Week of May 30

Happy birthday (on Memorial Day) to our editor Russ Mitchell. He worked on his birthday so there was no celebration. When you see him, give him a happy birthday greeting. He doesn’t look a year older at all!

Tom and Molly Bedell are back in their West Lake Okoboji home for most of the summer. Tom told me his father, former United States Representative Berkley Bedell, is planning for come up from Florida for a couple of weeks in mid-summer. All of his friends here look forward to seeing Berk again!
The founders of the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association Don Fritz and Terry Tausz came over to see the new Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Music Museum that opened over the holiday weekend. Their association has now been existence for 10 years. It was great to see them again. The new museum is located in the same building as the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime and Arnolds Park Amusement Park museums in Arnolds Park.
Kevin Kass and his crew of employees arrived from Le Mars to get Bob's in Arnolds Park open for the summer season. I was concerned that people wouldn’t be able to get to Bob's with all the construction in progress on Preservation Plaza. A wooden sidewalk had been installed so my grandsons and I had no problem getting there to dine Saturday noon. I was glad to see that Kevin and the gang were busy. The deck and indoor seating were all full.
With the beautiful weather on Saturday and Sunday, you couldn’t help running into people who had come substantial miles to visit the Iowa Great Lakes. I saw Joe LaValley, Bob Economaki, Dan Josephsen and Richard Schaffer from Des Moines; Denny Farland from Newton, Ralph Kluseman from Dubuque, Merle Pithan and Johnny Bolin from Sioux City; all on the same day! I am so glad everyone loves to come to Boji.
Steve Bormes from Sioux Falls is the king of dumpster diving. His trips to dumps, salvage yards and such garnered him enough metal objects to last anyone’s lifetime. However he took these scrap pieces and created lighted works of art. They are now on display at the Pearson Lakes Art Center. My grandsons and I had fun trying to figure out where or on what piece of equipment some of the pieces originated. It is a fascinating exhibit and I think it is only there until toward the end of June. Men, women and children will all enjoy this exhibit.
Happy birthday to Mina Fear of Okoboji who turns 95 on June 12. She plans to spend that evening at the Okoboji Summer Theatre enjoying the first musical of the season. Accompanying her will be her sister Julie Buckler from Omaha, Nebraska.
Sincere congratulations go out to Steven and Leah Jensen, owners of Maxwell’s Beach Café! They welcomed their first born child the week before their business opened for the summer. Imagine how little sleep those two are getting right now! If you think they look a little sleep deprived, lets face it: they define the term.
If you have a reunion, family party or special event coming up this summer, let me know. Email the information to doris@dickinsoncountynews.com or give me a call at 712-320-2850.
Chat with you again next week!