I had a great deal of fun this week preparing and writing the first of a series of Hall of Fame stories that will continue into September. B-B-E schools will induct their fourth class to the Hall of Fame in September. The Hall of Fame's Class of 2024 features eight individuals. The first one was what I called "low hanging fruit" that was easy to write, as he lives just down the street from me...Wes Von Eschen was a Brooten Buccaneer who played four sports and graduated in 1964. That sounds like quite a while ago...because...it was! Brooten and B-B-E is blessed to still have Wes as an active member of the community. Honestly, you'd hardly guess he's nearing 80 years old, but, he is. Any chance you get to have a conversation with him is a blessed opportunity.
The actual newspaper story ran quite long and surpassed 2,000 words...much longer than I expected. I had no qualms about printing that big of a story because I feel it is worth reading from beginning to end. One of the best parts was the first part...why were his basketball teams so successful? That part is explained right in the very beginning of the article.
Currently we are facing peak county fair season! Yikes! This week's Bonanza Valley Voice had advertising from three county fairs. This is the first time that has happened in the history of this newspaper. In past years, I've had 2 fairs advertised at once, but never three at once. From what I learned, this summer marks a once-every-five-years occasion when fairs in Stearns County and Pope County overlap on the same weekend. The next 10 days are going to be absolutely crazy. So crazy that I actually have to get extra rest in order to be prepared to slug through it! Add it all up: three county fairs, the Belgrade August Fest, the Region 15C amateur baseball tournament plus the Chippewa Falls Lutheran church 150th anniversary. I've never seen anything like this as a newspaper owner.
Here's a video from the bottom of the 8th inning at Spring Hill on July 21...the division playoff championship:
Now it's time to get out and survey the damage from today's wind and rainstorm that battered our garden. It will need tremendous sunshine to recover.
