Well folks, it’s one of those weeks when we just have to look at a few things that have been going on recently that caught my eye and needed to report to you. It’s just that it’s been a pretty serious couple of weeks and we need to lighten things up a bit if you know what I mean. First off Minnesota Wild goalie Marc Andre Fleury is playing out his final year in the NHL and his retirement tour included a final game against the Washington Capitals and their leader Alex Ovechkin. Now Alex knows a legend when he sees one and after playing the Wild for the final time he chased down his teammates as they were leaving the ice and had them go through a handshake line with Fleury. NHL players only do this during the playoffs so this was a big thing and he wanted Fleury to know what he thought of his career. What a cool thing to do.
    The weather isn’t exactly cooperating with high school spring sports but we hold out hope that games and matches can get going full bore in the next few days. It is only the first of April. Speaking of that, I remember writing a column years ago that came out on April 1st and I talked about the consolidation of Aitkin and Crosby-Ironton schools and boy did that start an uproar. The Ranger fans were especially taken aback and they bombarded Ranger Athletic Director Roger Twigg with phone calls the morning the paper came out and he in turn got hold of me. I reminded him and others what day it was and then of course they had a laugh about it, but for a few hours I had everyone going in both schools.

     There have been some great bowling scores of late at Aitkin Lanes and with the season coming to an end in the next week or two here are some of those from last week. Carrie Burgstaler opened the week with a 606 for the gals and Ashley Collins shot a 668 to finish up the week for the ladies. There were three 700’s shot Thursday night, that league has been lighting up the pins for the past month or more. Evan Ferdelman, who shot a “300” earlier this season had 748 Thursday while Isaac Collins had a 722 and Mike Laird had a 704. Nice shooting guys and gals! 

       Well folks, I have watched a lot of basketball in the past two weeks, what with the Girls State, Boys State, NCAA Men and NCAA Women and it has been pretty exciting. The C-I Rangers made it to the title game in Class "AA" girls and several area teams were in their respective tourneys, Brainerd in "AAAA" and Cromwell-Wright in "A". All were well coached and played like they belonged there. The Rangers have had a great run, three State trips in a row and nothing tells me they won't have a great chance to be back in 2026. Season ending awards will be given out over the next couple of weeks and players and coaches will be selected for their play over the past season. It got me to thinking about expectations and achievements and how much improvement teams make over the course of a calendar year. When I look back at 2023-24 and see that the Aitkin Gobblers won a total of three games and then I look at 2024-25 where they posted 19 wins, it is truly amazing. I think that kind of turnaround deserves recognition as well. Does it mean they worked harder than other teams, not necessarily, but for a program that has struggled, it is awesome. The fact that the players spent the off-season working harder and making themselves better can't be overlooked, they did the work, but they have bought into the system that Head Coach Kaija Davies has produced and that is most important as well. Is Kaija the Section 7AA Coach of the Year? Of course not, that's not the way it works, but I can count on one hand how many teams in Minnesota made a 16 game flip from last year to this season. It just doesn't happen. Sometimes we spend too much time celebrating the end result, not the journey. In the 2024-25 high school girls' basketball season there were a lot of good teams, and they have shown that in the past month since the start of Sections, but there was not a team that was better coached over the past five months than the Gobblers and Kaija Davies. She deserves the recognition and most importantly the respect of her fellow coaches. She doesn't need me to defend her, she has earned the right to stand next to the best coaches in northern Minnesota. Coach, thank you!

     Well folks, this is a very tough column for me to write because it is a very controversial topic around Minnesota and the rest of the country. I will preface this week by letting you know that I am someone who doesn’t care if you are a female, male, transgender or binary or anyone else. You are who you are and I believe that you are entitled to that in the United States of America. I don’t believe our kids should be taught certain things in third grade but that is another story. Earlier this month the Minnesota House shut down a bill called the “Preserving Girls Sports Act. I know why they did it and that’s another thing that is wrong with this country’s government, but we move on. There are two comments from that day that stay with me and here they are. Representative Peggy Scott, (R) from Andover in her presented bill said in part, “Only female students may participate in an elementary or secondary level athletic team or sport that an educational institution has restricted to women and girls.” The bill also reads, “female means as biologically determined by genetics and defined with respect to an individuals reproductive system.” The other came from Representative Lisha Kozlowski, (D), Duluth. It reads, “I can assure you that our children will not stop being transgender just because you try to remove us from sports.” She called the bill “a bill to bully trans girls and non-binary kids.”
     On June 23rd, 1972 President Richard Nixon signed into law “Title IX.” It was a landmark civil rights law that was created as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school of other education programs that receives funding from the federal government. It was referred to as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law has been challenged over the years and in March of 2021 President Biden issued an executive order entitled “Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from discrimination on the basis of sex, including Sexual Orientation of Gender Identity, reversing changes made by the first Trump administration to limit the scope of Title IX to sex only, excluding gender identity and sexual orientation. Then on January 20, 2025, President Trump issued “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Truth to the Federal Government, which for the purpose of the federal government, defined the sex of a person as their sex at conception. That decision did not set well with the Minnesota State High School League, one of two organizations that immediately opposed the act. The Department of Education responded by saying, “Investigations are underway of the Minnesota State High School league who has publicly announced plans to violate federal anti-discrimination laws relating to girls and women’s sports. This includes the possibility of allowing male athletes to compete in women’s sports and use women’s intimate facilities.”
      In my opinion the continuance of allowing biological male athletes to compete in girls' sports will result in two things. 1) Girls will continue to be injured. 2) Girls will continue to decide against playing sports in high school and college due to the fact that bigger and stronger male athletes will become a factor. There is no argument there because no matter how much training is done, males will always be bigger and stronger as proven by simple biology. I know it’s 2025 and things have changed so much since Title IX was enacted in 1972 but what hasn’t changed is that girls belong in girls' sports and boys belong in boys' sports. Realistically that is what Title IX was built for. Fifty-three years later that hasn’t changed! Even the governing bodies should know that!



Sent from my iPad

        Well folks, the little girl in the picture is special. I have no idea who she is, but I do know that she spent the entire halftime of the Ogilvie-McGregor basketball game shooting all by herself. Most nights you see a group of kids shooting baskets but on this night the court belonged to her. I was impressed because she shot free throws, layups and from all over the court. She spent most all of the ten minutes between halves firing up shots. I watched her intently. She was really concentrating on every shot. I have watched many girls basketball players over the years and the best ones did exactly what this little girl did. They shot baskets whether others were watching or not. It’s how you get better, shot after shot. She might be the next Janet Karvonen, or Lindsay Whalen, or maybe Paige Bueckers. All of these players are very special of course, leading their Minnesota High School teams to glory. This years tournament is this week of course and it has it’s share of great performers. Crosby-Ironton Ranger Tori Oerlein, Maddyn Greenway of Providence Academy and Addi Mack of Minnehaha Academy, all three teams are in the State Class “AA” tourney. This year’s leading scorer in Minnesota is Morgan Mathiowetz of Sleepy Eye-St. Marys and she is in the Class “A” event. They all have one thing in common. They all practice hard and shoot thousands of shots in practice during the season and in the off-season. They have set the bar high for future players in Minnesota and beyond. Oh, by the way, Mathiowetz is just a sophomore and Oerlein and Greenway are juniors while Mack is the only senior of the top four. If you ask the little girl who was shooting hoops in Ogilvie that night she may not even know those players yet. But she will and if that night was any indication she might join them on that scoring list when she gets old enough. The picture just spoke to me, I can’t explain it, it just hit me hard and I had to save it. I had the same feeling a couple of years ago when we visited Edgerton. As I was exploring the old gym I heard that familiar thunk that happens when a basketball is hitting an old wood floor. One young girl was shooting by herself that day as well. Maybe she will be a top player, time will tell. Good luck to all the teams in this years State Girls Basketball Tournament. I’ll be watching and maybe that little girl in Ogilvie will be watching too, dreaming about her chance to be there someday.

        Well folks, I have met some pretty remarkable people in my life but only a handful that are truly inspiring. This lady is "truly" an inspiration to anyone who knows her story. She was born in the small town of Kyonggi-do just south of Seoul, South Korea. She picks it up from there, "I was adopted from South Korea in 1992. My family had tried adopting within the United States but did not find a good fit. They took a break until my older brothers insisted they start looking again. They then decided to look overseas and found me. I came to them on September 28th, 1992, when I was 7 months old. To say I feel fortunate is an understatement, I feel pretty darn lucky." Ladies and gentlemen, that young lady is Jenna (Kuiken) Snow and this is her story in her own words, fast forwarding of course.
       "It was one thing to try out for the All Starz dance team but it was an entirely different thing competing as a one-handed dancer. I would not have been so successful without an amazing support group that included my parents Paul and Beth, Marion Cordie and Lisa Roth and the amazing close knit community of Aitkin. Growing up my parents always told me you're not handicapped/disabled and you will do anything and everything better than your two older brothers that have both their hands. I was blessed with being guided by so many amazing people in the community that instilled that mindset in me as well. People like Sonja Hagestuen who taught me how to play piano at a young age using my prosthetic arm. My elementary gym teacher Mr. Werner, taking the time to break down every sport for me and modify it so I could play no matter what. And of course, my amazing dance coaches, Marion Cordie and Lisa Roth who took on the challenge of adding a one-handed dancer to their dance team. It wasn't until years later that I realized what Marion and Lisa did for me that helped me seamlessly blend in with my teammates through specific choreography and uniform choices. Each dance I competed in they made sure I could execute each movement safely and look unison with my teammates. I wore a special glove over my prosthetic that matched the gloves worn by the team and protected my teammates from the hard metal on my prosthetic arm. Marion and Lisa's choreography over the years did such a great job blending me into the teams choreography that it wasn't until my senior year at the State that a judge realized I was missing a hand and had watched me for years compete without realizing it. Marion and Lisa made sure that I felt very much a part of the dance team without ever making me feel handicapped or less than anyone else. It truly helped spark a confidence in me that I would never have gained without them."
     That, of course is not the end of the story because you can "believe" no matter how old you are and how much you have already accomplished. Jenna decided to follow in the footsteps of her dad, Paul Kuiken and become a chiropractor. Can you imagine being a chiropractor and only having one hand, oh what challenges lay ahead for this young lady. She was basically turned away at every turn, but Jenna was not going to let that stop her. She kicked down all the doors and didn't stop until she had become the only one-handed person to ever pass all the National chiropractic boards, in history. There are other one-handed chiropractors in the United States, but all have lost their hand after passing the boards. If that is not "truly" believing I don't know what else to say. Dr. Jenna (Kuiken) Snow now owns her own clinic, "The Spinery" in the Twin Cities. Inspiring? Check the dictionary, this young lady checks all the boxes. 
  

       Well folks, let’s turn the clock back to December 10 and a basketball game between the Aitkin Gobblers and the Mille Lacs Raiders girls' teams. There is 11:45 left in the game and Aitkin has a lead of 55-26. There is a minor collision under the basket that results in Gobbler senior Abby Palm doing a one-legged hop toward the sideline before falling to the floor. There doesn’t appear to be much pain at the time of the awkward stumble but time would tell another result. As she lay on the floor her sister Kate is the first to arrive at the scene. Coach Kaija Davies is there next along with the trainer on duty, Mark Carley. It takes a while to check her out and get her to the bench and at the time Abby feels she will be back on the court soon. She describes the play, “One of the Raiders fell into my leg as I was planted and it felt at first like just a misstep. It felt funny, not pain so much and I tried to walk off the court. It felt unstable but thought I would be back in the game soon.” She didn’t get back into the game of course and the next day she was at the doctor who scheduled an MRI. The results were not good according to Abby’s mom Jessica, “She had a tear in 95% of her ACL, a meniscus tear, stretched MCL and a stress fracture in both her femur and tibia.” That did not sit well with Abby, “I have been on this court for so long, injuries every year, this was supposed to be our year. I’ve been injured so many times and then to have this season taken away, it’s devastating. This was going to be the year for me to help us have a great year.” Abby is just one of so many athletes that will suffer a season ending knee injury this year. My resident athletic expert and former Aitkin physician Austin Krohn has an opinion on why there have been so many knee injuries in the past decade. “I think one of the primary reasons for the trend up are so many kids are participating more competitively. They simply have more opportunities to hurt themselves. Even just 20 years ago when I was in high school I had far less opportunities to play and compete despite being a three-sport athlete. You can play any or all your sports year around these days. These athletes are tough and I’m not saying their bodies are breaking down, I’m just saying if you play sports 320 days a year you have that many more chances to tear an ACL. Also, the growth in women’s sports has been huge with monster numbers at the youth level. It’s been known for a long time that female athletes are at greater risk for tearing their ACL than male athletes. Playing one sport year around at a young age hampers overall muscle development and increases risk of injury also. We know that adding cross-training opportunities and avoiding early specialization is best for that. There are proven programs out there that athletes can participate and learn from with trainers and therapists that can reduce ACL injuries in particular. I have three young female athletes in my family, and I have already started teaching them exercises and mechanics that can help. I feel bad for Abby, she’s been through so much.” Abby, unfortunately won’t have another chance to participate in high school sports due to her injury, but she hopes to start up again after recovering at Bethel College later this fall. She hopes to make the basketball team, “If I make the team I will red-shirt the first year I’m sure but I hope to compete at the next level at some point.” Abby is not the only person affected by her injury, Coach Kaija Davies knows the magnitude of this loss, "This injury is tough for the team. It's hard to lose a player like Abby, especially a senior who has been a leader on and off the court. That being said I am so proud of how the rest of the girls have stepped up. They are coming together, pushing each other and working harder to fill the gap. It's a team effort now more than ever." Kaija also talked about the emotional part of an injury like this, "Emotionally this is where the real strength of this team shows. They're going to rally around Abby by being there for her, supporting her through every part of her recovery. She's still part of everything, whether it's practice, the games or just being there for her team-mates. The girls all know that her spirit is still with them, and they'll play for her." Abby has a new role on the team now and Kaija explains that part of the story, "Abby's new role is going to be as a mentor and motivator. She's still one of the biggest voices on the team and her experience can help guide the younger players. Even if she's not physically playing her leadership and perspective will be invaluable. She'll continue to be a key presence in the locker room and on the sidelines helping everyone stay focused and positive." Abby is one of four seniors on this year's team, Bela May, Elie Hoppe and Brita Westman. Brita talked about her injured teammate, "Abby is not just a friend to all of us, but she is such a positive influence on our team and everyone around her. Even with her injury she has been to basketball practices and every single game. Abby joins our huddle and will give girls advice and guidance on the bench. The impact she has on everybody, including me, is tremendous. Her positive attitude, strong work ethic and kindness are contagious. Abby continues to take on her role as captain and stays strong for our team, even though it can be hard. I wish that I could play this last season with my best friend, and I know the rest of the team feels the same. We couldn't be where we are in our season without her. We love you, Abby!"
     When you live in a small town like Aitkin, fans live and breathe through their student-athletes and their games throughout the year. I have followed Gobbler teams for well over 50 years and every year is different because you always have kids that move in and move out and graduate and another crew comes through the system. You see special players every year and I am so blessed to have done what I love for so long. I, like so many others suffer when our kids get hurt because we know what it has taken to get this far in their career. We know their families and the sacrifices they have made, and we also wonder why this kid or why that kid got hurt. I think we get a little selfish too because we won't get a chance to watch them perform on the court again. When Abby teared up when we chatted I kind of teared up because I could see the hurt in her eyes. She talked about still being a part of the team, but I knew she was really saying, "I can't be out there with them and running up and down the court and shooting and rebounding and being with my friends." If you are a competitive player just being there isn't enough but sometimes it's all you get. This year that person is Abby Palm and for me that really sucks! Hang in there kid.

       Well folks, I am very proud of the guy I'm writing about this week. He is a 1992 graduate of Aitkin High School and played some hoops along the way and played softball with us late in our career. Chris Gerber became a tremendous bowler under the tutelage of Tom and Chere Bruss and others and soaked up all the knowledge he could to make himself the bowler he is today. He suffered a stroke in 2017 and is battling every day to get back to the person he was prior to his medical problems. He moved to Wisconsin to be closer to family, got married to Roxanne and started a family. That was some time ago of course, we all know how fast time goes by, and he had fashioned his own life and story away from Aitkin, but we still keep in touch. His latest endeavor is a story of family and love and loss. His mom, Marcia Dalberg Gilbank lived in Wisconsin for a long time and eventually became a victim of Alzheimer's, the cruelest of all diseases and lost her battle August 17th of this year. Her son Chris watched her from day one until her final breath, traveling the miles from his home to the nursing home where Marcia lived out her life. He was so very close to his mom as we all are, but they had a special bond, and Chris was not about to let her memory die with her. He decided to put together a special bowling tournament in her honor and raise money for Alzheimer's research and nothing was going to stop him. He went out and got many sponsors and prizes and silent auction items and then put together a 12 team Baker style tournament that would not only bring in teams, but spectators and contributors alike. Baker style, if you don't know, has five, (four in this event), member teams, each bowler rolling two frames each game. The tournament, Marcia's Strike-out Alzheimer's Bowling Shoot-out was held at the Phoenix Center Saturday, Dec. 7. and turned out to be a huge success. The event raised $5,133.00 for the Alzheimer's Association and although there were many volunteers, this was all Chris. He did the legwork, set up the prizes, set up the tournament and put everything together. I know Marcia was watching from above and smiling that big smile we all know and love. She spent many years in Aitkin and is well known to many residents here. By the way the 2nd. Annual Tournament is set for Nov. 8, 2025, and is already near full so this will be an ongoing event every year. Chris would be the last one to take credit for this, but I have no problem telling you that this would not be an event if not for the love and respect that Chris provides. He has turned into one heck of a man over the years and I'm proud to call him my friend. Marcia is damn proud of her son and all of his family and friends are too!

      Well folks, nine months ago I talked about to you about teammates and how good ones will always have your back and take care of you when needed. I am back this week to tell you about the loss of one of those teammates and how tough that loss can be. Since her surgery in February to remove a cancerous leg our little dog has lived her best life. A new fence gave her the freedom to run the yard without fear of getting into the street and her ability to be off her leash most of the time. She chased squirrels and chipmunks and birds, knowing full well she would never catch one and what to do if she did. It was a great life for the little dog and she loved it. She would lay in the backyard for hours and watch the world go by. She didn't seem to lose a step with three legs and people she met on her walks marveled at her love of life and her ability to move around like the little tripod she was. Less than two weeks ago she was still going for her walks everyday and it appeared nothing was wrong. She had never had a seizure before but all of a sudden she had a number in a 24 hour period and we were at a loss at to what was causing them. A visit to the vet brought no answers but with some medication we hoped it would control them until we found out what was wrong. Our little teammate needed our help but we couldn't help her. Then after a four-day period of being lethargic and needing help to go outside once again we knew we were going to have to make another decision. One week ago we were back at the vet and deciding that with so many things going against her we were not going to get our little dog back. There was no guarantee that that would happen even with treatment and so with tears in our eyes we told the doctor that we needed to let Jaz go. Barb held her and for the first time in four days she let us touch her and pet her and comfort her. As the first shot started to take effect she looked at me and said "It's okay Dad, I'm ready to cross the rainbow bridge and meet Malcolm and Echo and say hi to Tigger and Ella." The vet assistant put her on the table and we said our final goodbyes, I told her thank you and I love you and then it was over. Again for the second time we asked ourselves if we had done the right thing but I knew when she looked at me that final time she was ready to say goodbye to the pain. The healing has begun but every day I have to hold Juno, our cat, and try to tell him that it's okay, his buddy was gone but not forgotten. Other pets know, they really do and Juno misses his friend that he has had for over ten years. It's very difficult for Barb since I am gone many nights in the winter covering sports because Jaz was a constant companion. Tough for me because she was always waiting on the couch for me to get home. I will miss my little girl and all the time we spent on the front porch in the summer waving at cars and enjoying people that stopped to say hello. She will most definitely be our last dog but we will remember them all. I have to give a shout-out to Iron Range Veterinary Clinic for all the help they have given us in the past two weeks. They helped make Jaz's journey a little easier and I think they were as sad as we were on that final trip. I knew this day would come but nothing makes it easier or prepares you for it. Another teammate gone and this one really hurts. I know you have all gone through this so you understand. Jaz, you were the best, right there with Echo but each of you had your own special life. God bless you and know that I will always miss you my little girl!

       Well folks, this weekend will mark six years since I had my book published and had a book signing to make it official. It was a labor of love that I had started six months prior with the help of my long-time friend Margie Burman. I decided to write the book on the advice of my wife who knew I had so many stories to tell and after some heart problems she said if you are going to do it you might want to get started. Start I did by writing some of my stories at midnight or later, waking up some times in the middle of the night and jotting things down. I wanted to write this book because I wanted people to know what it was like to grow up in a small town in the 50’s and 60’s and I wanted locals to remember the stores and their owners on Main Street back then. It was wonderful to grow up in Aitkin and I wanted people to know why. The book also was going to be a little history of high school sports from the 50’s on up and gave the athletes from long ago a way for their exploits to never be forgotten. I wanted to showcase many of those athletes and their coaches and their teams and make it possible for the athletes and families of today to learn about those days of yesteryear. In short I wanted to have a way for them to be remembered forever. I wanted to tell the story of “town baseball” in Aitkin and around the county. I grew up and watched many of the greats of that time and I wanted them remembered too. I wanted to tell their story because if I didn’t their outstanding careers and Sunday afternoon exploits would be lost forever. I couldn’t let that happen. So Margie and I combed every Aitkin Independent Age from the 50’s until mid 2015. It took three ours every Wednesday for months but we got it done and we had what we thought were the best stories. Then we added every column I wrote from 1977-2015. We chose the best ones and then sat down to put it all together. That meant help from Matt at the Aitkin County Historical and coordinator Laura Thornbloom and finally proof reader Ruth Lofgren. Then we read it time and time again before it was what we wanted. Jeff Tidholm made sure it got printed and there we were, early November and it was ready for the world. “Well Folks” had become reality and I couldn’t wait for people to get a look at it. I wanted Gobbler alumni to read it and I wanted parents and grandparents to read it, hundreds of them would have their name in the book. The people of Aitkin were a target because I wanted them to read about their parents who had businesses back in the early days and I wanted older town baseball players to read it and know I hadn’t forgotten them and the heroes they had become. I wanted them to remember the days when we had a community Christmas tree in the middle of the intersection between Butlers and Aitkin Furniture. I wanted bowlers and the old timers from the Lanes to read it and remember “pot bowling” on Sunday afternoons. I wanted them to remember Murray Moore and “Pork” Nentl and “Shanks” Davies and Bill Cline and Connie Lueck and Bud Bruss and so many others. I wanted people to know about the ‘56-57 Gobbler football team that was 8-0 and the ‘59 hoops team of Wally and J.J and Alvin and the State Basketball team of 1982 and the State Tourney wrestling team of 1988 Their names and hundreds more will live in infamy and I wanted that to happen for generations to come. I have to say that I think “Well Folks” is a book that will help that happen. I could have mentioned a lot more but if you share my dream, find a copy and read it yourself. I am proud of the work and the people who helped make it happen. I hope you all get it!

     Well, it's been 75 days since woodiessportzone.com became a reality and your reaction has been phenomenal. I have had over 7,300 looks in those 75 days and I couldn't be more excited. You should know that I had 100% support from the Aitkin Junior High and High School coaches this Fall allowing me to get every game or match on the website on the same day or early the next morning. Every single coach made it a priority to get their info to me and that way I was able to get so many more kids names and teams results for you. The decision to include junior high sports was a good one and even better, thanks to my wonderful sponsors the website remains a free one for all to enjoy. As the winter season gets underway I urge you to check the website anytime you want and keep up on all the great winter sports coming up. Hockey has already started, Aitkin Dance Team starts soon, then girls basketball, boys basketball and wrestling. Don't forget every night we update the bowling scores so there is something new almost every day. I thank everyone for taking a look at the website and I hope you'll stay with me. Together we can get more athletes and teams from grades 7-12 the attention they need, and again a huge thank you to all the coaches, you help make this thing happen. If you haven't taken a look yet it's time for you to "get in the zone". 

                                                 "A promise made, a promise kept
                                                    So many tears we all have wept"

                       Well folks, you will never see a year pass when I do not remember my friend Steve Sandberg who passed away on October 18, 2015. Most of us will never forget the day he was taken and will never forget how the town responded with honor, respect and of course love. The veteran of the Aitkin County Sheriff's Office was more than a peace officer. He was a son, husband, father, brother, uncle, tutor, counselor and of course a friend to so many. As most of you know he was my partner at the Gobblers scoring table for basketball games. The memories we shared at that table as I was announcing will never be forgotten. What a wonderful time that was. I remember after I had hernia surgery and walked up to watch the football team a couple weeks later and when it was time to leave Steve and his brother Brian made sure I didn't need help walking the block home. That's just the kind of guys they were and are. Steve was an outstanding athlete, but he got involved is so much more in his high school years. Aside from football, basketball and baseball in grades 10-12 he was also in band, Student Council, Lettermans Club, Junior Class treasurer, the high school musical as a junior and the senior class play. He was also elected to the National Honor Society. The baseball team of 1973 included a who's who of Gobbler baseball stalwarts. Let's see you had Steve of course, Mark Fowlds, Mike Holder, Tom Shirilla, Steve Bare, John Hegman, Kevin Clapp, Pete Hanlon, Rock LaBounty, Steve Pasell, Ed Hermel, Jim Janzen, Paul Hoge, Dwayne Crowell and Russ Lepisto. They were led by the "legend", Coach Truman Buisman. They lost in the District final to Staples, 3-2, finishing off one of the best Gobbler season records in history. All that of course is not what Steve Sandberg was all about. He was all about helping people and the stories of how he did that his whole life are endless. I admit I think about my friend almost every single day of my life. I would love to be able to say that my goal in life is to be like him but I know that's not possible so I live each day and try to conduct myself like he would want me to. He was never in it for the glory, just to live a life of being happy, being a good investigator, a great husband and father and living each day to it's fullest. I will never forget October 18, 2015 and I will honor my friend every year until the day I die. If there is a Hall of Fame for those who are already Hall of Famers, I know who the head guy is and his name is Steve Sandberg. I love you buddy!