There’s no polite way to say this. Stop shooting each other.

As many of you know and have probably already seen in this publication this month, September is Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month. Unlike my typical columns, this one will get a little sad, sappy, and serious.

By Bob Simmons, CEO, Simmons Multimedia One of my favorite restaurants growing up back east was The Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee, Mass. The restaurant was known far and wide for its great Polynesian food. My favorite item on the menu was the Pu Pu Platter- egg rolls, battered shrimp and chicken, BBQ ribs served with a side of fried rice or lo mein. The Pu Pu platter was served on a lazy suzan that had a small can of Sterno lit in the middle for ambience. Nowadays, the state fire marshall would likely frown on this practice and the health department would likely require CO2 detectors. Ugh. Back to the menu - adult beverages included Mai Tais, the Head Hunter (served in a coconut shell), the Scorpion Bowl (a lethal drink for two) among others. The restaurant featured a huge imitation Banyan tree with long branches that wound their way over the dining room. An aquarium filled with tropical fish was built into one of the walls which abutted a row of booths. It was always a thrill to be seated there. The best seats in the house were on the main dining room floor area in view of the stage where patrons were treated to a nightly show featuring hula dancers in grass skirts and Samoan warriors fire dancing/fire eating with their blazing clubs. Looking back, it was quite the bargain. I seem to recall a 20 dollar bill covered the evening with a tip. Those were the days. Imagine- a Pu Pu for two, a couple of drinks and a show for a single Andrew Jackson. Sadly, the Hu Ke Lau closed its doors in 2018, but you can search for it on social media and all sorts of things pop up.

By Matt Mitzel As the school season approached this year, the Munich School Board was faced with one of their toughest decisions…me. You see, it seems that with each passing year, folks are willing to drive the school bus less and less, and at the start of this year, Munich was one driver short. Bubach opened the safe, pulled out the “do not open unless an emergency” box, and opened it to find my number. He called me, and I informed him I must be contacted by a board member before I answer any questions, and here is why, “I absolutely hate driving school bus.”

By Bob Simmons, CEO, Simmons Multimedia Before we continue with part two of my interview in the sewer with Mr. X, I must first acknowledge an email I received shortly after last week’s paper arrived in area mailboxes. I won’t reveal the writers ‘real’ name as she is one of my favorite people, suffice to say she takes issue with last week’s column. At the crux of the matter is my contention that we never clogged the men’s room commode during the highly popular ‘Will It Flush’ radio contest. In all fairness, this woman is likely 110% accurate in her recounting of the events. Here is her email From: Wilma of the Whiff & Wipe Whistle While You Work Cleaning Service Regarding this week’s column!

The last few weeks we have had amazing weather for harvest. Warm temps, sunshine and light breezes helped the wheat dry down fast and kept things rolling. If you take a quick trip around the county, it seems as though everyone is almost done with wheat. Next up for us is canola and soybeans. There are a lot of sunflowers and corn out there, too, and while I don’t know anything about those two crops, I know that I’ve seen them being combined as late as the end of November. Uffda. Whenever I see combines in the fields at night with the lights on, it makes me think of Duke. Duke was a newborn baby bison whose mother decided not to feed him, so we had to. A little backstory, Greg and his family raised bison for about 10 years. There were electric fences around all the pastures and a fortified pen and chute system with a crash gate for when the vet needed to give them shots. Occasionally, there was a baby bison that was neglected by its mother, which is not uncommon in the bovine species. I grew up on a cattle ranch raising beef cattle, and we had numerous baby calves that we had to bottle feed for one reason or another. Sometimes if a mother cow had twins, she simply didn’t feed one to make sure she had enough milk for the other. Sometimes for no reason at all, a cow didn’t feed her calf.

I’m happy to return to summer for the week, although I can’t guarantee what season it will be when you read this. I received a beautiful mum for my birthday from my beautiful daughter, and it’s loving its spot on the front porch and is about to open a thousand blooms.

I sure hope all of the students at LAHS had a wonderful time at Homecoming week. That was possibly my favorite week when I was in high school myself.

A bag of gummy worms about to be flushed. Flush twice - it’s a long way to Devils Lake.

house. We usually rotated so that no one had to host more than once a month or so. Eventually we landed at the United Lutheran Church so that there was consistency in the location and because it took the pressure of hosting off everyone.