Aug. 26, 2010 - Here's an ounce of financial reinforcement that the St. Peter Outdoor Pool is the best value in town.

As an exercise option, why not turn to the pool's high dive?

That was exactly the strategy, and on the last evening of the outdoor pool season (Aug. 21), I took my 222nd leap from the high dive board.

Here's the math that reinforces the good value of a season pass at the St. Peter Outdoor Pool: A family season pass costs $35. There are four members in the Lee family, so $35 divided by four is $7.50, the amount each family member pays the city to swim all summer. I leaped 222 times from the high dive, and if you divide that number by the 750 pennies it costs me for the season pass, you learn that I paid a mere 3.4 cents per leap off the high dive.

The high dive workout is awesome, because it offers a break from the sweating that comes with running and biking.

The goal with each high dive workout was to jump 15 times in as rapid a succession as possible. Little kid traffic dictated the pace, which added to the fun, actually. On so many occasions competitions ensued with the children of St. Peter, who thought they could make bigger splashes than me with bottle openers and cannon balls. I concede that fellow dad Tim Samuelson out-splashed me with every jump.

Jumping 15 times off the high dive involves a few strenuous components. There are 10 steps up the ladder, six steps in your takeoff approach, a big jump off the board, a power push with arms and legs to get your head above water, six face-down crawl strokes to reach the side of the pool, a climb out of the pool without using the ladder, 16 rapid steps to get to the base of the high dive ladder, and then repeat that cycle 15 times.

You never really catch your breath.

The community tolerated the 15-high-dive workout, and for that I am grateful. My kids endured the embarrassment of their tall and pudgy dad flailing gracelessly off the board over and over. I thank the lifeguards for never calling me a dorky goof.

They had to be thinking it. 

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Aug. 3, 2010 - Football season is upon us. Here are some predictions. Please don't "mark my words," because I am simply a rube and will probably be wrong.

1. Brett Favre will be back but won't have the year he had in 2009-10. The Vikes' schedule is tougher, so they will compile a 10-6 record in the regular season. The Vikes have most of their talent back.

2. Chester Taylor will have a good, but not exceptional, year with the Bears. The Vikes will miss him mightily. He could get the first down on the ground or through the air when the Vikings really needed it.

3. Tim Tebow, if given the chance, will prove all of his critics wrong. The Broncos with the attidude and toughness of the personality quirkey Tebow will get farther than they did last year. Tebow is a third-stringer right now, but he will rise like cream to the top. By the way, he has the smile of the legendary No. 7 Bronco. Tebow is a winner.

4. Vikings defense is healthy and even slightly stronger than a year ago. Guys like Greenway, the Williams boys and Mr. Winfield will keep the brick wall solid and the opposing punters' feet sore from overuse.

5. Vikings running game. Adrian Peterson will have an ordinary year, nothing extrordinary. Chris Johnson for Tennessee will out-rush Adrian by a mile. Adrian needs a supporting cast of runningbacks, and that's a major question mark right now.

6. The Lions have all the talent in the world, but Matt Stafford won't get them to a divsion title, let alone a much improved record. The Lions are the Cubs of football.

7. It's just so hard to say whether the Green Bay Packers have addressed their 2009 offensive line woes in any meaningful way. Woodson sucks. There I said it. He will be totally exposed in the 2010 season. Aaron Rodgers is all that, but we'll never see his potential if the Pack can't fix its offensive line. The Pack was better than its 2009 record shows, but dominated by Favre and the Vikes. Ah man, that was fun to watch. Go Brett!

July 15, 2010 - Today's the day we ask for Speak Your Mind: "Which of the two evils are worse - 9 degrees or 90 degrees." It's hard to believe there are folks out there who say 90 degrees, but, after all, this is Minnesota. "You can always put more layers on to stay warm," they say. "You can only take so many layers off." True. This isn't Europe, where on the beaches anything goes. Everything goes, actually. July 14, 2010 - Never have the mosquitoes been more aggressive. A cousin from Iowa was camping by the Minnesota River, which is a whole separate story. We practically bathed in bug spray. I was getting bites on my cheeks (face) and forehead in tiny areas where I wasn't mosquito proofed. No problem, though. If you don't scratch, but bites go away. It's about eight minutes of torturous itching. July 13, 2010 - Many thoughts have been bandied about regarding this year's rule that politicians not march in the St. Peter Fourth of July Parade. The following question was posted on the Herald web site: "Do you think the St. Peter Fourth of July Parade should go back to allowing politicians to march?" So far, 13 respondents have voted no and three have voted yes. That's 81.3 percent to 18.8 percent. A very, very small sample. The poll is not scientific. July 9, 2010 - More respondents to the Herald's online poll don't favor public money for a Vikings stadium. The poll asked, "Do you oppose using public money to help pay for a new Vikings stadium." There were 223 yes responses and 157 no responses. The poll was not scientific. July 7, 2010 — It's time for the brilliant yellows, reds and blues to take center stage. It's time for the orange to go away. We've been seeing orange on Minnesota Avenue since mid-July of last year. Orange cones, orange barrels and orange signs. Once the orange disappears, which is bound to be pretty soon, the newly planted flowers will really brighten up downtown. They're blooming bigger every day. On Tuesday, the folks from Greencare in Mankato planted the flowers in the urns at Grace Street and Park Row. Looking good. ------- “Our critics are our friends; they show us our faults.” -Ben Franklin An anonymous reader taking me to task on the use of contractions suggests I write in “Standard English. Keep the contractions for your blog, twitter account, or ignorant friends!!” I should have learned long ago from Dr. Seuss that contractions are not proper. He would not like them in a house. He would not like them with a mouse. Here is a little Internet research on contractions. Humorist Dave Barry wrote the example, “This childbirth really hurt’s!” Writer Rudolf Flesch was quoted as saying, “It’s a good style rule to use as many apostrophes as possible ... . The more contractions you use, the more your writing will resemble idiomatic, spoken English. In fact, the spelling out of usually contracted words is sometimes downright unidiomatic and wrong.” Style guru William Zinsser was quoted, “Your style will be warmer and truer to your personality if you use contractions like ‘I’ll’ and ‘won’t’ and ‘can’t’ when they fit comfortably into what you’re writing.” Bill Walsh of Washington Post fame was quoted, “Unless you’re writing an ultraformal academic paper … don’t strain to avoid contractions.” Now, I would not claim to be anywhere near as smart as my grammar critic, but I would raise a playfully suspicious eyebrow to three points in her/his 20-word note to me about news writing (the note where she/he calls my friends ignorant). First, she chose not to capitalize Twitter, a proper name. Twitter is capitalized in several news stories, including one from the New York Times, found on the Internet. Second, she violated an Associated Press comma rule. “Use commas to separate elements in a series, but do not put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series: The flag is red, white and blue.” She/he aims to critique news writing. AP’s stylebook is the Bible on news writing. Finally, she used two exclamation points at the end of a sentence. I could find no style source stating the use of two exclamation points is correct, appropriate or accepted in formal or informal writing. I thank my anonymous contractions critic for showing me my faults. I was being an attorney, in good fun, building a case supporting contractions. There are plenty of sources out there who say use contractions sparingly. I had three in one paragraph. I must point out, however, that my contractions critic unfairly characterized my friends as ignorant. My friends are definitely guilty of destructive decisions and poor judgement but never ignorance. They skillfully articulate such arguments as Labradores are more loyal than Poodles, Bart Simpson is funnier than SpongeBob SquarePants and Dale Jr. drives faster than Martin Truex Jr. (or vice versa depending upon whom they are betting). Thursday, June 10 — Greg Rikaart of "Young and the Restless" soap opera fame attended Livestock in Minnesota Square Park last Saturday. Mr. Rikaart obviously has a knack for avoiding the paparazzi. I was in the park for three hours, with a camera, and never sniffed him out. We heard from some ladies who swoon over the guy that he was in a TV satellite business booth. And, he left wearing a Livestock t-shirt. We know there are some folks who have photos, and we'll do our best to bring those to you. Biography information says Mr. Rikaart was born in Brooklyn, raised on Staten Island, graduated with honors from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and now lives in Los Angeles where he is Kevin Fisher on "Young and the Restless". He hikes, mountain bikes and enjoys yoga and movies. Favorite singer is Billy Joel. Wednesday, April 28 — Sources close to the state capitol have told us the dividing line is more with outstate|metro than it is with Democrat|Republican. So we have an interesting dynamic taking shape in 2010. A DFLer who grew up on a dairy farm near Minneopa has her party's endorsement. Did she attend college in Minneapolis or St. Paul. Nope. She attended college right here in St. Peter at Gustavus Adolphus. Her name is Margaret Anderson Kelliher, a 1990 Gustie graduate, received the Democratic Farmer Labor party endorsement for governor last Saturday night in Duluth at the party’s convention. A couple of DFLers who did not get the endorsement — Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza — are planning to run against Kelliher in the Aug. 10 primary. The Republicans, who have a convention this coming weekend, are more streamlined. It's likely the primary won't really come into play for them. Stay tuned, though, because the Nov. 2 general election is a long ways out. We'll let you know where candidates are from and to whom their loyalties lie (bad choice of words). Kelliher, the House speaker, has been representing a district in the Twin Cities for the past several years. Rural highways is an issue that can create a dividing line between outstate and metro. So is Local Government Aid and other forms of funding Robin-Hooded from the property-tax-rich metro to the property-tax-poor outstate communities. Politics is complicated, but wouldn't it be cool if the very influential Rep. Terry Morrow (DFL-St. Peter) were on the governor ballot trying to become the sixth governor from this fair city? Ruth Johnson from St. Peter was the endorsed DFLer for lieutenant governor not so long ago. Monday, April 26 — Many, many people work eight hours and say, "Oh what a long day that was." Not knowing all of the details, that seems like such a luxury. Thursday, April 8 — The Minnesota highway department announced Wednesday morning plans for "converting Highway 169 at Interstate 494 to a freeway to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion in Bloomington, Eden Prairie and Edina ($150 million)." $150 million is such a big number. To put that in perspective, realize the project that turned St. Peter upside down last year for five months was a mere $17 million. The highway department and workers from several companies did a great job in our town last summer and fall. The same will be true at Highway 169/494 in Bloomington. Currently, traffic in that area tends to really be slow, especially at times of congestion. It's good they are fixing it. It seems like at one time or another, everyone from St. Peter has ridden through that stretch. It's kind of the gateway to the Twin Cities. Some local folks drive it much more often than others. Wednesday, April 7 - Bracket rehash. Remember how deflated you were when Kansas lost early in the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament? You were brokenhearted and bracket-busted. Later that night, we posted this question on the Herald's online poll: Will a No. 1 seed (Kentucky, Syracuse or Duke) be the overall winner in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament? We checked the result just before the national championship was about to tip off Monday night between No. 1 Duke and No. 5 Butler. By a 2-to-1 margin, poll respondents had guessed that a No. 1 wouldn't be the overall champ. Kentucky and Syracuse were upset along the way and therefore eliminated from the tourney. Duke kept surviving (thriving, actually) and advancing. By now everyone knows that Duke did indeed prevail as the 2010 tournament victor. Butler, which lost by just two points in the entertaining see-saw battle, tried to prove the Herald poll respondents right. But it just wasn't to be. Tuesday, April 6, 2010 - I remember picking up a copy of the Gustavian Weekly with its front page splash about case day a couple of months ago. It wasn't the best piece of journalism, but I gotta say, the newspaper staff put some real thought into their project. They got both sides of the issue, and they should be applauded for that. Now the question is, "Was there 'censorship' as a couple of students removed newspapers from the most-seen racks and moved them to the least-seen racks." I swear I showed the issue to my kids and explained that only a few students attempt to drink 24 12-ounce containers of beer in a 24-hour period. The newspaper gave me, a parent of a 12-year-old and a 9-year-old, an opportunity to say that sort of excess is a bad idea. As a parent, I hope to give my kids some pointers so that when they are in the position to make decisions for themselves, they will make good ones. Goals in life should be striving for a 4.0 grade point average in a semester, running a marathon, doing the Ride Across Minnesota to achieve fitness and raise money for a good cause. There's nothing wrong with drinking a beer or two when you are 21. Enjoy in moderation. For all the stupid things I've done, I've never ever tried to drink a case of beer. Don't be sick and tired. Don't waste Saturdays and Sundays by partying too hard on Fridays and Saturdays. It ain't worth it. The Weekly journalism was good in interviewing Campus Security and the St. Peter police chief about the dangers of alcohol excess. I need to say that as a college newspaper, the Weekly was justified in not giving names of case day participants. Their journalism would have been better if they had, but, as they stated, case day participants were not named for fear of punishments. The Weekly wasn't condoning case day. Case day happens. It seems crazy. It'd be easy to ignore. The Gustavus Weekly acted responsibly in telling the story and making attempts to give it balance. Friday, April 2, 2010 - The St. Peter Herald is hosting an online mother-daughter look-alike contest. And it's as easy as pie to enter. With all of the togetherness happening at Easter time, it's the perfect opportunity for snapshots. Here’s how it works: • Starting April 11, upload your mother/child photo at www.stpeterherald.com. • Watch as submissions build on our Web site throughout the submission period until April 24. • Beginning April 25, online readers are able to vote on who they think is the cutest — or at least the most identical — mother/daughter entry. • Voting runs through May 8 and the winner will be announced on Mother’s Day, May 9. Come on, now, moms and daughters! Don't be camera shy! Thursday, April 1, 2010 - Talk about a breath of fresh air. The mercury climbed above 70 yesterday, and folks rifled their storage bins for summer clothes. It's amazing how many people were out walking dogs. Anywhere you drove in St. Peter, you could smell the sweet summer aroma of barbecue. Spring has indeed sprung, but it feels more like summer. Thank you, Mother Nature, for the first snow-free March in forever. All of us traveling to high school state tournaments will never forget it. Going to school and work without coats is just grand. Stick around, 70's. We've waited a long time for you. Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - “We know that there are and always will be different opinions about what happened on July 20,” said Anoka County Assistant Attorney Andrew Johnson last November. “But no matter what else one believes, one thing is clear: This was a horrible, horrible tragedy. Mr. Heilman was a father, a son, a fiancé, and friend. There are many people who miss him, and everyone wishes that things had gone differently. But the only question that the grand jury had before it was whether there is probable cause to believe that Deputy Waldron’s actions constituted murder. The jury answered that question by saying, ‘No.’ We will respect their decision. We hope that others do the same.” Mr. Johnson spoke of the tragedy, the death of young Tyler Heilman. It's clear that the loss of a young man's life was/is a horrible, horrible tragedy. The investigative file contains interviews with those close to the case. The investigative file is a public document with more than 1,000 pages, and the Herald has had a copy of it since last November. Last November, we mentioned some key points in the file while being careful to respect the fact that everyday folks were caught in the sucking vortex that was July 20, 2009, and they wouldn't want their names bandied about in black ink. Names of innocent kids, names of teens who were being teens, names of witnesses performing their civic duty in what they must have guessed were confidential settings. A workplace and work schedule, along with other bits and pieces, of the identity of a witness who had compelling reasons to request protection and anonymity. Discretion and caution are paramount in 2010, but this ain't You Tube and social media. It's an investigation needing to get to the bottom of a tragedy. Yes, the investigative file is a public document. Lots of personal stuff beyond the scope of the shooting was bound to be stumbled upon in such a comprehensive probe. Splashing around that personal stuff, which is barely related if at all related to the death, could tiptoe over the line of public trust. Hundreds of column inches of newspaper space were given to the very newsworthy shooting, protests, grand jury and judicial process as they were unfolding last summer and fall. Grand jury members dedicated their undivided attention to the investigative file and witnesses who appeared before them. The grand jury deliberated carefully and unhurried to reach its determination. The legal process leaves open the opportunity for civil litigation. The process, though never perfect, has been followed respectfully. Some disagreed with the outcome of the process. It's their birthright in the United States of America to agree, disagree, peaceably assemble and even shout about it. Now, four months after the investigative file became available, re-releasing personal and painful Pandora ghosts back into the court of public opinion would tick people off. Send us a note, to elee@stpeterherald.com, with your thoughts. Maybe you feel that more of the peripheral personals from the investigative file should have been published in the Herald. We'd appreciate hearing from you. Please feel free to share your name so we can communicate back and forth. Your name won't be published, unless you want it to be. We respect your opinions around here. Monday, March 22, 2010 - Any claim that the Minnesota River crested on Friday, March 19 would be dead wrong. Look at the indicators. A marker stick tipped with pink paint was placed at the water line near the Highway 99 bridge on Friday morning. A second stick placed on Saturday morning at the new water line clearly shows the river had risen in the past 24 hours. Would Highway 99 East between the bridge and French Hill road have closed due to rising flood water on Saturday night if the river had crested on Friday? Nope. Hundreds of river gawkers watched the river current flow harmlessly six inches below the Highway 99 bridge's bottom deck on Friday morning, rise up to touch that beam on Saturday and slam into and create a whitecap nearly all the way across on Sunday. NOAA and the National Weather Service reported that the Minnesota River crested at Mankato and Henderson on Sunday night. Would it make any sense whatsoever that the river at St. Peter crested Friday? No indeed. River gawkers have so much photo proof and video proof that the river crested later than Friday. So any claim that the river at St. Peter crested on Friday is preposterous. PREPOSTEROUS, I say unto The. A temporary dike was constructed barely north of St. Peter on Friday. Flood water crept up that dike on Saturday and Sunday. Photos show it. Any carp. Any walleye. Any pike and every remaining sturgeon with bloodlines to prehistoric ancestors in the Minnesota River will testify vehemently that crest occurred at this fair city some time after Friday. Ok. Ok. I know. I know. It doesn't matter when the river crested, because nearly all properties have been mitigated out of the floodplain since the Mighty Minnesota misbehaved to the consequence of hundreds of humans in 2001, 1997, 1993 and even back to 1965. ----------- Saturday, March 20, 2010 - We're in the midst of a flood in St. Peter, so be careful if you are taking in the sights and sounds in Mill Pond Park, part of which is definitely under water. Seeing St. Peter Municipal Campground under water is pretty much surreal. We've pitched many a tent down there. We fished and played on the sandbar there in the river as recently as September. Just stay away from any water if you are walking around the park. It can sweep you away. It's scary that there are electrical things in or near the water. Stay away from all of that stuff. While talking to MnDOT officials on Friday morning, we asked about the term "fracture critical" assigned to the Highway 99 bridge, a 1930 historic relic that is slated for replacement in the next few years. One plan is to move the old bridge upstream a couple hundred feet so pedestrians can continue to enjoy it. It's our understanding that "fracture critical" alludes to a rule of two. The bridge has two supporting features. If one goes, the entire bridge is compromised, because the other one can't do the job alone. Modern bridges are engineered with far greater redundancy, with seven or eight supporting features. If one fails, the others stay strong and keep the bridge safe. The Highway 99 bridge certainly is a trusty, old, aesthetically awesome hunk of steel. It would tell us more historically flavorful stories than the great Bob Sandeen if only it could talk. Hundreds of us walked across the bridge in the past few days and stared relaxingly into the icy, debris-filled, swift-moving water — with its eddies and boils. There's something captivating and compelling about that, no matter what your age. The same could be said of a campfire, I suppose. Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 8:15 a.m. - The river is out of its banks at the St. Peter boat ramp. All of the concrete planks are under water. But that's ok, because the only thing being flooded is the parking lot. The water line on the middle pillar is higher than it was last night but apparently well under the point where they would need to close the bridge. Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 12:05 a.m. - Flood data has always been readily available at Mankato and Henderson. St. Peter not so much. I'm going to give you a couple of local measures than might or might not matter. First off is the Boat Ramp Factor. There are dozens of concrete planks set horizontally down the hill to the river near the St. Peter Municipal Campground so trucks can back boats into the river. When the river is low, most of the planks are visible. The hill is steep. When the river is high, fewer planks are visible because many are under water. Get this: By 3 p.m. on Tuesday, the river had risen so high that only eight planks were still dry. By 8 p.m., just five hours later, only six planks were still above the water line. I've never seen the river swallow planks faster than that. Probably not a concern, though, because flooding wouldn't appear to damage much in that area. Forget about NOAA and forget about the National Weather Service, both of whose river level reporting is good at Mankato and Henderson and not so good at St. Peter. We'll update you with how many planks are showing. It's significant, because once the river level gets to just six planks showing, it's only a matter of time before the river leaves its banks, as long as the crest isn't predicted to happen for a couple of days. But what's more significant is the second measure, and it has to do with how high the water line is on the middle pillar under the Highway 99 bridge. Once the water line creeps to the top of that pillar, emergency officials close the bridge. That has huge implications with school buses, commercial vehicles and commuters needing to take detours and add time and gas money to their traffic patterns. During the weekend and as of Tuesday night, the water line on the pillar was at least several inches below where there'd be a threat for bridge closure. The bridge closes for sure if water ever creeps up to the bridge deck. Click back to the Herald home page. We'll keep you posted. Thursday, March 4, 2010 - Following Favre is a band called Lighthouse. Come on, Jay-NBC-Show Biz in General. Serious? Johnny Carson would have had us all knowing whether Brett Favre will be back in purple for 2010 or not. Or they are insomniacs. Yeah, so, Jay gives Brett his NBC gold watch to say congrats on retirement, and Brett says Thanks but I haven't made a decision yet. Jay says, Yeah, he's coming back and chants one more year, one more year. The audience is totally into it. Commercial break at 11:28 p.m. (Can you believe people are actually reading this junk? We know they are because we can see the web views. People Google Alert Favre, or something.) "I know now that I'm not going to say anything soon." Jay congratulates Brett on "retirement". Brett responds, "Thank you, but I haven't made a decision yet." Brett watched the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. Got a lot of text messages. Spoof on Brett with Super Bowl trophy at age 50. Good stuff. Brett hasn't missed a game in something like 285 games. Broke thumb. Played better with broken thumb. "Seems like I've always played better with an injury." Awesome question by Matthew M. !!! Brett praises New York Jets. Could go hunting in Central Park. Pants on the Ground dance was screwed up, but whatever. Intro of priest in student audience. Mother in law is here too. Super Bowl would have been nice. But season was better than he could have dreamed of. Won over lots of Vikes fans. BF credits the Saints. 13 years since 4 was on Leno. With Brittney. "We're out here to see Hannah Montana. No offense to you. But we're out here to see Hannah Montana," Brett tells Jay. Here he comes. Here he comes. One of the most talked about names in sports. Pro Bowl 11 times. Rocky Music! Ahhhhhh yeah. Intro awesome! Commercial break at, unbelievable, 11:18 p.m. That leaves less than 12 minutes for Football Immortality. Serious? Hollywood, Leno, definitely NBC and Show Biz in general all totally suck. Think about it. Why wasn't Brett Favre the headliner on the Tonight Show tonight? Johnny Carson, where are you? You never would have let this happen. Sorry Packer fans. They really call it the Green Room. Brett looks pretty good in purple these days, hey? Ah for the love-a! Jay and Matt, you are going to talk about the Olympics? When Purple 4 is in the Green Room? Come on, McConaughey!? What does "Home Grown" have to do with the greatest football player in the history of football!? Matthew McConaughey just mentioned that when he was 12, cars had the high beam switch on the floor and accessible to the left foot. That was sooooo cool in my Mom's 1975 Plymouth Valiant. Wish that was still the case. Hey Mike Skrove, can you make the high beam switch on the left-foot floor happen in my 2004 Ford Taurus? Please? Needing some Americana automotive nostalgia, here. Still no mention of Favre. Commercial break (11:09). Stay tuned. Matthew McConaughey still hasn't mentioned Favre (11:03 p.m.) Ok, it's 10:57 p.m., and our Brett Favre just waffled with Jay Leno and exchanged spanks with Matthew M. We'll keep you up to speed on Favre on Leno. The studio audience is totally fired up about Favre on Leno. Matthew M. is on now (10:59 p.m.) Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - You can ponder the clues ‘til you’re blue in the face, But the medallion still sits in its hiding place. Day after day you’ve been searching in style, It’s time to take a load off and rest for a while. That's what Clue 7 in the St. Peter Winterfest Medallion Hunt would have said. Would it have helped you find the $1,000 medallion prize? Many people dug around by the bench in McGill Park before Don Wilde's medal shovel struck plastic gold. Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010 - Bob Wettergren, who passed away last week, brought many famous folks to town to speak when he was manager of St. Peter Area Chamber of Commerce. Page 302 of Mr. St. Peter's book "A Little Bit of Heaven in St. Peter" lists names of those with celebrity appeal who visited the home of five governors. Among them are Charlie Boone, Roger Erickson, Bob Lurtsema, Frank Quilici, John Galos, Mark Dayton, Jim Hill, Ginger Cisco, Bill Carlson, Nancy Carlson, George Latimer, Stanley E. Hubbard II, Stan Turner, Tony Bouza, Erica Bouza, Carl Johnson, Joe Sollen, Carl Pohlad, Dorothy Pohlad Dolphin, Jocko Nelson, Jeff Wright, Jim Perry, Clark Griffith, Angie Guiliani and Billy Martin. Mr. Wettergren's entry on Mark Dayton is rich. Below is what he wrote: * Mark Dayton - Mark, a former Minnesota commissioner of development and later state auditor, was a remarkable person, despite his wealth. He was married to one of the Rockefeller daughters when he came to St. Peter. The City of St. Peter had filed for a $125,000 grant from Farmers Home Administration for sewers in Community Spirit Industrial Park and the project seemed in limbo. I was instructed to contact Mark to see what he could do to speed things up. He flew to Mankato in his personal plane to meet with St. Peter officials. I remember Sam Gault and I picked up Mark for the tour of St. Peter Industrial Parks. Afterward, Mark called Walter Mondale and, after a few minutes turned to me and said, "St. Peter got the grant." Later Mark spoke at our Chamber banquet, and when visiting with my wife Renee and Terry Gault, informed them that he was the one who got up at night to feed his baby and make the necessary diaper changes. Mark stopped at the Chamber office at a later date while going through town. I told him the effects on Sam and me of his telling our wives about his nursery duties. Saturday, Feb. 20 - We're not so naive as to believe good things go on forever. Bob Wettergren's passing marks the end of an era. I feel like a name-dropper, but I really think Mr. Wettergren was my helper and friend. "General Lee?" Mr. Wettergren would say over the phone or in person. "I wonder if I might have audience with you for a few minutes. I know you are a busy man." Busy man. Yeah right. Mr. Wettergren sharing his time with me was much appreciated. In fact, I was the one calling Mr. Wettergren most of the time. He really did have a sharp memory for events, like when he and others hung in effigy Joe Rolette on the Nicollet County Courthouse lawn. Rolette was the one who derailed St. Peter's chances at becoming state capital in the mid-1800s. That was back in the 1950's. Mr. Wettergren and I would drive around together and he would tell me how about John A. Johnson's funeral in 1909 and how a slice of land near Broadway and Washington is known as Johnson Park. I had the privilege of drinking his coffee, served by wife Renee, at the wooden table in his dining room on North Third Street. He would just tell stories of St. Peter. He and I communicated often, because his perspective was first-hand in so many cases. He was 88. R.W. Wettergren, as he would refer to himself at the beginning of phone calls, was a man of dignity and integrity. I started at the Herald in 1995, and Mr. Wettergren would stop in on Wednesday afternoons to chew the fat. It was important to him that St. Peter's story be told. He would call Peggy Carlson the Cokey Roberts of St. Peter. Mr. Wettergren would tell of Zack Zoul, Al Annexstad, Stan Davis, Bill Pell and George Nutter. The kids in high school would call that a living history. I was graced with so much living history from Mr. Wettergren. He took all of us at the Herald under his wing. The newspaper was important to him as the historical record. Mr. Wettergren helped us whenever we asked. He'd let us pop up and see him at Pheasants Ridge. He helped put St. Peter on the map. He set the table in so many ways. There never will be anyone quite like Mr. Wettergren - Mr. St. Peter - in St. Peter. We're really going to miss Bob Wettergren. Wednesday, Feb. 17 - Has there ever, in the history of the Olympics, been a better day for the USA. Lindsey Vonn is making us cry. What an athlete. Did you SEE Shawn White crush the Gold in snowboard? So Big! Did you see Apollo rock the short track? Did you SEE Shawnee Davis glide the long track to strike Gold? Best day ever for the Red, White and Blue. Ah wow! Julia Mancuso on the downhill for silver behind Lindsey. Can it get any better? Wednesday, Feb. 17 — It was Ben Leonard's idea to ask the Vikings question on the St. Peter Herald website poll. "Does the Vikings 2010 loss in the NFC Championship hurt worse than the Vikings 1998 loss in the NFC Championship?" 69 respondents answered yes. 42 respondents answered no. For the record, I with the 42. The Vikes finished the regular season 15-1 in 1998 and there was absolutely nothing stopping them from winning at home to advance to the Super Bowl. I can't think about it anymore. It still hurts. Thank you, Brett Favre and the 2010 Vikings, for giving me arguably the most entertaining season in my 45 years on Earth. I absolutely loved it. No regrets. An incredible effort. I love cheering for the St. Peter Saints, so seeing the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl was fun. ---- Thursday, Feb. 11 — My phone rang at 7:29 a.m. Thursday and a woman's voice conveyed that the medallion had been found. That woman, who we think goes by the name Elaine, was medallion hunting in McGill Park with her children when suddenly a man with a steel shovel in one hand and a plastic snowflake puck in the other proclaimed that he had found it. That man wasn't carrying his own cell phone, so Elaine made the call and handed him her phone. "Hello, yes! I have the medallion," the excited man said. "I'm at Traverse and Church at McGill Park by a red van." I posted news of the unofficial find on the Herald website at 7:34 a.m. and sped to McGill Park. There he was, Don Wilde, a member of the St. Peter High School Class of 1957. I'll betcha he was more thrilled about finding that medallion than a first-grader would have been. He was absolutely beaming. The clues had been foggy, but seeing the medallion's hiding place, things were becoming clear. One of the best references in a clue was the word "weep," because the medallion was tucked under snow close to Willow Street. Weeping willow. The feeling was sort of like the "ah ha" that courses through your veins while reading the last page of a murder mystery. Click back for more clue interpretation. We're going to track down the clue writer and pick her/his twisted brain for which words meant what in the clues. -------------- Wouldn't you think the "gill" reference in Clue 6 has to have something to do with McGill Park? "Green" would seem to be a key word, too. Go figure, there's nothing green in nature in February, not that there would have to be. I can tell you that when I drove by McGill Park today at 3 p.m., there was a guy in snow clothes and with a shovel at the south end standing strangely in the edge of the woods. For at least 15 minutes, he was holding a cell phone to his ear. Not sure what was going on there. Medallion hunters work in mysterious ways. Let me throw some numbers at you. In the first minute after Clue 6 was posted on the Herald web site, there were 77 views. Since Monday night at 11:55 p.m., there have been 2100 views for clues. Wednesday, Feb. 10 — It has been a weird day. First, a gal from Mankato telephoned to say she knew where the medallion was. She proposed that I go pick it up and then deliver the prize to her. My response was something like, "Yea, um, but the medallion isn't a loaf of bread that can be picked up at a grocery store. Maybe one of your friends — someone who can read the twisted mind of the medallion hider — could drive up and fetch the plastic puck for you, from where ever you say it is." She said she would think about that. My bad. Last night, I guessed the medallion might be close to a weeping willow tree. I thought I remembered seeing one in the McGill Park area. My bad, because I drove around today and saw nothing but cottonwoods, dogwood, a few maples. Everything but weeping willows. There aren't many of those types of trees. Sorry, hunters if I led anyone astray with a weak "weep" interpretation in Clue 5. An old friend said he went to the Nicollet County Historical Society (Treaty Site History Center) and paid $4 to research the Winona & St. Peter Railroad that ran through town in the 1860s. The "where" was important stuff, and he was satisfied that he learned the route. At 3 p.m., a dude called and wanted to know if the medallion had been turned in. Notice the phrasing here is "turned in" and not "found". Turned in, and found, are a world of difference. I told the man, who was searching in a park, that I would call Emily at the Chamber to ask if the medallion had been turned in. The man said: "Well, I'm in a park, and a lady drove up and rolled down her window. She said the medallion had been found in the morning and that all of the hunters could leave. I don't know if the medallion had been found or if that lady just wants us out of the park." The medallion had not been turned in. That's all I can say. New, deep snow is the great X factor in the Medallion Hunt of 2010. It covered all footprints that might have been left by the medallion hider. In 2009, the Medallion hunt went all the way to shortly after midnight on the Thursday morning. That's the longest the hunt had ever gone. We might break a record. We might just break a record. ----------- Something is not quite right about the word "weep". Right now, perhaps a hundred medallion hunters are stretched across an old rail line with flashlights taped to shovels like bayonets on rifles. They're shooting for $1,000. Within the first 10 minutes after Clue 5 was posted, more than 70 views were tracked on the Herald web site. So, if you were one of them, you are not alone. Folks are serious enough in their medallion madness to stay awake until 12:01 a.m. on a Wednesday. Are they in this for the money, the fame or both? Jesse James, whose gang was once in St. Peter, gained his riches and notoriety from robbing trains. "Train" was a key word in Clue 4 yesterday. Could the medallion be safely tucked away under six inches of new snow? On its surface, Clue 5 doesn't appear to in any meaningful way put medallion hunters on top of the prize. Weep. That word keeps popping back. To try our hand at a clever rhyme, like the medallion hider, let's say, "To be or not to be, could weep be a tree?" It's all over town now that in the mid-1800s an old railroad was called the Winona & St. Peter. Maybe get down to the Nicollet County Historical Society (Treaty Site History Center) to learn just where it went through. Much public land can be found along that ghost of a track. Not that the medallion is even there. It could be anywhere. Go, go, go in quest of "weep", while the wimpy among us instead pursue sleep. Tuesday, Feb. 9 — We got phone calls from Levee Park and McGill Park saying those places were crawling with medallion hunters mid-morning on Tuesday. So we darted out of the office with camera in hand. Levee park was void of people but was riddled with footprints. An old friend was in McGill Park with kids. He said he saw the clue the night before at 12:01 a.m. and got over there right away with flashlights. He dug around the rock at the top of the hill near the big slide. Clue 4 alluded to trains rolling by long ago. In McGill Park on Tuesday morning was medallion hunter Anna Amos, daughter of Paul and granddaughter of Eunice. Anna told us her dad said he used to ride a dirt bike along railroad tracks in the present-day site of McGill Park. Shovels in hand, Anna was in the park with friends Abby and Katie Frey. McGill and most parks in St. Peter were not completely trampled with footprints. That's probably because a thick blanket of new snow is cloaking all footprints and the coveted plastic prize. Don't be fooled by the time stamp on the medallion clues story on the Herald web site. A caller this morning said the time stamp was 11:06 p.m., and the clue is to be posted at midnight. Be assured, the clue was indeed posted after midnight. There are at least 100 medallion hunters out there who know that. They were waiting until the stroke of midnight to see the new clue pop up on that page. We want the medallion clues to be the top story on the page. If there is breaking news, such as one-act play qualifying for state, then that story takes over the top spot for a few hours. At 11:06 p.m., we created the file for the fresh new medallion story. It contained the first three clues. At 12:01 a.m., Clue 4 was posted. When Mr. Wright found the medallion a couple of years ago in Mill Pond Park, he said a clue about a town dump is what led him there. He was a history buff and therefore knew that the area of the Mill Pond was once the city's garbage site. Perhaps the medallion hider is attempting to teach a little bit of local history or reward those who know it. If you Google St. Peter Railroad, news of the Union Pacific might pop up. But another city's name might surface somewhere down the list. There was a bridge that used to cross the Minnesota River near the state hospital. Local historians like Bob Douglas, Bob Sandeen, Ben Leonard, Mike Bidelman, Judy Hanson, Ed Wetherill, Herb Poncin and several others would have much to say about trains rolling by. And more importantly, where trains roll(ed) by. I recall a conversation 10 years ago with Mr. Bidelman when the topic of trains chugged to life. He pointed in the direction of an old rail line. The "train" clue will definitely pique medallion hunters' interest. It's going to get them closer, where ever "closer" might be. By 12:20 a.m. on Tuesday, more than 100 views of the new medallion clue containing "train" had been tracked on the Herald web site. The medallion hunt is definitely gaining steam. Monday, Feb. 8 — Apparently, the medallion hider has mastered the craft. If that wasn't the case, you would have found the pesky plastic disk by now. The medallion hider, flinging red herrings to and fro, is probably watching you search. Grinning, snickering, chuckling. The first year, the medallion was stashed away in a fast food bag along a line of evergreens in Veterans Park. It was found within the first nine hours, and by an engaged couple whose strategy was to hit the parks and leave no stone unturned. Along came the Gault Park year, when the plastic puck was unveiled about 8:30 a.m. the first day of the contest. To be sure, the no-stone-unturned strategy has proved effective in the past. But now the wise old medallion hider has put an end to hunters happening upon the prize. The medallion hider made puppets of hunters in 2009. The hider had hunters scattered all over St. Peter with the first clue before writing clues that gathered them along Sunrise Drive with the second, third and fourth hints. The fifth clue, and even the earlier ones, was like the medallion hider's remoter control over the finders as he had hundreds of them flocking to a bird house off of Lloyd Lane. To empty avail. It was the 12:01 a.m. Thursday clue in 2009 that pinpointed Warren Park as the positive medallion location. Hunters who had been sure the location was Sunrise Drive in the area of Rotary Park, the tar path, an electrical station or water tower, returned to the area of the bird house in Warren Park and combed the grounds after midnight when they saw the telling clue. It's time for the medallion hunters to out-think, out-wit and out-fox the medallion hider. Get under the new snow and leave no stone unturned. Beat the medallion hider at her/his own game. ------------- Let's get specific. Wow. Clue 3 refers to hearing bells and children playing. Hmmmmmm. Where is there a concentration of church or school bells in St. Peter? Clue 3 is definitely designed to inch hunters closer to that coveted disc of plastic. One thousand Chamber Bucks await the finder. Those bucks can be spent at hundreds of places in St. Peter. Who dat just won the Super Bowl. Where dat medallion? Saints football players got it done in a stadium in Florida, not close to any bells that we know of. Parks, where children play, abound in city-of-Saints St. Peter, but how many of them are close to bells. Clue 3 has to mean something. Speculation and interpretation are the fuel powering Medallion Madness. Do key words in Clues 1 and 2 mean anything? Let's spotlight a few of those words: race, store, moon, sun, bells, children playing. It doesn't have to be a concentration of churches or bells or children, of course. Clues can be deceiving. The medallion itself wants it that way, because the rush of not being found is as old as hide and go seek itself. More snow is in the forecast. Sunday, Feb. 7 — Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think in the six-year history of the medallion hunt a significant snowfall has been a factor. That's about to change, if you believe meteorologists. Snow is in the forecast. Drat! A medal detector will do you no good, because the medallion is made of plastic. Its hiding place, no matter where that is, will in all likelihood get better under several inches of snow. The situation of the past has always been that unseasonable warmth triggered receding snow lines. The sun and Mother Nature have always been on the medallion hunters' side. A thick blanket of new snow will give this year's hunt an unprecedented wrinkle. But erase all that if meteorologist are wrong. Medallion clues will take on deeper value. Tune in at 12:01 a.m. Monday for Clue 3. At 8 p.m. on Saturday night, a group of boys with flashlights buzzed like weather-proof fireflies around the Nicollet County Fairgrounds. What were they doing? Searching for the medallion, of course. News of the young medallion hunters spread like spontaneous combustion among hundreds of attendees at the Ambassador Dinner inside Johnson Hall on the fairgrounds. Some wanted to know: Had the boys interpreted a kernel of true information in the clue, or were they just taking a shot in the dark? Earlier in the day, a pair of stick-wielding medallion hunters darted from tree to tree in Gorman Park hoping a lucky poke would strike plastic and make them $1,000 richer. Know this, hunters: The medallion in the past five years has not always been hidden by a tree. Your keen instincts guide you to trees, or other forms of cover, but apparently medallions are like penguins. They don't care if they are out in the open, veiled only by a fast food bag, newspaper or even just a thin layer of snow. At least that has been true of the nature of medallions of the past. Assumptions. You've all heard the adage associated with assuming. The adage involves the first three letters of that word. It's true that the first five years of the hunt had the medallion hiding in different parks. Don't assume it won't return to one of those places. There's nothing in the rules that says it won't. Again, I SWEAR I don't know where the medallion is hidden. But I also swear I've had the privilege of talking to the medallion finders from 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. As a public service to all of St. Peter's medallion hunters, I'll continue to track trends and distill collected intelligence in a Mission Impossible-Jim Phelps-this-message-will-self-destruct-in-10-seconds sort of way. Saturday, Feb. 6 — Clue 1 was posted on the Herald web site at 12:01. By 12:10, there had already been 55 views. That tells all medallionaires that they are by no means alone. As with past years, the first clue in 2010 basically says the medallion is hidden somewhere in St. Peter. The clues will get more and more specific each night at 12:01 a.m., if the past is any predictor of the future. We'll keep you posted. Watch this thing go viral. As mentioned, there were 55 view in the first 10 minutes after Clue 1 was posted at 12:01 a.m. a few minutes ago. Tomorrow night, folks will be glued to their Blackberries, laptops and any technology that accesses them Clue 2 on the Herald website at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 7. We'll tell you how many views there are in the first 10 minutes following the posting of Clue 2. The medallion is a plastic disk bearing a snowflake. The circumference is slightly more than a hockey puck. How hard can it be to find the medallion, which will garner you a cool $1,000 in chamber bucks? Go hunting. No license required. Reel it in for big money. ------------ Friday, Feb. 5, 2010 — Where would you hide the medallion? How about the Frisbee golf course on the south end of town. Think about how fun the clues would be to write. The medallion has never been hidden in McGill Park or Levee Park or the lift station at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Washington. I SWEAR I have no idea where the medallion is hidden. But I also swear I've had the privilege to talk to the medallion finders from 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. This is the sixth year, and once again, there's $1,000 at stake. Medallion finders told me now the clues helped and didn't. They told me which years the medallion was buried in snow and which years it was veiled by creative litter. Insights. That's what you will get at Ed Lee's Operation Observation. Click back at 12:03 a.m. after the first clue is posted. Sunday, Jan. 30, 2010 — Kings of Leon won a huge Grammy tonight. We saw them at Target Center in September. KOL is best known for their hit "Use Somebody." That's hardly their best song, though. Go to You Tube and queue up Kings of Leon "Slow Night So Long," "The Rodeo," and "On Call." Those songs will offer a better explanation of why the Followill brothers and cousin are ragin' rock stars. Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 — There's an accident waiting to happen near the intersection of Broadway and Front. It's impossible to look at the road when it's 5:45 p.m. That's because there is aerobics going on. Looking away is impossible. People getting in shape is motivating. But, just a couple of blocks from the police station, it tempts distracted driving. Healthful choices reign. Healthful living is inspirational! Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010 — Go Vikes, but whatever happens happens. Back in July, the Minnesota Vikings would cruise through St. Peter on their way to training camp in Mankato. Folks were predicting The Purple would go 8-8 or 10-4 or even 11-5. We had Adrian Peterson and a new guy named Percy Harvin. Then, Childress got us Brett Favre. Controversy ensued. Many fans said Favre was washed up, and that he didn't have anything left in the tank. But you read it here on Operation Observation to "Enjoy the Season." Favre would make it more interesting, we said. Favre, Childress, Percy and the boys gave us a phenomenal 12-4, not to mention a No. 2 seed in the NFC and second-round playoff win over the hottest team in the league - the Cowboys. So, not only did we defeat the Packers twice and avenge the 1975 NFC push-off loss to the Cowpokes, we made it to the Final Four. There are 32 teams in the league, and we made it to the Final Four. Impressive. Sidney Rice and the Williams Wall and Jared Allen and Chad Greenway and all our guys are impressive. Remember Tom West? He was the sports editor at the Herald in, oh, something like 1993 and 1994. He has enjoyed a public relations career with the Vikings since then. Be happy for Tom. Enjoy the season, as Mike Tice used to say. Enjoy the fact that we are in the Final Four, playing for a Super Bowl berth, for the first time since 2000 and 1998. Our love for the Vikes is unconditional this year because they have taken us so far. SKOL VIKINGS. Take it to the Saints. Friday, Jan. 23 — If you missed Conan tonight, you missed a slice of history so rich. Conan hosted the time-forever Tonight Snow, which Johnny Carson anchored for so many years. Conan's run was seven months, but he was humble and gracious in thanking NBC for the opportunity. Tom Hanks, Steve Carell and Will Ferrell helped Conan say good bye. It was one for the ages. Friday, Jan. 8 — If I Tweeted, I'd tell you I love my 2004 Ford Taurus, but ... All of my other cars haven't had an automatic lock when I turned off the key. Ah man, I hate that. The next morning, I go to put my backpack in the backseat, and it's annoyingly locked. My kids go to get in the back seat and passenger's seat, and the doors (frozen) are annoyingly locked. The Ford Taurus - the same one Kurt Busch ran in NASCAR in 2004 when I bought it for that reason - is dependable, starts like a charm in sub-zero weather and has gotten me to South Dakota, Michigan and Colorado and back on the hottest of summer weeks. I love the car. But I hate the fact that it doesn't have a thermometer to tell me how cold it is outside. And for the love of Pete, the Ford doesn't have side cup holders. Primal Scream. That's as Andy Rooney as we get in Operation Observation. Our 2008 Nissan that we bought at Lager's in August is absolutely awesome. Thursday, Jan. 7 — If I Tweeted, I'd tell you my feelings on pizza deals. So, my son calls me and strongly suggests/requests we order a pizza. I cave in and say, whatever, but it's going to be a medium cheese. Cheap. Nothing fancy. He says, whatever. I call my pizza place and place an order for a medium cheese. They say, "$11.75." I say, ah man, that's steep for a medium, but that's what it costs, and I know I gotta pay it. I go to pick it up. Outside the pizza joint is a sign that says, "Today only, large one topping pizza $9.95." I tell myself Holy Cow. I go in the pizza joint, and tell the clerk, "I must be the stupidest dork in all of St. Peter, paying $11.75 for a medium no-topping pizza when you are offering a large one-topping pizza for $9.95." They say, "Ah yeah, we see what you mean. Here's $2 cash." I say thanks. I take the pizza home, and while setting it on the table, see a mail coupon from the same pizza joint for a large one-topping pizza for $8.75. Morale of the story: Know your pizza deals BEFORE ordering a pizza on impulse. Wednesday, Jan. 6 — If I Tweeted. pizza, ford, subway If I Tweeted, I'd tell you that going for the $5 footlong meatball at Subway is not a health conscious decision. I'd rather buy the 6-inch for $3.80 or whatever. The folks at Subway say, yeahbut, just buy the footlong and put half of it in the fridge for later. Impossible. Because, if I have the footlong, I'm going the distance on that puppy. I'm eating all 12 inches right now. Throwing health caution to the wind. Buy the 6-inch. Don't allow yourself access to excess. Be true to your New Year's resolution. Reject the devil and temptation to buy the footlong. Besides, why the heck doesn't Subway offer ketchup? That's just not American apple pie and Chevrolet. Tuesday, Jan. 5 — What's up with extending campaign season, anyway? Arg. Campaign season is always tricky for editors, who want to give equal space and keep it fair. It used to be that campaign season started in, like, May. In 2009 (actually 2010), the candidates emerged from the woodwork waaaaaaaaaay earlier. It's just crazy. You've got 15-plus candidates running for governor. You've got U.S. Senate candidates going at it. You've got state House and Senate candidates in the mix. There ought to be a rule against engaging before May. Election Fatigue 2009 still lingers. Election fatigue 2010 is already overbearing. Wednesday, December 30 — All things considered, was the 2009 Christmas Snowstorm worse than the 1991 Halloween Snowstorm? Five people said "yes," while 37 said "no." We posted the question in our on-line poll last Friday, which was Christmas Day. We guessed a few people would answer "yes" just because of all of the holiday travel problems the four-day storm was causing. But come on, is there any snowstorm that can compare to the 1991 Halloween Blizzard? The timing and volume of the snowfalls was brutal. That event shut down so much activity. It was unbelievable. Weather forecasters last week had us really worried. On Dec. 22 and 23, we were believing we were in the path of the storm of the century. Two feet or more of the white stuff was predicted. Some areas got socked harder than others, but this was no Halloween Blizzard of 1991.