By MYRNA FAUSKA
After a few weeks of cooler weather again, we have finally arrived at more summer-like temperatures just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Once upon a time, this holiday was called Decoration Day, as it was the day to place fresh flowers on the graves of loved ones. Now we emphasize honoring our veterans, and local American Legion members gather at cemeteries all over the country to have a service in commemoration of our fallen heroes.
Here at the Fauska farm, the past week was one of a bit of activity, as on Wednesday, I picked up Mary Parkhurst and took her to Hillsboro to get her hair cut. After she was shorn, we went to Elroy for lunch at Bender’s Family Restaurant. On Friday, Margaret Leis joined me for a tour of five cemeteries to decorate the graves of our family members who have predeceased us. As we traveled through Elroy, we had lunch at Bender’s. On Friday evening, Christopher Young helped me at Glendale Cemetery in Kendall, where I placed a few flowers on my husband Dave’s grave. On Sunday at church, we had a farewell potluck for Pastor Kim and Barb Kuhfuss, who have retired and moved home to Minnesota.
As we go west up the valley, we pass all of our neighbors until we get to the Vlasak and Zellmer families. Last Monday, Lynette Vlasak and Sally Dana were in Sauk City, Wis., where they met some of Lynette’s former Mount Horeb School colleagues for lunch at Vintage Brew Pub. Their next activity of note was on Friday, when they boarded the La Crosse Queen Riverboat for a dinner cruise with Lowell and Arlys Zellmer and a group of friends. On Saturday, Lynette and Sally attended Royall High School graduation and later were at the funeral service for Ralph Gosselin at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Kendall. On Sunday evening, they joined the Martys and Zellmers for a cookout at The Ranch in Johnnycake Hollow.
As I write this, I am preparing to attend the Memorial Day service at St. Luke’s Historical Church at the east end of the neighborhood. The Kendall Legion will begin with its presentation and roll of the veterans buried there, and a service in the church will follow, with lunch afterward. We are so blessed to be planted in this country where our freedom is due to the sacrificial service of our veterans. The men and women of our armed services deserve our eternal gratitude for taking time out from their lives at home to spend several years keeping the rest of us safe. May God bless them abundantly.