red Rover, the nurse says Bend Over. Doc Goose. Simon says something incoherent. Hide and go pee. Spin the Bottle of Mylanta. Musical recliners. |
| I took a moment and looked for the articles in the Marshfield News Herald. The paper is online. They only archive one week's worth of articles. To find mine, I went to http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=MNHnews Click on "Local News" in the header and then type "Mahler" in the search box. I got a screen with six archived articles, most of them not mine. Nearly all of mine will have been published on a Tuesday. The third line of each entry shows the pub. date, a three letter abbreviation of the state paper in which it appeared, and in what section of the paper. All of my articles so far have been in the "MNH Community." Good Luck. Oh, if you go there, please leave your comment. Thanks. |
Golly, we're livin' right these days. This afternoon another neighbor stopped in to deliver a mess of sweet corn. . .all shucked and ready for the pot. Fortunately I had a bag of apples picked so I could return the favor. We haven't put in a garden for many years. When we did, we were overrun with slugs and I couldn't keep up with the slug traps. Too bad.This lady also makes a sort of different candy out of grated carrots, spices and flour, I guess. She's going to write down the recipe and give it to me. Her mom made this during the depression. Tony says he can remember a similar candy cherished in Europe made from potatoes. The carrot stuff is chewy and I would never have guessed, it was made from carrots. I'll share it here when I have it. Most years we do insert a tomato plant or two in the flower bed somewhere, but that's our veggie garden now-a-days. My fourth newspaper column appeared today. They still haven't included any pics. I thought they looked OK but I admit, I'm no Rembrandt with a camera. I think the next one to write will be about what to do with the green tomatoes. Any suggestions? |
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Thanks for these Barbs, we really miss you around here! Update us on everything some time alright! 