On Tuesday, July 28, 56 people boarded a bus behind Slumberland in Albert Lea. Departure was at 4 p.m. with destination Target Field for the 22nd Annual Lutheran Night at the Twins.
There were bus people of all ages and varied backgrounds. They all had one thing in common, that being a Minnesota Twins fan hoping to see a victory of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
I know you have heard the expression, “Dynamite comes in small packages.” Our bus driver was not only on the small side but also a dynamite lady. She handled the road construction plus heavy traffic like it was an everyday normal occurrence. In our reserved parking spot she backed that big bus in so we could exit from the front. Marilyn, you are good. (We honored her request of applause upon arriving at our destination and then again in arriving back in Albert Lea.)
Before leaving Albert Lea, each person was given a ticket to the ballgame with a number on their ticket for bus prizes. (Thanks to Landon Oldenburger for the Twins prizes.)
Enson Maattawa celebrated his birthday on the 28th of July. To honor him, the bus passengers sang “Happy Birthday.” The Twins even had his birthday on the scoreboard!
Rea Sliper, Richard Sliper, Cathy Crowe and Enson Maattawa were the representatives of the bus selected to be out on the field helping lead in singing the national anthem before game time. They even had a guide (Natalie Fell) to escort them to the singing area.
F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on God) of Central Freeborn Lutheran Church in rural Albert Lea was the sponsor of the bus trip to the Twins. Steven Appel approached co-chairs Ben and Wayne Indrelie plus Genie and Bob Hanson to trade a free motel room coupon at America’s Best Value Inn of Albert Lea for a free ticket on the bus plus the Twins game. The co-chairs said, “Deal.”
The co-chairs decided to give this to one of the 14 youth on the bus whose number was drawn. Samatha Jamtgaard was the lucky one.
There were 20 other Twins prizes drawn. (Teddy bear, caps, pencils, ladies scarf, T-shirts, magazine, bubble head, banner, year book, floppy hat, plus others all relating to the Twins baseball team.)
There were people from near and far on the bus. For example: Jai, originally from the Philippines. Duane, the man that always is a prize winner from Hartland. Luis Jamtgaard, the best thing to come out of Iowa by way of Lake Mills. Al, the wheeler dealer of 900,000 dollar green machines called combines.
Thanks to Susie at the Albert Convention and Visitors Bureau for the plastic bag to hold all the coupons from the guys at Slumberland, Laurel and Debbie at Arby’s, Guya at KFC, Jamie at DQ, Brandi and Sara at Perkins given to the people on the bus.
The next planned activities are the number one event of the year. (Soup and Pie Supper on Monday, September 21 at Central Freeborn Lutheran Church) and F.R.O.G. will be taking a bus to Christmas By The Lake in Clear Lake, Iowa on Saturday, December 6.
In case you’re wondering it was a very exciting game. The Pittsburgh fans were most happy with the final score of 8 to 7.
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Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent, currently working on his master’s degree in Volunteering. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in Volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. Bob says if you enjoy his column, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of wisdom: There is always room for God.