Troop 1

Going through things at the house, I have found many interesting pictures of the times from the days at Jefferson Grade School, Logan JR High and also Logan Senior High. I will put up many as the time allows. So I have decided to share the thoughts on Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts of America. I truly believe that most of the guys that lived close to Jefferson School attended Troop 1 where my dad was troop leader for close to 20 years and also serevd on the BSA council until he passed away in 1969. I don''t want to miss anyone but here are some of the families that did participate. The Almos guys, Wilhelms, Lachman's (my buddy Fred ), The Roland Family (Ione was are cub scout leader and we always built a lot of neat things), Bill Snyder, Wells Family, Lokken Family, Meetz family, Burch Family, Callhan Family, Bittner Family, Stuhr Family and many not mentioned due to lack of memory. But the people I missed please add your name to the list.

We all spents years together and enjoyed many outting though out the State of Wisconsin. Parents all spent time with us whether it was hiking to West Salem, camping in a State Park or spending a week at Camp Decorah. We all learned a lot and we had many of our Troop to earn the Eagle Award. As I look back at this time it helped us all to grow up and learn some life skills that we can still earn.

I did not do much in Scoouting after starting a family, however Cousin Paul Stuhr has dedicated most of his life to scouting. This year he is stepping back and turn the reigns over to a new group of leaders. I am sure proud to call my cousin.

These were good times and I will be back to talk about more of them in the future.

Reviewing and Reflections

It certainly has been a while since I have been here to share my thoughts and reflections. My last visit was after my trip to visit all of my grand kids and my adult children except for Jessica and Mike and Abbey who was in Florida someplace. So my comments will start from that point in time. I will also try to spell check, but will not spend time trying to be grammatically correct in the arrangement of the facts as I remember them (which means it is probably fiction by the time you read this article) since I spent most of the time skipping Miss Voleweider's English class. Of course, we did get out of class when Harry started the fire in the garbage can when we were locked in the classroom. So let's look at the last couple of months from my minds eye. First from a medical update the battle with my diabetes has been as tough of time as I have had since my first 2 months of getting things somewhat to normal. A lot of people have this disease and they know from time to time it can get out of line. After 12 years of A1C under 7.0 (goal for a diabetic) my last 2 have been 9.8 and 9.3 which is not good. this has caused me to not be able to drive out of town much and for my eye sight to change a lot. I have been writing out everything I eat and I take 1 unit of insulin for each carb I eat. It has been a pain but it makes you realize what impact the food has on you. My doctor appointments this week were the best I have had in a couple years. No damage to the eyes right now and if my numbers continue down it should be no problem. I will need to get some new glasses to get me by until my sugar is back to normal. Kinda like having a set of fat clothes and a set of extra fat clothes. Blood sugar test on Friday was best ever as it started at 168 and then I ate and sat in the hospital and had my sugars tested every hour and the numbers were in the normal range the whole time so that was a first and it seems to be a turning point. I am also starting to workout on a exercise bike. It is no fun but I figure if I ride to about LA I might drop a couple of pounds.
We have recently had some help with supervising mom during the week as she continues to do very well with her physical health but struggles with short term memory. She just celebrated her 78th birthday and is waiting for a Packer run to the Super Bowl. That will be interesting as she still is a big Brett fan and cheers for him every week. She has had fun with Andrew being here until he leaves for the Navy early this summer. He will be in the Nuke program and is excited to get started. At 23 he will be one of the older members of his Basic Training Group. Then it is off to South Carolina for school. After that he will find out where his assignment will be and what area he will be involved in. I am sure proud of him.
It has been lot of fun running into old friends on the social networks. When I got back to La Crosse I never realized how many of our class mates had moved out of town. So it has been fun connecting with many of them. Laurie Lane keeps me up to date on the new friends she finds and I have had coffee a couple times with Fred Lachman. He dropped of fresh fish at the house and chatted with mom and had coffee with me. We are having breakfast next week. It should be a blast.
I have started to get the hang of La Crosse again. The areas we used to party (French Island - 22) are non-existent as new runways run right through the area. The Varsity Club reopened last month and is owned by one of the Numister boys. I doubt they have the 20 beers for a buck anymore and I would guess the decor is much nicer. I will have to check with my niece Jill to find out what it is like as I would guess she has checked it out. The Alma Mater has new ownership as Berger got out of the business after 40 years. I had breakfast there just before he left. In fact, I got to meet the new Mayor who is the first mayor elected from the north side. Nice young man (23 years old I think) he is one of the Harter clan. He seems to be trying to do a good job but doesn't fit the good old boy network. Time will tell.
The have a nice pool area where the old high school used to set. The kids sure packed it full this year. I have not yet toured the new Logan but will do that this spring. The Onalaska and Holmen area have really grown a lot and you can get lost in a second trying to find some of the old place we used to go. There are new golf courses all over and the Country Club is now a public course.
I have been learning German and have had fun doing that, as I figured i should do something with my spare time and Herr Jergen spent two long years with me in class killing time. But I guess that was the way it was back then for me.
Christmas was a quiet time this year with the kids all establishing their own traditions which is fun to see them grow as families. When they all get together, which they do once or twice a year, it is fun to be a fly on the wall and watch them interact with each other and also with their nieces and nephews. I hope that they will always stay close as family mean everything to me.
So as I go forward into the New Year I am excited to get in contact with many more of the old friends and seeing what they have been up to for the last 38 years. I can't wait to hear everyones story.
I am out of here for now. Peace