of all the Christmas trees I've seen...

...I still like mine the best.

1957

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2005

faces, places, and races

After having the privilege of working for Norm for many years, the number of experiences would be way beyond my memory. Norm was a great boss, freind and my personal career is a credit to Norm. Norm and I experienced many business trips together. I must admit that Norm was a very patient man although I always enjoyed watching Norm’s facial expression. Norm is one of the most honest and innocent people I know. One thing about Norm is that you would always clearly notice when he was embarrassed, upset, anxious….when Norm was uptight, his lips would tremble and it was time to back off. When Norm was embarrassed, his face would turn red as a beet. I will never forget the time I was at a business conference with Norm and happened to notice a tall attractive Afro American lady walk up to Norm as he was entering the elevator. This was one of those times that Norm turned red as a beet. I still laugh to myself about this because I always knew Norm was as innocent as a flea but he was extremely embarrassed.

I also remember when Norm and I were in Bloomer Wisconsin during the big Halloween Snow storm. Norm was driving and I told Norm that I have never missed a single Halloween with my kids at home. Norm assured me that he would get us home in plenty of time for Halloween. I don’t think Norm realized that we would receive 12+ inches of snow that afternoon. Regardless, Norm was determined to get me home on time as we were flying down I 94 on ice and snow heading toward the Cities. I was a little bit concerned and told Norm not to worry about Halloween. Norm ignored my comment as we continued to plow through ice and snow and eventually we even had the opportunity to experience a unique ride with Norm’s car driving down the interstate perpendicular with the car immediately adjacent to us which happened to be a Wisconsin highway patrol. Unbelievably, Norm got the car under control as we passed the highway patrol that made some unusual facial expressions toward us along with a direct signal to slow down. Thanks to Norm, I was actually home a little late but in plenty of time to continue the tradition that has last until today OF NOT MISSING a Halloween with my Kids.

Happy Birthday Norm!
God Bless!
Clint Fall

running with scissors

Born 1930-1979!

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms...
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. hey actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them . .CONGRATULATIONS!

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

Happy birthday, Norm!

Craig and Bernie Settem

engine, engine number 1689E

Engine number 1689E has quite a bit of age on it. It is scratched and dented, and the light no longer shines out front illuminating the track when darkness comes.

My best guess is that number 1689E was built in 1940 or 1941. Old 1689E cam to me at Christmas when I was either nine or ten years old. I remember wanting a Lionel train for years before I got one. Along with the engine came a coal car, a box car, a tank car, and a caboose. The track was in the form of a figure eight and the transformer had a control that went from 0 to 120. I assumed that was in miles per hour.

In the ensuing years the system was upgraded with another box car, a flatbed carrying wood beams, a train whistle unit, crossing gates, two switches with remote control, and additional track to allow the train to go onto the figure eight or continue on a longer loop.

The train was always set up a few days before Christmas in the sun room which was somewhat out of the way. The front door to the house was through the sun room, but no one who knew us used the front door. If the front doorbell rang we knew it was a stranger, and we went to see who it was with some trepidation. This type of visitor was not very frequent, so the train set could be set up for at least the month of January.

I look at the sophistication of present-day toys, and wonder if we are not doing a disservice to the present generation by not allowing them to use their imaginations as we did back then. That engine did amazing things with me at the controls. One game was to run the train at as fast a speed as possible without causing a wreck. This took a cool hand on the controls since the speed in the straightaways could be much faster than on the turns. The usual scenario was that the train had to make 100 trips around the circuit to bring its valuable cargo to the troops at the front (This was during World War II, you know.) What was really neat was to do this with all the lights off except those on the crossing guards, and the light in the front of the engine. The track was laid out so that a portion of it ran under the couch, plus there were paper mache tunnels. If you lay down with your nose right next to the track it looked quite real as the train rocekted around a turn and headed right for you.

I won't bore you with all the variations, but two are worth mentioning. A spinoff on the above game was to put a blockade of Lincoln Logs over the track and then smash into them at top speed without derailing. If the train made it through then the next barricade had to be higher and bigger. The other game took a bit more finesse. The engine was attached to the coal car with an L-shaped pin that allowed the two to part cleanly without a permanent hookup. The idea of the game was to get the train running just as fast as possible. (Notice that speed was an integral part of these games.) When the train was about to give in to cetrifugal force and fly off the track you give it a final burst of power just before a turn, and if done just right the engine would part from the rest of the train and roll over and over across the floor until it hit the wall of the sun room. All those scratches and dents have a history.

The old 1689E isn't worth much money. It isn't worth anything to anyone but me, and I wouldn't think of selling it. If I had given it to my sons, or now my grandsons, they would have run it too fast, put blockades in its way, and rolled it off the track into the wall, and we can't allow that, can we?