Ole Pappy
After agreeing to take a “See the Whales” tour in Hawaii last week, I’ve got to admit I didn’t expect to see any. It was near the end of their run out of the area and I’ve been disappointed before when trying to see whales. But this time my wife and I were not disappointed. We saw the whales, some large, some with small offspring and some medium size. We saw their backs and even a few tales in the air. We didn’t get to see one leap from the water, but we had plenty of thrills. After watching for quite a while, we saw one swim right beside and almost under our boat. It was thrilling when it came to the surface just a few feet from us. I couldn’t believe seeing this huge form just below me a few feet under the water as it swam past us on our side of the boat. It also flicked its tale at us as if to wave goodbye. This was the highlight of a vacation to celebrate our 25th Anniversary — even though we’re now at 29 years. It took awhile, but I finally made good my promise to take my wife to Hawaii. You might say it was a “whale” of a good time!
THANKS TO A GREAT STAFF
My wife and I had 10 great days in Hawaii and back home a great staff of people put out a great paper for me last week. It isn’t often I miss a paper, but this time Brittany Moorse, Cherri Schmig and Scott Thoma, with help from people like Brian Jeremiason, Sue Jacobson, Ruth Bot and Doug Clevenger got the job done — and did a fabulous job. Brittany put the paper together. Cherri handled all the office chores and helped out with the paper. Scott made several trips to Minneota and covered news, photos and sports. The others contributed photos and stories. It was a tremendous effort and I can’t tell you how grateful I am to all of these wonderful people. I was so proud of the professional way they handled everything and the care and love they put into this edition of the Mascot. Thank You staff and contributors. It’s hard to imagine a greater group of caring, dedicated people than the Mascot staff. I appreciate all of you!
LAUGH A LITTLE: Good Luck Mr. Gorsky! On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon and his words were, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But just as he re-entered the Lander, he made the enigmatic remark, “Good Luck Mr. Gorsky.” Nobody really knew what that meant. There were no Gorskys in either the Russian or American space program. Armstrong would never say what the remark meant. Then in 1995, after Mr. Gorsky died, Armstrong revealed the mystery. “In 1938 when I was a kid in a small mid-western town, I was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard and the friend hit the ball into Mr. Gorsky’s yard by their bedroom window.” The Gorskys were neighbors to the Armstrongs. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, Neil heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky, saying, “Sex, you want sex? You’ll get it when the kid next door walks on the moon.” Well, Neil Armstrong had that walk — and nobody knows about Mr. Gorsky. Neil’s family confirms this is a true story! (Submitted by a reader).
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: As my Ole Pappy used to say, “So you fell down yesterday? Well, you get another chance to stand up today!” During one of the toughest moments in my life, Ole Pappy built me up by assuring me the, “Sun will rise again tomorrow,” and that I get another chance to do it right. That’s what I loved about Ole Pappy. He was always there when I needed a boost. Thanks Ole Pappy!