Seasons Greetings! 2007

I think the latest Christmas letter was sent in 2004. Perhaps I should catch up again.

My Mother died in July of 2006. Sandy and I were by her side. She was 96. It was a peaceful ending to a long and active life. I have many of her memories in files on my computer and will treasure them always.

Don has retired… for sure this time. He retired once and then went back to work for Magellan Pipeline supervising some construction projects. He now collects social security and it's time he gets to choose what projects he wants to work on! Don has been working on landscaping, upgrading the theater room and cleaning out the pole barn.

Donny continues with his web hosting business, running, biking, swimming, spending time with Ethan, working for surveying companies (CAD computer work), remodeling his house and enjoying time with his friends.

I'm designing websites, reading, singing, playing instruments and spending time with my friends.

Cats? 5 of them now!

February 8, 2007
My friends (me, Holly, Cheri and Joyce) posed for a photo to email to Ellen who goes to Texas in the wintertime. We wanted her to know what she was missing! Our group still gets together every Thursday for lunch... and it's a great stress reducer to share stories and laugh about life in general.

March 16, 2007
Shirley Mier and I finally got out on the slopes again. Shirley has experienced many changes in her life in the past few years... including the fact that she is now Dr. Shirley Mier. Shirley's daughter, Miranda, and Ethan are the same age and we enjoy comparing stories about them. Dr. Shirley Hamilton Meir

March 18, 2007
Max celebrated his birthday at Meister's in Scandia, a family tradition. He is the captain of the Hendrickson pontoon so I got him this nifty captains hat. Max (even though he was retired) was offered an interesting part time job in his field this year and he drives down to the cities 3 days a week. He's one of the old "mentors" of the group. He still keeps HC Electronics open as well.
HC Electronics

March 23, 2007
Ethan enjoyed an evening of Bingo at the Scandia Community Center. It was a benefit for the Scandia Women's softball team. His Dad won a ham early in the evening... and Ethan and I went home empty handed! (I'm not going to tell how much I paid for Donny's ham). It's a joy to watch Ethan's growth. He had no trouble with 3 cards at a time.

May 3, 2007
Donny and I went to a large Business Exposition in May. It was in the Twin Cities at a large convention center. Our booth was a bit understated compared to some... but our identity of building websites for small businesses was adequately displayed. One of our theatre friends, Grif Sadow, was there and we had a nice long visit with him. Donny's web hosting business has been steadily growing. Berry Bros. Inc.

May 5, 2007
Don has spent a great deal of time in the yard. We have new shade gardens, ponds in the front (shown above) and a large two tiered pond in the back in additional to the natural ponds. Don added some landscaping blocks and wood chips, removed some trees, planted others, re-arranged dirt... We're both looking forward to seeing the plants start to bloom next year.

June 2, 2007
Don and I celebrated our Anniversary with Donny and Ethan in Stillwater. We played a game at his house after eating. Donny's remodeling has a come a long way... but it still has a long way to go! The outside is finished so at least the neighbors can't complain. He now has the basement and 4 bedrooms finished. Everthing is livable but somewhat rustic!

June 13, 2007
There's nothing finer than sitting in a lawn chair, cheering for a grandson. This summer Ethan and Zach (neighbors son) were on the same team and Jenny and I enjoyed watching them both. Zach and Ethan teamed up for a great play during one game and we all said "yeah for Kirk Avenue"! Ethan did quite a bit of pitching this summer.

Ethan has one of the largest cheering squads... Don, Donny, Emily, Mike (her husband), Teri , George and some of Emily's siblings. I don't know if that makes him feel special or picked on when we all shout his name!

September 28, 2007
Sue Nickelson and I put on the habit and participated in Matt Haider's Relay for Life Benefit Concert in July. We were both a bit rusty on the singing and dancing at the same time routine. We plan to participate again next year.
Forest Lake Relay for Life Benefit Concert

July 28 and 29, 2007
Donny and Ethan ran, swam and biked in the Chisago Triathlon again in 2007. Don did his part by returning Ethan's bike and accessories to the car! Ethan did very well in spite of the fact he got a bit trampled... especially in the swimming. He's looking forward to next year as his skills have increased greatly. When Donny got ready for the swimming portion of his race, I was able to spot his swim cap with the binoculars and could watch him throughout the race. It was soooo entertaining to see him swim to the left, and then to the right, and the sideways again... Donny's goal for next year is to swim in a straight line in a lake! Even with his slow time on swimming, his bike time made up for it and he did well on his overall time.

September 8, 2007
It's the Scandia Taco Days Sawdust Scramble! Again the Berry family enjoyed our traditional outing in Scandia. We did the usual visiting with friends, eating tacos, watching the parade...

Ethan is starting to have just as many friends as we do in Scandia from his school and sports connections. He now has to introduce us to his friends and their families!

I'm very happy to have Ethan in the Scandia School system. I always feel he's in a good safe place with my friends and Donny's former teachers watching out for him.

September 21, 2007
My brother Max and I traveled to Iowa in September for his class reunion. We stayed at the Union in Ames. It was the first time either of us had been above the first two floors, even though we both went to college there. Friday night we enjoyed an informal gathering in Jewell and Saturday night was an all school reunion for Jewell High School. Max invited me since I wasn't eligible (the school changed to South Hamilton in 1963). I guess I didn't really mind being the youngest one there! (Max is in the purple shirt in the back row.)
Jewell High School Class of 1960

September 21, 2007
The Notables continue to perform occasionally. We still haven't really decided what direction we want to go. Right now we are closely connection with Elim Lutheran Church in Scandia. Our Music Director, Dennis Alfveby, has worked with us for over a year and we all delight in the sound we are creating. Sylvia Mills, Sue Nickelson, Joan Berry and Marilyn Orlich.
Notables

October 10, 2007
Donny successfully completed his 150 mile bike ride! He asked his Mom to join him... I passed.

November, 2007
I was planning on cutting down on some of the community theatre musicals... but my favorite music director, Marina Liadova, asked me to play at Lakeshore for the fall musical, "She Loves Me". The part called for 7 instruments, bass clarinet, Bb clarinet, Eb soprano clarinet, flute, piccolo, oboe and English Horn. Jack Waas played reed I, Betty MacKay played trumpet while Ron Rasmussen and Steve Goranson shared the bass part. Marina played the keyboard and the drummer joined us on some songs. The space there is very small and there are huge considerations to keep the volume down. With the small pit, the balance was wonderful. As you can see from the photo, we were right in the front of the stage and enjoyed the show every night. This was a 5 week run and I never got tired of this one. Great cast.