Welcome Home, Charlie Company; Flags; and Candy

Sunday, April 29, 2012. If I paid more attention to the Sauk Centre Herald, I'd have known that the flags were welcoming Charlie Company home. This time around, they had a fairly low-key 'welcome home' that focused on getting the soldiers and their families back together with a minimum of fuss.


Welcome Home, Charlie Company. April 23, 2012.

Monday, I noticed that the storefront where Gold 'N More was is still available. I've mentioned that store a few times over the years. (February 26, 2012, June 12, 2011, April 3, 2004, November 14, 2003, October 16, 2003, October 5, 2003, September 19, 2003)


Still available: a decent-size storefront on Main. April 23, 2012.

I spent a couple of hours just inside the door at Coborn's, handing out Tootsie Rolls and collecting money for the Knights of Columbus. We'll be passing it on: most likely to Camphill Village, and other outfits that help folks with intellectual disabilities.


Candy and fundraising by the Knights of Columbus. April 29, 2012.

The local Knights of Columbus gave folks at Mass this weekend a chance to get some candy - and pitch in for a worthy cause.

Welcome Home

I'd have known what the flags downtown were for, if I'd visited the Sauk Centre Chamber of Commerce website. They've got "WELCOME HOME CHARLIE COMPANY! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!" on the home page. Charlie Company, I learned this morning, came home, and rejoined their families, yesterday around noon.

I'll be looking for this week's Sauk Centre Herald: Charlie Company's homecoming will probably be front-page news.

Related post:

• Gray sky, Bright Birdhouses, and Flags"
  (April 22, 2012)

Gray sky, Bright Birdhouses, and Flags

Sunday, April 22, 2012. Today is Earth Day. That might explain the flags downtown. I remember the first E.D., back in 1970, and told what I think about environmental awareness in one of my blogs. ("Earth Day, 2012: This Catholic's View") Or maybe the flags are out in anticipation of Administrative Professionals Day which comes Wednesday. Or National Jelly Bean Day, which is today.


Sinclair Lewis Avenue, overcast, and flags. April 21, 2012.


Unger's liquidation sale is in its final week (extended). April 21, 2012.


Even on a gray day, these birdhouses stand out. April 21, 2012.

Let's see: holidays; damp streets; stock liquidation sale; really colorful birdhouses. Yep, that's pretty much what I have this week.

Sunday, Snow, and Soo Bahk Do

Sunday, April 15, 2012. It's Divine Mercy Sunday. We've had a wonderful, warm, clear-blue-sky day, followed by overcast, thunder, rain, and - in Alexandria - a bit of hail. Now there's a wind advisory out, starting midnight: with snow, a low around 30, clear skies, rain, and fog. Not all at the same time, of course.

Some folks from the local Soo Bahk Do class were in St. Paul Friday evening. As I said in another blog, my wife and #3 daughter are testing for the Soo Bahk Do equivalent of a black belt. I went along as a driver and photographer. ("Martial Arts and the Battle for Purity," A Catholic Citizen in America (April 15, 2012))

The Soo Bahk Do group in Sauk Centre, and others in this area, are quite close to the origins of this martial art. Grandmaster Hwang Kee founded it in 1945; he taught the current head, H. C. Hwang, who taught the man who taught the Sauk Centre group's lead instructor.

That's a long way of saying that there are only four student-teacher steps between the person the local group is learning from, and the founder of the art.


Soo Bahk Do: mental and physical discipline - - -. April 13, 2012.


- - - and no shoes. April 13, 2012.


And, for the folks who came along, a photo op. April 13, 2012.

When the weekend came, I realized that I'd been focusing pretty heavily on the upcoming test. I had a quick look around yesterday: and the rest of Sauk Centre is still there. Maybe I'll have more detail next week.

April in Minnesota: Blue Skies, Blooming Flowers, and a Freeze Warning

As of 4:25 p.m. CDT today, The U.S. Weather Service says that a "freeze warning remains in effect from 1 am to 10 am CDT Tuesday."

The forecast says it'll get down to about 25 degrees Fahrenheit here. Then by Friday it'll get up to about 60, maybe with rain.

All of which is about par for the course here in Minnesota. Like I've said before, our climate isn't boring.

Easter Sunday, 2012

Sunday, April 8, 2012. Easter Sunday. Ducks have returned to SaukLake, flowers are blooming, and bugs are in the air.


Sauk Lake, near St. Michael's. April 4, 2012.


Ducks in Sauk Lake. April 4, 2012.


Not a big bush: but lots of flowers. April 7, 2012.


The Easter Express? I like that yard decoration. April 8, 2012.


Easter Sunday, Our Lady of Angels church. April 8, 2012.

I'm looking forward to consistently warm weather: which shouldn't be too far ahead.

Palm Sunday, 2012

Sunday, April 1, 2012. Palm Sunday. We didn't get that high around 80 today: which was fine by me.


Palm fronds at Our Lady of Angels church. April 1, 2012.


Palm Sunday, Our Lady of Angels church. April 1, 2012.

Today is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week: which tends to be a little hectic for this household. As we usually do, we wove four palm fronds into a sort of St. Andrew's cross:

That, and noting that Summer is definitely here, is about all I've got for this week.