NRHEG Star Eagle

137 Years Serving the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Area
Newspaper of Record for NRHEG School District
Newspaper of Record for Waseca County, MN
PO Box 248 • New Richland, MN 56072

507-463-8112
email: steagle@hickorytech.net
Published every Thursday
Yearly Subscription: Waseca, Steele, and Freeborn counties: $52
Minnesota $57 • Out of state $64

Because of the severe weather warning of -20 degrees with -45 degree wind chills for Sunday, January 17, Genie and I go grocery shopping on Saturday, Jan. 16. We load up on the basic items—soup, coffee, milk, etc. to last for a few days—and head home. After putting away the groceries, Genie says we have a telephone message. The message is from two young relatives in St. Peter. They ask us to check our e-mail messages as they have sent us a very, very important message.

Genie prints the message and hands it to me. It reads: “We would like you to join the NOS-SIC. We know you qualify, but to join you must go nowhere tomorrow.”

We send an e-mail back saying, “Thanks, but we plan on going to church tomorrow.”

Sunday weather lives up to the forecast. Just like many of you, no church due to the severe cold. On Sunday evening, we send them an e-mail asking if we can join as we didn’t go anywhere that day. A reply comes back stating we are now members of the NOS-SIC and an embossed plastic membership for each of us along with the membership rules will be sent to us in the mail.

A few days later the card with the rules arrives in the mail. NOS-SIC is short for “Norwegian Over Seventy Stay Inside Club.” Two rules for eligibility are: 1. Be over seventy and either be Norwegian or know a Norwegian. 2. Stay inside for at least 24 consecutive hours when a severe weather warning is issued for your area.

In checking with the youngsters’ parents, we find out that this is a “Random Act of Kindness” program in their school. The idea is to keep in touch with the Norwegian, over-seventy qualifiers that didn’t go south for the winter.

More good news to certain people. I am a chocoholic. When Genie hides chocolate in the house, I can find it within 10 minutes—especially dark chocolate. The good news is, a British research group has published their findings in the British Medical Journal “Heart.” The study shows that chocolate reduces stroke and heart disease rates. (I am now eating only chocolate made in Great Britain.)

Another study, as put out by the American Parking Lots Association, shows most parking lot accidents are caused by people backing out of where they were parked. The new recommendation is to park such that you can drive out when you leave the parking lot.

Welcome “Hometown Pizza & BBQ” to the Top of the Hill in Ellendale. A suggestion to the Helle family owners: delivery to both hard water and soft water fishermen at the boat ramp on Beaver Lake.

The front page picture in the Star Eagle paper showed Virgil Thofson and the new owner of the Village Inn of Hartland. The caption was “An Old Favorite Returns to Hartland.” Virgil, we all know you’re old, but we didn’t know you’ve been gone!

Did you know, about one out of three boy babies born the weekend of January 22-24 on the East Coast were named Jonas?

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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.

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