Wednesday, March 31, 2010

New Great-Grandbaby

We have a welcome new comer to the Haugen family. Little Keira Dawn Sahner was born on Monday, March 22. She weighted in at 6pounds 4 ounces at 5:08 am. And yes, her namesake is Keira Knightley.

One of my closest friends from high school and I were both expecting grandchildren during this time. Both women were over due. Carol's daughter-in-law was scheduled to be induced, which she was, on Monday, March 22. Breanne went into labor on Sunday night and had the baby Monday am. Now how many best friends can boast of something like this happening. Need I say, we feel pretty saucy! I must say, having not seen Carol's granddaughter I have no trouble saying our great-granddaughter is the cutest!

What is it about the birth of a new born that causes us women to go all soft? I just was reading how in some countries the birth of a daughter is not the occasion it is in the United States. In fact some are put to death immediately following birth.

The scriptures tell us that we are to multiply and replenish the earth. How is it that one can have such little sanctity for life that they would put a child to death?

"Behold your little ones." The Savior said. "Let the little children come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Look at this adorable baby, can one imagine the family without this beautiful child? She will bring such joy to all of us. Welcome to the world, Keira!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The sun always shines in Roseau

When the two older Haugen kids were young and living at home. We made frequent trips to the farm at Roseau from our home in Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. The contrast between the two areas we very evident. Hoyt Lakes is located on the Iron Range of Minnesota, called such because of the iron ore that was discovered there in the 1800s. Many iron ore and later taconite mines were developed in the area and are the main source of employment for the people who live on the Iron Range. We consider the eastern Iron Range to run from the town Hibbing to Hoyt Lakes. The area is dotted with lakes including Lake Vermilion, which is the fifth largest lake in Minnesota. We lived one block from White Water Lake and a half mile from Colby which had a manned life guard beach the entire time our children grew up.

When would travel to Roseau when Michelle and Brian were young, hubby would always comment, "The sun always shines in Roseau." We drove under the clouds or in the rain many times and we would always think, sure, it is going to shine in Roseau, in a very doubtful way. We would be almost to Warroad when we would see that the cloud bank seemed to have a clear horizon in the west and sure enough, very often, by the time we reached Roseau the sun was shining and kids always enjoyed being outside.

The sun does not always shine in Roseau, we have rain and we have snow. This past month was very foggy. Finally the fog began to clear out . We woke up on Monday to a clear and sunning morning, something that we had not seen for about two weeks.

Well here is the latest photos that show how quickly things change in northern Minnesota near spring. We had about two weeks of foggy weather and suddenly during that time, it turned warmer and things started to melt last week. We went from this:

The shovel was so necessary about two weeks or so ago.Snow was still piled against the shed when the wind blew.
And one didn't want to walk out to the trees in the 12+ inches of snow.

But it slowly melted.







The time for winter outside sports is over!
Like Frog told Toad, Spring is just around the corner!
You snow birds can think of packing up soon and head back to the beautiful spring and summer in the north.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Women in Military Exhibit and Program

The women in military exhibit WALL is slowing coming together. With 54 out of 147 women bios on the WALL, it looks great but we have another 93 women without enough info to exhibit a bio and usually we don't have a photo either. The names of the women are in our newsletter which can be found on the newsletter website. We've listed all the women in military and put stars before the women that we minimal or no information on. Hopefully we will get the information in the future. So many of the names, I am familiar with but don't know who to contact or just plain don't have the time to contact them. We will continue to work with the Women in Military committee as they seek information on these woman.












The committee includes (FR, l-r) Jean Vatnsdal, Verna Grafstrom, Patty Vatnsdal, Judi Aronson; (BR,l-r) LaMae Lundbohm, Donna Magnusson, Ann Novacek, Delores Walsh, and Delores Desrosier, missing is Sheila Olson and Ruth Stukel.

One of the major projects the committee members and our staff worked on was going through the newspapers from the 1940s to the present time looking for the articles on both the men and women. That project is not complete yet but perhaps over the summer, we will be able to finish the newspapers and receive biographies on at least half of the remaining individuals.

The committee includes (FR, l-r) Jean Vatnsdal, Verna Grafstrom, Patty Vatnsdal, Judi Aronson; (BR,l-r) LaMae Lundbohm, Donna Magnusson, Ann Novacek, Delores Walsh, and Delores Desrosier, missing is Sheila Olson and Ruth Stukel.

Next Saturday, March 20, is the big day to honor the Roseau County Women in Military.We will have a luncheon for the women who have served at 11:30 am in the Roseau City Center. The luncheon is RSVP so the women need to contact the museum if they are attending.

At 1:00, a public program in the Roseau City Center will honor these women where they will also receive a certificate for their service. If a family member is deceased or unable to attend, the family may accept the certificate. It is our desire that all women will be able to attend, but know that is not possible.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Roseau County "One Woman 21010" City & Township Select

I have been a bit busy lately and need to tell who the Roseau County cities and townships selected to represent their area in "One Woman 2010."

Badger Minnesota: Oline Erickson/deceased
Dieter Twp - Alma Lee/deceased
Falun Twp - Marie Comstock
Greenbush - Selma Rigstad
Huss – Lucille “Lucy” Wiskow
Jadis Twp - Gertie Hetteen Carter/deceased
Malung Twp – Christine Nelson/deceased
Moranville Twp – Joy Phillipe
Palmville Twp - Marie Oslund
Roseau – Clarice “Kelly” Falk
Stokes Twp – Alma Anderson Lind
Unorganized Townships – County Board selects – Brenda Yanok, Clear River Township
Warroad - Ruth Stukel

It was exciting to see these community minded women receive recognition for what they done in community service, to see the many talents and abilities they have. They are truly deserving of the title "One Woman".

Monday, March 1, 2010

Grand Opening Women's History Month - One Woman

Can I say I am exhausted? After working the last seven days I decided to sleep in this morning. Went to bed at 10:30 and ended up waking up at 6; oh well, sleep will come back.
Yesterday was amazing! We had about 200 individuals who attended the One Woman ribbon cutting event.
Thirteen women from across the county were recognized for their community service. It went so well and the program music was a wonderful addition. Britt's signage was great, her work is always outstanding. I had so much to talk about in our closing message, I forgot to give her the credit she deserves. She is outstanding in all areas.
One person told me that the Wall needed to become a permanent part of the museum. I am not so sure I am ready to redesign the Women in Military signage just yet for that. I will need to decide on where they can be placed before that. Our staff did a wonderful job putting the military exhibits together. The Women in Military program is March 20 with a luncheon and program honoring Roseau County women who have served in the military. The committee meets tonight to organize the last of it.

The focus will now be on Between Fences, completely.