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Greetings from where the Arrowhead of Minnesota meets the Iron
Range and just outside the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Truly one of the best
kept secrets around.
Life is complex and so are we.
Here are some things about us and this beautiful area of Minnesota:
We are both graduates of the University
of Iowa. We both like to sing and have been members of choirs
in the Deutscher Sängerbund
(the Bamberger Oratorienchor, the Stuttgarter
Oratorienchor, and the Gesangverein 1864 Germania Oftersheim
and, most recently, the Washington
Sängerbund), and are members of the the East
Range Choral Society. We also like to garden (flowers and
vegetables), swim, ride bicycles, cross-country ski (we usually
have the snow here for it), and canoe on our lake. We are both
active in St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, where we have been called to the
Total Ministry Team.
Prior to moving here, we were active in St.Margaret's
Episcopal Church in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Carol is also big-time into sewing (counted cross-stitch mostly)
and playing the violin in the Mesabi
Community Orchestra. Carol's pride and joy are the flower
gardens on our property and the vegetable garden lakeside. It
is often a challenge to get some flowers to winter over in this
climate, but she does a beautiful job. Our long-term project is
the expansion of our "Wild Flower Garden" on the hill leading
to the lake. It is a multi-year project and we'll bring photos
from time to time.
Chuck is also a graduate (MA) of The
Ohio State University and an active member of Episcopal
Communicators. His business, IRIS
Enterprises, does electronic layout of books , as well as
web design and management for religious communities in Minnesota.
Chuck also worked part-time with Elder
Services Network, where he managed a program teaching
senior citizens how to use computers. Chuck's talents keep him
busy, but he is never against meeting someone new. Chuck also
likes to mess (key word) with the computer and has an unrequited
love for model railroading. For the year 2005 Chuck was the Chair
of the Board of Directors of the Laurentian
Chamber of Commerce.
Our son, Charles, a graduate
of Virginia Tech, has completed
his time on active duty in the US Army. He is now working as a
software developer in the Washington, DC, area. He has put his
involvement in building seaworthy model ships on temporary hold.
We invite you to visit Charles'
site for some interesting Christian insights and some outstanding
graphics.
We live outside of the city of Eveleth,
MN (best to see: US
Hockey Hall of Fame, the World's Largest Hockey Stick), about
60 miles due North of Duluth,
MN (yes, due North does not mean going along the North Shore
of Lake Superior), and just to the South of
Virginia, MN (Rainy Lake Saloon & Deli is a must
see) in Fayal Township and along Ely Lake. There are many noteworthy
and interesting things to see in this part of the God's creation
(Ironworld USA, Giants Ridge ski area, the Greyhound Bus Museum,
International Wolf Center, North American Bear Center, numerous
open pit iron mines, and Voyageurs National Park) and we hope
you take the time to visit.
We've lived in the same house for over 13 years, well longer
than any other place we have lived together in our married lives.
Since we've lived here so long, we have to undertake upgrade work
to the outside. You can follow the pictoral
report of the work efforts of various contractors, if you
wish (it's a yawner right now).
So, why are we where the Iron Range meets the Arrowhead? The
Holy Spirit has led us around the world in the past, including
working with the Episcopal Church's Suffragan Bishop for the Armed
Forces (now called Bishop
Suffragan for Chaplancies) while with the military in Germany,
and the Holy Spirit led us here in 1995 to work in Environmental
Clean-up in the former Warsaw Pact countries (unfortunately, the
company lost interest in helping out). Our interest in helping
the environment has led us to a deep association with the Environmental
Stewardship Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota,
and with the Episcopal Ecological
Network, where Chuck is the "webverger" for both
groups. We know that when we have completed whatever the Holy
Spirit had in mind for us here, we will be led elsewhere.
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POWs never have a nice day. Let us not forget
them and our bond to those who've served.
Let us also not forget those who have have given
their lives or been wounded in body or mind in hostilities
in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2002.
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