We certainly have to be making up some of our precip deficit that we suffered thru the drought of the last couple years.  More rain this weekend and some today and tomorrow should even bring lake levels closer to normal.  The High School Softball Playoffs begin tomorrow....so let's see if we can get the rain to let up for a couple of days...or at least after school on tuesday and thursday.  

     The Minnesota Twins are in a dangerous pattern of playing terribly at Target Field.  They just completed a 2-7 homestand...and have been awful the last 2 seasons at home.  Ron Gardenhire might be needing someone to garden HIRE him if things go badly the next couple weeks.

     One baseball man who doesn't have to worry about his employment future is Matt Magers.  The MSU-Mankato head coach is going back to the NCAA Finals for the 2nd year in a row...after his team won the Regional Tournament yesterday at Franklin Rogers Park.  The 17-1 final score must have been a relief as the Mavericks had pitched great..and played awesome defense...but struggled with the bats until Sunday.  This year at MSU has to go down as one of the most successful in School history.

     See You On The Radio! Dan

     The 7th and 8th graders at Loyola Cathlic School Fitzgerald Campus attended weather day at Target Field yesterday prior to the Twins game with the Chicago White Sox. KARE11 hosts the day for middle schoolers from across the state...and they do a number of weather/science experiments that they hope will get kids excited about science.  I have attended in the past...and it is a pretty fun day...and the science stuff can be pretty amazing.  After weather day..the kids all stay and watch the Twins game.  

     It was a beautiful day for a ball game...but one of the worst hitters in baseball...and most dangerous...Adam Dunn swung and murdered two baseballs...and that is all he tries to do. He strikes out...more than just about anyone in baseball...but if you hit his bat with the ball....it goes out of the ballpark.  Yesterday...he had 5 rbi.  The Twins lost the series...and are just not a good home team...and this goes back to the last 2 years.  The Twins are second to last in homers and stolen bases...so they aren't a power team or a speed team....they are a team that is 3-5 young players away from competing in the future...and for now...we just have to wait.

     See You On The Radio! Dan

     After leaving the KTOE Studios yesterday morning I headed out to "Little Jeff" where the Fitzgerald 7th graders were having their field day.  The class is broken into 2 groups...while one group goes thru an area of CRP and woods looking for bones and feathers and doing water sampling..the other group is fishing.  Then after a lunch break and a visit with a Minnesota Conservation Officer the groups are flip-flopped for the afternoon session.  It was warm and the winds were calm as I grilled a couple hundred hot dogs for the 50 or so kids...and 30 or so adults...but as the afternoon went on..the winds picked up.  2:00 p.m. came and that meant it was time to hop on the bus and head back to school.  We loaded up the grill...the tables and garbage and headed back to school.  

     The rest of the afternoon was spent working in a steaming hot school...then it was off to Parents Night at Loyola for Softball...and the potluck after.  The wind was crazy and the temp was 99 degrees at gametime....and the score got out of hand...but it was a fun time....and I got a plug in for "The Morning Blend". I introduced each player and her parents....when it came time to announce my family I said "Maddie McCargar...daughter of Anne McCargar...and Dan McCargar heard weekday mornings on "The Morning Blend" on KTOE."  It got a good laugh...it is what I do.

     See You On The Radio! Dan 

     1 Graduation down and 1 To Go.  We got my daughter Ellen moved out of The College of St Benedict yesterday after she graduated on Saturday.  Now we move on to our youngest daughter Maddie as she is down to 8 days of high school left. As I texted her yesterday...She has 2 Mondays....2 Tuesdays....2 Wednesdays...1 Thursday and 1 Friday left in her High School Career.  The Loyola Seniors are done on Wednesday May 22...which is 1 week prior to graduation...and the final day really isn't a school day at all.  The schedule goes like this....Meet at Charley's Restaurant for lunch...then proceed to Loyola for Baccaulaurate practice and then go to softball practice.  Mix in an early bus trip to softball today and friday and you start to realize...Maddie is pretty much done with High School.  The Graduation is the 29th...the party June 2nd..and then our lives get much easier.  We have a hoped for date at the State Softball tournament June 6th and 7th...and that is pretty much it until we move her into a dorm at The University of Minnesota in August.

     Sounds like a major heat wave is going to move into Mankato tomorrow.  Only Minnesota can have a Blizzard and 11 days later...HEAT WARNINGS.

     See You On The Radio! Dan

     My little girl graduates from St Ben's tomorrow...and then THE WORLD IS HER OYSTER!  Who knows what is in her future....she might find a job and spend the next 40 years at it....she might find a career that she absolutely loves.  She may move around from job to job trying to figure out what it is she wants to do.  She will eventually run into the man that will become her husband...and become a mom....but there is one thing that I know for a fact....SHE WILL MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH.  This child is one of the funniest people you will ever meet...she has a memory like a steel trap...and can quote movies like nobody's business.  Whatever and whereever her life takes her....she will always by my "BROWN EYED GIRL"

     She You On The Radio! Dan

     We went to the wake for Cpl David Sandmeyer last evening and it was a somber and moving event. I say event because The Honor Bell trailer was set up outside the mortuary.  Below is an explanation of The Bell of Honor.

Our Mission

The Bell of Honor will be tolled as a sign of respect and honor for Fallen Hero's who have given their all. Active Military, Veteran's, Law Enforcement, Fire Fighters and EMS who have made the ultimate sacrifice so the rest can exist in peace and safety. The Bell of Honor will be tolled at funerals, memorials or during special occasions worthy of the honor.

The primary mission is to show the utmost respect and honor to the individual and their family. Upon the family's invitation the Bell of Honor will be present at the final resting place.

As it was in history, the bell will toll 7 times to honor our fallen heroes.

Meaning of the 7 Bell Tolls

The first six tolls are to honor those who have:  

Responded

Served

Protected

Defended

Sacrificed

Suffered

The 7th toll signifies the Loss of Life.

     After the Bell Tolled 7 times, a lone trumpeter off in the distance played "TAPS" while David's father Don held his wife Maureen's hand and Saluted the American Flag. I got goosebumps on my body and we all had tears in our eyes. The United States Of America lost a 21 year old Marine who hadn't even reached the prime of his career. But much more than that...the family and friends of David lost so much more. God's Peace Cpl Sandmeyer. Semper Fi