By MYRNA FAUSKA
Things have been getting back to normal as of last week, with the neighbors back in their regular routines, along with some extracurricular activities. As I write this Monday morning, the January landscape is covered with fresh snow and the tree branches are frosted with white. It’s good to be able to look out on the scene and not have to go anywhere today. We pray for those who do have to brave the elements.
On Wednesday I picked up Frieda Jacobson, Queen Mother Nancy McCullick and Esther Vlasak to go to Hillsboro, where we met the rest of the Hill Country Belles Red Hats gals for our first meeting of the year. As usual, the cuisine was excellent, as was the fellowship. We celebrated Nadine Preuss’ birthday, which was on the first day of the new year, and planned our Valentine meeting for next month at the Elroy Senior Dining Center.
Going west up the valley and up on the hill to the south, we find that Ron and Arlene Garvens were in Madison on Wednesday, when Arlene attended the meeting of the Cross-Town Violet Club at Olbrich Gardens while Ron went shopping.
Randy Parkhurst started the new year right by coming from Orfordville, Wis., on Tuesday and staying over until Wednesday, helping his parents Jim and Mary take care of personal business.
On Friday evening, Allan and Heather Vlasak went to South Ridge, where they joined the council members of St. John’s and St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Churches for a post-Christmas get-together at Pastor Larry and Cheryl Neitzel’s home.
The Marty family had a sports weekend, beginning with second-grader Brett playing basketball at Weston on Saturday. On Sunday they were in Mauston, where Brett took a second in wrestling and the Royall wrestlers won first place in the overall tournament.
The gals on the west end of the neighborhood are back in their usual routine, which began Tuesday evening with Sally Dana attending the special Royall School Board meeting. On Wednesday, Lynette Vlasak and Sally were in Mount Horeb for lunch with Lynette’s former coworkers at The Skaal. From there, they went to Blanchardville, Wis., to visit Uncle Ken and Aunt Arlene Vlasak. On Friday, Sally drove to La Crosse Regional Airport for a TSA precheck to facilitate a future flight check in. On Saturday the gals took their furry roommates to Kendall, where the Stepping Stones 4-H club held their rabies clinic. On Sunday they, along with most of Wisconsin, watched the Packers beat the Seahawks 28–23 in the playoffs.
The Lord continues to bless us as we go about our daily chores here in our little corner of His world. We pray for those on the eastern part of the state who have experienced some severe snowstorms this past weekend. With all of the traumatic weather in the rest of the country, it’s bound to hit closer to home eventually. Our turn will probably come, as there is a lot of winter left, but at least we won’t have to worry about hurricanes. No matter where we live, we have to weather the storms, and we rely on God to help us through them. Remember to thank and praise Him continuously as we are admonished to do in the Holy Bible. He is still in control and will take care of His creation.