This year sure has gone by fast. It seems as though I just finished printing last year’s letter and here I am at the computer thinking about the highlights of 1997. Oh well, here goes…

Our activities for the year began with participation in the MTU University Theater production of Macbeth, which was performed at Walker Theater on campus. Steve had an acting role and Ted and I worked backstage, he on special effects and I as stage manager. None of us had ever worked in Walker before, so we enjoyed getting acquainted with a new environment. Steve got a wonderful opportunity to perform in a university level production and received excellent instruction in acting technique, and we all learned a great deal about technical theater.

Our "theater year" ended with participation in another MTU production, Dial M for Murder, this fall. This time Steve was very pleased and excited to be cast in one of the main roles. He also volunteered to help with painting of the set and enjoyed learning new techniques. Again Ted and I worked backstage, Ted on crew and I on props. I also helped with set painting. The same faculty member was responsible for both of these MTU productions. She is a dedicated and excellent director and very talented in both set and lighting design. We were very lucky to be able to work with her.

Other performing arts activities of the year included Houghton High School’s spring play, You Can’t Take It With You for which Steve was the Assistant Director/Stage Manager, the Hancock/Houghton High School Production of Little Shop of Horrors, for which Steve was part of the lighting crew, the Lake Superior Dance Theatre presentation of Cinderella in which Steve portrayed a dancing instructor, and The Calumet Players’ fall musical South Pacific for which both Ted and Steve worked as the flyloft crew.

The High School Quiz Bowl continued to be an "upper" (different than yooper J ). Steve’s team took the State of Michigan Class C Title for the second year in a row and went on to the National Academic Competition in Washington D.C. They won two of their four national level games. Needless to say, we were very proud of them.

There were plenty of Scouting events on our calendar this year, too. We are proud to say that Steve became an Eagle Scout last spring. His Eagle Court of Honor was a very special time for all of us. Summer Scouting activities included Steve’s volunteering as a Camp Hiawatha staff member and his trip back to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, this time for a high adventure Rayado Trek backpacking trip of 150 (hiking) miles. During almost the same time Ted was traveling with several other adults and a group of younger scouts to the BSA National Jamboree on the east coast. This was a three week trip during which they toured the Michigan State Capitol, Gettysburg, and Washington D. C. in addition to spending over a week at the "Jambo". Gluttons for punishment that they are, Steve has already applied to work on the backcountry staff at Philmont next summer, and Ted will be leading the U.P. contingent of Scouts to Philmont for another 10 day backpacking trip. It’s possible that I will go along this time and stay in base camp to attend an Explorer Scout leader conference, if timing works out, but it’s still pretty "iffy". This year Steve turned 18, so his position with Troop 208 is as Assistant Scoutmaster. He seems to really enjoy working with the younger Scouts.

An extra Scouting "perk" fell to all 3 of us because Ted and I were responsible for transporting the Jambo rental vans from and back to their "home" downstate. Camp Hiawatha, where we’ve all camped for many years now, had a troop of scouts from Zimbabwe scheduled to visit in July. Their transportation plans from Lansing fell through at the last minute and the timing just happened to coincide with the time we had to pick up the vans from downstate. As a result we got to meet and transport the troop. Ted and I were the designated drivers (two 15 passenger vans…I was really nervous about driving them at first, but got into it pretty fast…they were equipped with "everything"), Ted’s Dad came along to help me navigate and provide back-up driving if necessary, and Steve was assigned by the Camp Director to come as a representative of Camp Hiawatha. What an interesting, educational and rewarding experience!

After many weeks of filling out forms and writing essays, Steve is nearly at the end of his college application process. Most of the colleges in which he’s interested are small liberal arts schools that are pretty hard to get into, so he’s applying to several in the hope that one will take him. It’s really a time consuming job for him to do the application forms, request references, send test scores, transcripts, etc. We also took trips to see his top choice institutions, two on the east coast and two in the Minneapolis area…very exciting, but also time consuming.

Senior year activities are keeping Steve busy…us too. He took two MTU courses (dual enrollment) in addition to his regular high school courses during Fall Quarter and is taking two again this quarter. As of the end of this quarter he will have completed the MTU Certificate in German…it’s a minor miracle that he was able to get all the MTU courses he needed without direct scheduling conflicts with his required high school courses. The latest high school activity is that Steve has volunteered to be a general biology student assistant and is in the process of getting their new greenhouse into "growing" condition. He’s having a great time getting advice, as well as plants, seeds and cuttings, from lots of people. Since he can’t maintain the plants on site in the greenhouse

at school over the holiday break, he transported many of them home and they are "safe" in our new addition by the south window and the warmth of the woodstove.

Speaking of our new room…we’re thoroughly enjoying it. The view is pleasant, we bought a new lazy boy chair and a futon which are comfy to rest or read on, and the little Jøtul stove makes things really cozy in there on a cold winter day or evening. The little room that we added as a west entryway is also working out well, and it’s good to be able to get into the house from the side nearest the garage. Ted and Steve made a nice little gravel walkway through the woods between the house and garage and it’s pleasant to come through the trees on our way in. We also had the chance to landscape the yard and plant grass seed. This activity was going on just before the first snow was due to fly, but we got it in under the wire. It was really windy on the last day that we worked, so some of the seed and mulch wound up in the pond, but I think that there was enough left to give us a good start anyway. We’ll see in the spring. For now things look just fine. Everything’s white, and all the blemishes have disappeared under the snow.

That’s about all the news from out our way. We hope that things have gone well for you this past year, and that the upcoming one will bring you peace.