Stories | Senior Perspective

Growing up, Roger Wilkowske would catch bullheads at the Morristown dam, being told by his Mom, “He who catches e’m cleans e’m.” Now it seems gulls use it for their dam meetings.

Vera Ritter found these unique mushrooms while biking the Wobegon Trail, east of Sauk Centre, and shared this photo with the Senior Perspective Identification Team (SPIT). We have SPIT on this and will let you know what comes up.

Whitey the cat, lounging under a bell, from Tom and Wendy Wick of Hutchinson. Photo shared by Mary Jane Skurat, of Villard.

Growing up, Roger Wilkowske would catch bullheads at the Morristown dam, being told by his Mom, “He who catches e’m cleans e’m.” Now it seems gulls use it for their dam meetings.

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Sr Perspective

A life well traveled

Pelican Rapids woman returns home after working, exploring around the globe Kathy Evenson, of Pelican Rapids, Minn., (formerly of Berlin, Germany) has had an acute case of wanderlust, though she might not admit it. Her curiosity and love of travel have taken her to every continent in the world except Antarctica. She did not just travel to exotic places, she also found work and settled into these unique worlds, teaching in Australia, Germany, Nepal, Uganda and India. Bernd and

Sr Perspective

Life is a Daring Adventure: Conquering Kilimanjaro

West Fargo man climbed to the peak of famed mountain Ron Sorum starting out at the first base camp. Contributed photo Ron Sorum of West Fargo learned that climbing a mountain for a flatlander can be a monumental life event. Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro would definitely qualify as a daring adventure. Ron was just an ordinary midwestern guy from Barnesville – well maybe not so ordinary. Ron grew up and graduated from high school in Barnesville. Following high school he worked as a

Sr Perspective

Life is a Daring Adventure: Living life full speed ahead

Fargo woman spent 26 days in Antarctica, was first female in N.D. accepted into veterinary school Joann Colville, of Fargo, North Dakota, always wanted to be a farmer. Not a farmer’s wife, but an actual farmer. Instead, she became the first woman in North Dakota to be accepted into veterinary school and to become a veterinarian. That path would lead her to meet her husband, Tom Colville, and together, they would develop the Veterinary Technology Program at North Dakota State

Sr Perspective

Life is a Daring Adventure: A long, difficult journey to priesthood

Ugandan man currently serving ‘on loan’ at area church Let’s imagine what life might be like in a rural area, without electricity and running water, where people lived off the land. There were poor roads. No hospitals. And you grew the food that you ate. Small scale farmers had large families and produced corn, beans and vegetables, enough to hopefully feed their children and maybe sell extra for the other things the family might need. Teaching your children to farm was value

Sr Perspective

Life is a Daring Adventure: Never a dull moment

Pelican Rapids woman always up for a new adventure After a successful fishing adventure in Alaska, Iris was able to can 100 pints of salmon in one summer. Contributed photo As the daughter of teachers from Eau Claire, Wis., Iris (Friedman) Ohman, of Pelican Rapids, did not have a clue that her life would be filled with some daring adventures that were all given to her as gifts. However, she came from a strong family that believed in fulfilling their dreams. Her mother fostere

Sr Perspective

Just a Kid at Heart: Battling age — shear power

When did it all change? To my generation “spam” was an inexpensive sandwich meat; now it’s unwanted e-mails. To my generation a “curser” was someone who had a limited vocabulary; now it’s a little arrow that moves around on my computer screen. To my generation “google” was a very large number – a 1 followed by 100 zeroes; now it’s the answer to any question you can possibly conceive. Can you imagine the puzzled look you would get if you told your children or grandchildren to

Sr Perspective

Life is a Daring Adventure: Today is the day

Moorhead woman celebrated 80th birthday free falling from 10,000 feet Joanne Reitan, of Moorhead, woke up early on May 20, 2018, seven days before her 80th birthday and said, “Today is the day. I’m going to jump.” Joanne Reitan with her feet firmly planted on the ground, months after jumping from a plane to celebrate her 80th birthday. Photo by Britta Trygstad/Britta The Photographer, Fargo. For years now she had wanted to try skydiving and thought what better time to do it t

Sr Perspective

Life is a daring adventure

Have you or someone you know had a daring adventure? Tell us your story “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure.” Helen Keller. To really understand and embrace this quote, it is good to remember a bit more about the author. Helen Keller was an author, political activist and a lecturer despite the fact she could neither see

Sr Perspective

Offering ‘unforgettable’ adventures

‘We are passionate about what we do’ at Landmark Tours Looking for an adventure? Want to see the country? See the world? Landmark Tours offers unique tours from coast to coast and around the globe. Each tour is tailored to bring the traveler a great experience at a great value. John Lyons, founder and CEO of Landmark Tours. Contributed photo “Our mission is simple… to provide unforgettable travel experiences,” said Mike Lyons, president of Landmark Tours. “Our tours are thoro

Sr Perspective

Offering ‘unforgettable’ adventures

The Landmark Tours team includes (front L to R), Amber Munson, Brennan Mogck, Dallas Lemmers, (back, L to R), Jessica Florac, Mike Lyons, Tara Romanowski, Laura Ludington, Margie Zerbe, and John Lyons. Contributed photo ‘We are passionate about what we do’ at Landmark Tours Looking for an adventure? Want to see the country? See the world? Landmark Tours offers unique tours from coast to coast and around the globe. Each tour is tailored to bring the traveler a great experience

Sr Perspective

A zest for life, design

Bette feels blessed that she has time to pursue the things she enjoys. As the mother of four children, she was often too busy to focus on her own pursuits. But after retirement, she began to take the time to pursue art in many forms. “I’m not an artist,” Bette says modestly. Yet Bette has created pencil drawings, loves to paint, designs and prints her own greeting cards, quilts, makes beaded jewelry, and – most notably – creates beautiful and original baskets out of pine n

Sr Perspective

Ride across America

Peggy Rabe, of Motley, and her sister-in-law Jan Erickson, of Redwood Falls, started riding bicycles after they were already in their 50s. Their first long ride turned out to be 16 miles. Their most recent long ride was 3,000. And it won’t be their last. You don’t just hop on a couple of bicycles and head across the country. Yet no amount of preparation can tell you if you’ll actually make it when you challenge yourself in that way, especially when the “you” means two women a

Sr Perspective

Volunteers decide to jump out of a plane

Three of the four skydivers are seniors. They are: Andy Anderson, Margaret Rice, and Terry Sylvester. Matt Fuchs is a younger man who also took the jump. Anderson happened to mention to his fellow volunteers how he had been thinking he would like to go skydiving. As soon as the others got wind of this idea they all began planning. On a Sunday in July the four took advantage of a half-off opportunity and did the jump in Milaca. After instruction and filling out the necessary