Dear Shirley,
I don't know how it is in Tucson, but here around Grand Forks it seems people are more kindly, more caring than they used to be. What I mean is, there are frequent benefits -- social events designed to help people who are down on their luck.
Tonight, for instance, there is a benefit to help Sherry Slominski who has been battling ovarian cancer for more than three years. She has traveled to St. Louis for a bone marrow transplant from her sister, Sue Jenkins.
Sherry was a teacher IN Thompson, N.D., for 30 years. Her husband, Randy, works for Lunseth Plumbing Co. The event for Sherry begins at 7 p.m. today. There will be a silent auction, a live auction, hors d'oeuvres and a band -- all at Muddy Rivers in downtown Grand Forks.
People helping people. That's what it's all about.
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You don't have to look very far to find a good cause. I guess any one of us can't change the way of this world. But we can pick and choose.
Right now, we are in the most beautiful parts of summer in the Red River Valley. I drove with friends on the back roads over to Hatton, N.D., one evening this week. The fields are green. The crops are coming in.
And it is amazing, Shirley, how many people are building beautiful homes and living in the countryside around Grand Forks. Out there, you can see the sun come up and watch the sun slowly sink and set.
This is the point in summer when there is time to sit on the back porch and listen to the Twins games -- even though they usually lose. It is the point when people haven't started asking, "Where has our summer gone?" They aren't yet talking "back to school."
It is the rare time of year when you can bike on the Greenway, watch ball games at Kraft Field, picnic in the parks. I wish you could come up to Grand Forks in July.
Love from your sister Marilyn eating a slice of watermelon on the back porch and letting the juice run down my arm.
P.S. They have an art exhibit entitled "Moths of North Dakota" opening this week at the Grand Forks Public Library. But there are more than moths to think about right now. The Grand Forks Public Library Working Group is holding a public input meeting at 7 p.m. in City Hall. And it will be televised live on GFTV cable channel 2.
Not sure if you can get there, Shirley. But this is a subject near and dear to so many. You know, I had a dream that the public library and the Grand Forks Senior Center joined forces for a magnificent new center in Grand Forks. We already have an amazing Choice Health & Fitness that makes our city stand out.
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Reach Hagerty at mhagerty@gra.midco.net or (701) 772-1055.
