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Luckiest guy on Mother’s Day? Had to be me. When I asked my wife what she wanted to do, she said, “How about a wheeler ride?”
Evan and Megan joined us and we loaded up the truck with two wheelers and a dirt bike. There will come a day when we can ride trails from Ely and that day is coming soon. We’re hoping to complete construction of the Prospector Loop from Ely to Mattila’s Shelter and beyond by this fall.
For now, however, unless you want to ride blacktop, trailering is your best bet.
We pulled into an old gravel pit and unloaded the machines. The weather was on the iffy side but a few raindrops weren’t going to stop us.
Evan and Megan took the lead and off we went down the trail. The leaves hadn’t filled in the forest yet so the views were just great. Seeing into the woods and out on to lakes, rivers and bogs is a fun part of spring riding.

We’re creatures of habit. At least I am.
I tend to eat the same foods, watch the same tv shows and keep the same hours- early to bed, early to rise..
There is one new thing in my life though. When I turn out the bedroom light at night, the room’s ceiling is filled with interesting patterns as if etched in ancient plaster.
No, I haven’t been remodeling, the sight in my right eye went away two Saturdays ago and after visits to several doctors, we now know it is permanent. Nick, Mary, Megan and Evan are filling in for the new absence and the job now is to train myself to do without and learn to drive again.
A steelworker friend of mine in Illinois lost an eye by running and falling on scissors. He went on as an adult to walk steel beams on high rises, so I know it can be done.
Meanwhile I’m at work answering phones, opening and sorting mail and keeping up (I hope) with circulation.

The two most popular “get together” holidays are Christmas and Easter. This is when we usually spend quality time with family and good friends.
There are forty one tenants living at the Pioneer Apartments. There is no more room at the Inn. A brunch was planned for Easter Sunday beginning at 2 pm. All the food is made from scratch by the tenants. We had a dozen people who got together in the apartment building lounge which was decorated for this event.
The names of the people at the brunch and how long they lived at the Pioneer Apartments are: Tonya, 5 years, Sharon, 3 years, Kevin, 4 years, Donna, 3 years, Vance, 2 years, Gigi, 2 years, Chantel, 3 years, Cassie, 1 year and when I asked Vicki how long she’s been here she said “20 minutes!”

by Willow Ohlhauser -

by Charles D Novak

Another classmate has been taken from us. Richard Mobilia passed away on February 28. My condolences to his family.
Richard and I had a great working relationship as bus boys at Vertin’s Restaurant when it was located in the Forest Hotel building. We worked so well together the waitresses would actually request our services during the busy summer months when the tourists flocked to Ely.
The two of us kept the tables and booths clean so customers could make their menu choices, pay their bill and leave a generous tip for their server which was sometimes shared with us. During the busy summer months we worked without taking a break. Those white jackets we had to wear had us sweating like gladiators. We had all this fun for a salary of fifty cents an hour, a small fortune in those days.

BOB CARY’s BAND practicing at Anne’s:, l-r: Bill Lynott, Dick Mitchell, Fred Godec and Bob Cary.

Good compass
“Is my dad coming back? ”
He says, “I hope so.”
The boy asks, “Did you ever go to jail? ”
He says,“ no.”
“Why did my dad go to jail?”
He says, “Your dad got in with the wrong crowd.”
“I never want to get in with the wrong crowd.”
His grandpa says, “Good for you. Now here, you hold this wing while I glue it, okay?”
He reaches up his hands, his grandpa moves his fingers, places the balsa wood plane blade between his fingers and says, “Now you hold that still while I glue it.”
He says, “Ok grandpa.”
Grandpa leans in, drips the translucent glue off a steely tip along the edge of the plane’s wing blade to the side of the plane’s body.
He says to his grandson, “You can let go of that now.”
His little hands release.
Grandpa leans back and says, “Well it’s all done. You want to go fly it?”
There is a loud, “Yeah, can we?”

How lucky we are to have concerts, plays, musicals and other theatrical events in Ely!
Coming up is Cabaret which was an instant hit when it opened on Broadway in 1966. It’s still playing somewhere in the world as I write this. I saw this show at least a dozen times – twice on Broadway and in other cities in America.
It was unusual the minute you walked into the theater. The curtain was already up and when the lights went down the musical didn’t start with an overture. There was only a drum roll and a cymbal crash. The plot consists of two stories. The first takes place in the nightclub called the Kit Kat Klub. The second is about a failed romance
The two main stars in the show are Sally Bowles and the unnamed Master of Ceremonies. Every song in this musical is a hit. They were written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. My favorites are the title song Cabaret followed by Don’t Tell Mama, Casey at the Bat, Two Ladies and Maybe This Time.

There are times when the agenda sent out for an Ely City Council meeting is more interesting reading than any news report of the same meeting afterward.
For instance, what caught my eye on the agenda before the March 19 meeting is that therein are minutes from all the city’s committees: Parks & Rec, DGGHTrust, Housing & Rehab, P & Z, Heritage, Budget, Employee Relations, Utilities Commission, Ely Steering ABC minutes and more. One plan noted is for: “Google My Business listings will make it easy for Ely businesses to manage their business profiles so that they can stand out online. Currently most businesses have no information provided. There are 130 businesses in the downtown area. Budget $9,514.” Make that 129 businesses. Another business is also now closing.