Dear Shirley,
When someone suggested they should celebrate Ginny Gerzewski's 50 years as a bartender this Saturday night in Minto, N.D., Ginny asked, "Well, who in the world would come?"
I guess her boss at the Harvey Avenue Saloon thinks friends will drop by, and her children and grandchildren think it's a good idea. You see, Ginny turned 70 this year on 7-7-07. She has seven children, seven grandchildren and seven step grandchildren. Her husband, Jim, was 77 on the 30th of July. And Ginny and Jim will celebrate 47 years of marriage on Nov. 26.
Ginny was also the seventh pregnancy for her mother. That's a lot of sevens, isn't it, Shirley? It's no wonder Ginny always picks seven when she is trying to find a lucky number.
Ginny started bartending at the former Sports Bar on Kittson Avenue here in Grand Forks in 1958 when people were paying 20 cents for a beer and mixed drinks were 35 cents. She has worked at El Roco in Grand Forks and managed the American Legion Club in Oslo, Minn. She's been at the Harvey Avenue Saloon for 20 years, where she works about three days or nights a week.
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And she has met people from all walks of life. Sometimes she jokes that a bartender is almost as good as a psychiatrist. At least, she has laughed and cried with customers. And occasionally, if they show signs of drinking too much, she suggests they "take a walk." In other words, "go home." She has called family members to come and get people who are over their limit.
When she started mixing drinks, people were asking mainly for whiskey and water. "The fanciest drinks they asked for back then were martinis or Manhattans. Now they ask for all kinds of fancy drinks," she says. She finds herself selling a lot of light beer.
Ginny plans to keep on bartending because she likes people. Her husband is retired and has turned the family business of Bumper to Bumper auto parts over to the children.
Thanks for sending the clippings from the Arizona Daily Star. It is interesting to know they are forecasting a dry and warm winter for you people in Arizona and all of the Southwest. And that Associated Press story says the northern Plains have equal chances of above or below normal temperatures between December and February. Well, they can't go very wrong with that kind of a prediction, can they?
I am ready for what lies ahead, Shirley. Before I went to Duluth for the UND Sioux football game Saturday, I went out to Home of Economy and talked to Bob Jensen in the hunting department. I remembered in the years when the Sioux played late-season games in Memorial Stadium it was mighty cold on the hands and feet. Sure enough, Jensen had a supply of hand warmers you can tuck inside your gloves or inside your pockets and toe warmers you can put inside your shoes to keep your feet warm.
They are inexpensive - about 61 cents apiece - and they really do the job. I am sure they are the last thing you want on in the desert, but you should know how the other half of us live. We've had weeks of nice, mild weather; but I fear the honeymoon is over.
Love from your sister, Marilyn, wondering when there will be ice on the Red River of the North.
P.S.: I turned the page of the calendar over to November and noticed daylight saving time ends Sunday. I know that doesn't mean anything to you because Arizona never bought into this time concept anyway. We might find some people straggling in late to church on Sunday.
