By MYRNA FAUSKA
As you can see by the length of this column, we have a lot to share with you this week, so I’ll get right to the good stuff.
At the Waddell household, granddaughter Jenna Waddell came from Tomah on Tuesday to help Grandma Shirley bake coffee cakes. Then, on Friday, Shorty and Shirley visited Ruth Fry at the Fairview Nursing Home in Mauston. On Christmas Eve, Larry and Alta Eno came out to spend the evening with them, and on Sunday, the house was filled with family and friends for Christmas dinner.
At the top of Zirk Hill, it was a busy week, as Dave Denter came out Wednesday to visit Evelyn and Jerry Zirk. Also, on Thursday afternoon, Adam Vlasak called on them, and that evening, Ev and Jerry were at our place for some Christmas cheer. On Friday, Guy and Lynne Nelson went across the road to see the Zirks. Ev and Jerry accompanied her brother Martin Olson to Mount Horeb, Wis., on Saturday, when they attended the funeral of their cousin Kenneth Beghin, who is spending his first Christmas with Jesus. Next, on Sunday, they went across the ridge to the Hoefs’ homestead, where Julie Zirk served her mother Edna Hoef’s traditional Christmas dinner. Edna is also enjoying her first Christmas in heaven. Finally, on Monday, Bruce and Julie Zirk of Dutch Hollow and Randy and Sue Zirk, along with Emily McAteer of Madison, gathered at the farm for dinner on “second Christmas.”
Steve and Luke Schumann picked up Dean and Ruth Schumann on Christmas Day and went to Reedsburg to have dinner with Mike and Vickie Schumann. Lance Schumann and his fiancée Rachel Kade spent Christmas in Effingham, Ill., with her family.
On Tuesday evening, Allan and Heather Vlasak, Lynette Vlasak and Sally Dana came down the valley to have a holiday visit with us. Then, on Saturday night, Dave and I spent Christmas Eve on South Ridge with Frank and Darlene Martalock and their family, some of them from as far away as Duluth, Minn., and Southampton, Mass. Pastor Bob and Cindy Wachek, along with Jennifer of Greensboro, N.C.; Daniel and Liz Koenigsberg of Fort Collins, Colo.; and Becky of Onalaska shared our Christmas dinner here at Fauska’s Funny Farm.
Mike and Marina Brandt spent Christmas Eve with Ken and Dawn Brandau in Kendall, and the next day, Dan and Silvia Maurer came down from the ridge to spend Christmas with them.
On Monday, Ron and Arlene Garvens went to Waukesha, Wis., where they visited family who live there, plus their many friends in the area, returning home Wednesday. Grandson Jason Garvens of Rockford, Ill., arrived Thursday and spent the night with them before continuing on his way home to his parents in Byron, Minn. On Sunday, Ron and Arlene had dinner in Elroy at Grace Lutheran Church.
Jim and Mary Parkhurst’s wedding anniversary was Christmas Day, and on Friday evening, Ron and Arlene Garvens took them to Tomah to celebrate at the Tee Pee Supper Club. The Parkhursts had accompanied Don and Donna De Witt of Ontario to La Crosse on Thursday night to see the Rotary Lights. Also, on Sunday, the Parkhursts were among the many folks who enjoyed the Grace Lutheran Church Christmas dinner.
On Friday afternoon, Allan and Heather Vlasak and Dean Tompkins were in Holmen, Wis., for an early Christmas dinner at Russ and Julie Everson’s home. Christmas Day was quiet, and on Monday, Dean came out to the farm for dinner with his sister and brother-in-law.
Chip and Mary Marty and kids went to Janesville and spent the night with her parents Lowell and Arlys Zellmer, celebrating Christmas Eve with the family there. On Christmas Day, they were back in the neighborhood and went to Kendall to celebrate with his parents, Bob and Karen Marty.
It is hoped that Jesus was present at all of His above birthday parties and that He was pleased with the way we honored Him at this most blessed time of the year. We continue to worship our Lord, and before long, spring will arrive, and with it the most important event of the Christian year, when Jesus took the sins of the world upon Him and died a cruel death for us. However, He didn’t remain in the grave, but rather rose from the dead on that first Easter Sunday so that we serve a risen, living Savior. Hallelujah!