Lunch Ladies

judy roepke, julie kangas, carol kangas, pearl loukus, ellen at judy's park ave apt for new year's eve lunch

Message from Pete

hair cutting days. back in the mid 40's i sometimes ventured to hunnel's barber shop on 1st accross from pat's market. it was a fun trip for several reasons. but first to say that we usually got cut at home from vaari. the first cuts were brutal cuz we didn't have electric clippers but clippers that operated kind of like scissors. and they pulled and pulled, especially if they started to pull and you jerked your head away. vaari would say oh, oh. usually you said oh oh if you left a good one. so oh oh had at least two meanings back then. what a great day when vaari came home from niemela's store on tamarack with electric clippers. but now back to hunnel's but first to say that shypoke hillstrom would get cut by his mom and after she was about half done and he well butchered, she would send him off to mc kinstry's barbershop on hecla with 50 cents and have him finish the job. back to hunnels. hunnel was cheap. sometimes only 15 cents if you gave him the customary quarter. which meant ten cents went accross the street to pat's market for a cone. the shop was sometimes filled with about 10 people waiting. and that was good cuz each time hunnel would finish a customer and say next a new customer would take the chair and during that time hunnel would pass out camel cigarates. what a treat not to have to have a gutter butt. so sometimes you could have many treats. whenever a drunk was sleeping and his turn came up, hunnel would whisper to the next guy to take the seat and let the drunk sleep it off. when your turn finally came, hunnel would say very softly, "how are you today young man, how's the family and are you doing good in school?" his voice was so soft that we secretly called him the 'she' barber. and all this and a dime left over for a cone accross the street. mes

Torola Christmas Party

edni, pete, margie

jane, joyce, rosemary

darlene, nina, pam, isis

rowena, becky, julia

Torola Christmas Party

wayne

steve, leo, brian

russ, pete

rowena, julia

Sunday photos

bucko hyrkas with some of his peers

helen pennala with two of her soon to be married

dennis and sandi lasanen

dean and sandi anderson and ken and marci sturos

90th Birthdays

ed heinonen of laurium is gonna be 90 in january. let's see if he can get 90 cards.

lydia oja is gonna be 90 on jan 1. email Pete for her address. if you remember her please send her a card.

Torola Christmas Party

isis, janie, peter

mike, carrie

marisa, mallory

helminens: brian, stanley, joyce, margie, bruce, russ, antti, darlene, calvin ev, julia

lynn, ev, marg

Christmas Cards

jim and donelle aho: brendan, trent and kristin

ken and maija tolkkinen: hans, johanna, garin, saul, waylon, leona, silas, amanda

glen and dianna oja family

Torola Christmas Party

Torola Christmas Party at Swedetown Chalet - walt, edni, sarah

dave & boys

trav, carl, brian

ann w/lizzie

steven, leo, brian. leif

Christmas Cards

dan, heidi, amie, cassie

kala family

Photos

janne johannson family

don and char 50th last summer

Message from Pete

naasko's (wally and viola) who lived on us-41 in their old age next to a steep cliff which separated their home from lake superior were a neat couple. after he died she moved to county hospital to spend her last remaining years. when i visited her she related of her growing up experiences in liminga. one thing she mention which stuck in my mind being it is christmas time was her going by horse and sleigh to the liminga church sunday school program. probably in the 30's. hay was put down in the sled bottom and a blanket over the hay to keep at least some of the hay from their church clothes. the horse had a bell which jingled with each step of the journey. they sang christmas carols along the way. remembering this when i took several grandchildren to liminga program on a moon lit nite. i shut off the lights and told the kids to open all the windows, then picture a horse sled ride, listen to the horses hoofs and the sleigh bell ring. then i shut the car motor off and coasted along liminga road toward the school house. what especially came to mind was that times changes, transportation changes, many things change, but we know that one thing will never change. we know in our hearts what will never change.

Christmas

a blessed christmas to all from pete and ellen
the little old lady in green is ellen's latest carving on basswood. the santa ornaments hanging on the tree are carved in basswood and sugarplum (which grow on the casita property).

Christmas

gramma kvist in tornio

clyde and karen randell bell ringers

NORTH POLE CHRISTMAS TREE FARM

I'd like to send a message that last year's tree purchased from the NORTH POLE CHRISTMAS TREE FARM is being used again this year. I had it on the deck facing the lake last Christmas and when I started to take it down last spring, I didn't have the heart to do so because it was still so fresh. So I kept it watered all summer and tied it back up to the deck so it wouldn't fall over from the winter winds. Anyhow, I put the lights back on (with remote control) and, while it's lost a few needles, it still looks OK. My tree is one tough Yooper!

Best wishes for a blessed Christmas and a happy and healthy new year.

p.s. The tree has been a conversation piece all year.
We would be happy to give our few remaining unsold trees to anyone who wants one to put on the deck to attract birds over the winter months. ~Manager, NORTH POLE CHRISTMAS TREE FARM.

Christmas

we were married 51 years ago today (12-21) in calumet. paul married us with one boot on and one boot off. we honeymooned in bootjack on portage lake at granroth's camp. i was a senior at tech and grad. in june. then on to seattle for our first job. some things change and some stay the same. what is amazing is that the same friends that we had then, we still have today. some are living and some are not, but they are still all the same friends.

gram thought to crop it, Papa thought not. but I did what I did. ~Pie

Christmas Cards

ross and mari ylitalo: neal, cirtis, margaret, anna, patrick, jonathan, amy, mary, julie, liisa

fred and anne heinonen family

merry christmas and happy new year to our friends from JUHA, ANNE-MAARIA, LAURA JA LASSE saransalmi of finland

jeff and karen kilpela: katie, craig, annette, tommy, cari, janelle, billy, josh, laura, emily

gordy and paula leppanen: daniel, michael, jenni, steven, sarah, christine, peter

andy and kari torola: keith, anna, janie, karl, eva, kirby

Sunday photos

lynn and gary anderson and laila makela

al davidson and albert anderson

albert anderson and rbt lean

Message from Pete

when doug's spencer was about 4 i took about a doz of his cousins to lac la belle to our camp. we ate when we wanted, slept when we wanted, swam and played what we wanted. it was pretty much a stress free couple of days with no parents telling us anything. when everyone was around the fire pit telling or listening to stories and falling asleep one at a time i either covered them up with a blanket or carried them into the camp floor. but what stuck in my mind from that trip was lunch time. i made p and j's and said come and get it. a few of them took one bite and said "i don't like crunchy." i said no problem, just leave the table and go play so they did. ten minutes later they came to say they were hungry. i said your sandwich is till on the table. they took another bite and said we don't like crunchy. so i said no problem, go play. about ten minutes later they said we are hungry. i said go help yourselves. this time they ate the whole sandwich. about an
hour later the whole gang said they were hungry. so i made another round of p and j's and they all ate and then went back to their play. i think this tells us something.

Christmas Cards

jim and judy: dan, becky, erin and lauren

leo and esther

walt and lynn: rowena, isis, nina, leif, cade, josephine, orianna, sven

tom and selina: kiera

al and rea

steve and kathy tarnowski: daniel 7, jenna 6, jake 4, alex 2, amiina born 2/'08

richy and katy