By ALICE BRANDAU

“I hope we have a good bunch of bidders,” my husband Bob said on the way to the Monroe County Livestock Fair on Saturday afternoon,

I replied, “I hope there are some auctioneers.”

Two members of our company, Ken and Mary Jo, had other obligations, and when we arrived, Mike Huntzicker announced that Tom Simonson, another faithful auctioneer, couldn’t be there because of illness. Kudos to Mike, who did a tremendous job selling the hogs and beef cattle. Bob, now the senior auctioneer, sold the goats and sheep.

And special thanks to Scott Hermann for his bid calling and ringman skills. So many people volunteered to help make this livestock auction a success, and it truly was another successful year, with many organizations giving their support by bidding high despite a questionable economy.

John Pasch celebrated another birthday Saturday. His sister Sheila and daughter Casey came Sunday for lunch to help him celebrate, while his mom Hazel and her sister Joyce Sturtz drove to St. Charles, Minn., for the annual Wiskow reunion that day. It’s a big reunion, with 75 people attending this year.

Grandson Luke Ferries went home from the Monroe County Fair with a $25 cash prize for winning the greased-pig contest.

Frank and Darlene Martalock took a leisurely drive to Darlington, Wis., on Saturday and attended the wedding of their great-nephew Bill Preuss and his new bride Sarah Richel. They also were among the guests at the reception.

Mike and Eleanor Meckstroth, who have been visiting Mike’s family and friends for the past six weeks, will return to Brisbane, Australia, soon, but a canoe trip down the Kickapoo with Jeff and Lynn Martalock was in the plan, and that occurred Sunday afternoon. Later they stopped by at Jeff’s folks to say hi.

While Rick and Kristi Heinz are vacationing in the Dakotas, Grandma Barb is watching grandkids Jadyn, Ryan and McKenna for part of this week.

We had the pleasure of seeing Kevin and Priscilla Anderson and other family members at Bob and Debbie Anderson’s home on Tuesday night. Kevin met “Prees” while on a work-study in college, finished his studies at Madison, and then left to marry this gal who lives in a small town near Buenos Aires. They are busy furthering their education and training for administration, hoping to take over a Christian school with 500 students eventually, at present under the leadership of Priscilla’s mother.

Well, baseball has come to a close for our grandkids and great-grandkids this summer, and it has been a fun time for their families and us. By no means did we get to all the games. Bless the coaches who take time to help kids learn the skills.

Vacation Bible school is in full swing this week at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kendall. Kids from St. Matthew’s are part of the group, along with a number of parents who also attend. The theme this year is “Olympian Heroes of the Bible.” At 6:30 p.m. Friday, they will present a program to complete the week.

We had lunch at the Belskys on Sunday, joining Rog and Jean Neitzel and Mike Belsky.

So I asked Mike, “Where did you get those jeans?” and he replied, “Over the Internet, made in the USA by prisoners and are named ‘Prison Blues,’ and the cost is quite comparable to other jeans.”

Now that is a plan, don’t you think?

That’s it for July 30, 2012.