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My departure from Ely that first year at the cabin was less than dignified. I stepped on a roofing nail. Off I went to see a nice young doctor at Shipman Hospital who patched me up and suggested I stick around and look for a job locally.<BR><BR>Instead I hopped in my dad's truck and headed back to my job in Illinois.<BR><BR>That winter dad drove to Ely with a used pontoon boat and parked it at Tina Rozman's place down the lake for launching in the summer.<BR><BR>On our next summer vacation, dad and I decided to cross Cedar Lake in the pontoon boat, carrying the Seliga canoe on board. Our destination was the small lake which ran parallel to Cedar - Picketts Lake. Dad planned to portage the canoe over the short trail so I leapt off the pontoon boat onto a rock to tie up.

Monday night's high school girls basketball game between Tower-Soudan and Orr was much more than your typical early-season contest.<BR><BR>Instead, it may have marked the start of a new era in regional athletics and certainly served as a celebration of the completion of a marvelous project on the Bois Forte Reservation.<BR><BR>The Golden Eagles and Lady Braves squared off in the inaugural high school basketball game at the Vermilion Wellness Center, a state-of-the-art $3.5 million facility that includes a regulation-sized gymnasium, weight room, fitness center and more.<BR><BR>Located about a mile down the road from Fortune Bay Resort and Casino, the facility has all the makings of a potential hub for the entire Lake Vermilion community.<BR><BR>That's one of the hopes of Bois Forte leaders, many of whom were part of the packed house that took in Monday's game - won by the Golden Eagles 45-44.<BR><BR>"The

I've been teasing Chick Beel about writing a history of Cedar Lake which is off the Cloquet Line. His memory tends to be far better than mine. The folks who bought our family's cabin on Cedar Lake have been after me too to do this.<BR><BR>There is something special about a lake cabin. Before you have one you are not aware of how intensely you will come to feel about it. After it's sold you'll forever rue the day you decided that having two places to keep up was one too many.<BR><BR>The family's intention was not to build a place on Cedar Lake. We owned lakeshore on Brown's Lake and that is where mom and dad were headed one spring day, over the bumps of the railroad ties. Dad had bought the Brown's Lake property on the advice of my sister who wanted to start a children's camp there. The year was 1958.<BR><BR>The old railroad bed crossed a swampy creek bed where the beavers sought to make a lake.

When you take on the role of caregiver either consciously or by a matter of attrition it will involve role changes. What type of role changes and how you handle these role changes can have a big impact on you and the person receiving care. <BR><BR>Who you are caring for also affects your response to your changing roles. <BR><BR>There can be many role changes that occur when caring for a parent. <BR><BR>¨ Reminder for appointments or meds<BR><BR>¨ Shopping<BR><BR>¨ Paying the bills<BR><BR>¨ Driving <BR><BR>¨ Cleaning and laundry<BR><BR>¨ Personal cares<BR><BR>Changes in your role when caring for a spouse can be more subtle, but no less significant.<BR><BR>Some of the emotional issues as an adult child caring for a parent will be different than those of one spouse caring for another. One of the most common feelings is anger.

Holiday Safety Tips For Men Only<BR><BR>If you're going to cut your own Christmas tree this year, use a handsaw. Do not use a hatchet. If you must use a hatchet or an axe, first make sure the axe head is attached firmly to the handle. And just in case things still go wrong, always bring a shovel to bury the dog. <BR><BR>Do not stand four feet away from the tree and throw tinsel icicles at the branches. I know, it's fun. But it angers and annoys the person who makes the food. <BR><BR>When placing a star at the top of the Christmas tree it is better to use a 6-foot stepladder than to use a child bracing against a stirrup you've made from your hands.

What happens when you put 22 children and an equal number of adults in a confined room with enough sugar products to create a week-long sugar high?<BR><BR>Actually, what you get are some very creative Christmas houses.<BR><BR>Making a change this year with its annual gingerbread workshop, committee members of Ely Greenstone Public Art switched to graham cracker creations and the innovation by artists young and old was amazing.<BR><BR>There were two story Frank Lloyd Wright designs, tasteful courtyards and traditional structures brought forth by the artists.<BR><BR>Decorating the buildings was a huge selection of pretzels, cereals, nuts, cookies, candy canes and more varieties of other candies found in more stores than was probably necessary.<BR><BR>Attendees also could make take-home ornaments for their refrigerators and trees with a variety of art and craft supplies.<BR><BR>A special project was the one where e

Holy Cow! Bust out the beach attire and Mai Tai's. Other than being kinda chilly on Saturday morning, it has been downright balmy for the first few days of hunting. Combine that with the lack of snow and you are presented with some very tough hunting conditions. <BR><BR>Yours truly was lucky enough to get a nice doe on Sunday, but that was it for our crew for the weekend. Other reports that I've gotten have been much the same. <BR><BR>For the first time in some time, I had a hard time figuring out how I should dress for the day. It was just cool enough in the early morning to warrant the heavy coat and pants, but as the day wore on, it got to be too much. If you planned on taking a walk, blaze orange body paint was an option. <BR><BR>In any event, the days spent in the woods were still enjoyable, as they always are.

Truly, we are privileged. Ely is what so many Americans dream of finding - the comfort of a small town.<BR><BR>No, it's not a place where great fortunes are or should be made. It's not even a place where the weather is perfect every day.<BR><BR>But it is a place where you can go to chat with your banker about business matters, find you've locked your keys in your car, get an immediate ride from friends to pick up your spare set and be on your way with very little time lost. <BR><BR>Does anyone lose time in a small town? Maybe at work, but not when you're out and about. When you're out at the Post Office or shopping in a store, it's socializing time. You're seeing people you might not normally see and there are always friendships to be renewed and pleasured with news of the family.<BR><BR>If you're new to town the time to build those friendships is now.

TALK ABOUT REUNIONS!....Here's a dandy! <BR><BR>When Terry Jackson, manager of the Ely tertiary plant, entered the U.S. Navy in 1965, little did he know he would develop a lifelong friendship with a German Navy man in Bremerhaven, Germany. It took 37 years for this reunion to happen, but it is happening right now.<BR><BR>Terry met Richard Stokowski at a German guesthouse (bar) sampling some good German beer. Just two lonely sailors looking for company. They struck up a conversation of sorts, because of language barriers, but managed to communicate with hand signals, drawing pictures and the help of the bar owner who spoke some English. They got along so well, they made plans to meet the next night and many nights after that. Richard was also helpful in finding housing for Terry and Anne, who arrived three weeks after Terry.<BR><BR>This bond of friendship continued all during Terry's tour of duty in Germany.

Take two longtime rivals and put a conference championship and home-field advantage in the playoffs as the stakes and you're bound to get some intensity.<BR><BR>And probably an excellent football game too.<BR><BR>That's what most fans who go to Virginia's Ewens Stadium will probably expect Thursday, when Vermilion and Mesabi square off in a contest that will very likely determine the Northern Division champion.<BR><BR>A forfeit allowed the Ironmen to overcome a home loss to the Norsemen a year ago and still claim a division title.<BR><BR>But unless Northland were to upset Mesabi on Thursday - in a game completed after the Echo's deadline - the Ironmen will need to win this year's showdown in order to secure the division title and get a home playoff game on Nov.