Hello Clam Lake!
Well, we have gone from drought conditions to Mother Nature turning on the water works and forgetting to shut the tap off. Rain, rain and more fain filled our days. Which, when living in the forest, is a good thing.
MEETING REMINDER – FIRE PREVENTION – The Clam Lake Community Club will be holding their monthly meeting and Pot Luck on Thursday May 9th beginning at 5:00 pm. Following the meeting and Pot Luck the Forest Service and possibly some local fire departments will be giving a presentation on Fire Prevention and what to do in case of a forest fire. This is an important meeting to attend for all of this wishing to be better informed on this topic. With this year being Smokey the Bear’s 80th anniversary I’m sure he would like to remind everyone that, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires!” Hope to see you there!
BOOK CLUB REMINDER ; May will see the debut of a new club with the advent of the Clam Lake Book Club. Their first meeting will be held on May 14th at Ransoms Place running from 4:30 to 5:30 pm. The book being discussed will be “The Last Wolf” by Jim Crumley. They invite all to “join them for lively discussion, camaraderie, tasty food tand inspiring libation”. Their second meeting will be held on June 10th at the Elkhorn. The book being discussed will be “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride. Meetings will alternate between Ransoms Place and the Elkhorn where food and drink are available for purchase. This club is being spearheaded by Lisa Peifer and Bonnie Booth.
“TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME” AND FAREWELL – Last week saw the passing of long time Clam Laker Ralph Cornell. Ralph and his wife Cheri and their sons Chris and Kevin moved here in 1981 at which time they took over The Chippewa Tavern. They ran this business for 41 years! Ralph was known for his pizzas, especially his Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza – all of which were delicious! One of Ralph’s great passions was his love for the game of baseball and his home state team – the Chicago Cubs. At any given time you could stop in the Chippewa and see a game in progress. When his boys were in school he showed his love for the sport by coaching the local baseball team with both of his boys becoming excellent players. He also showed his advocacy for his small community when the Job Corps shut down and there were talks of moving a Minimum Security Prison into the abandoned facility. Ralph and Dodo Dumnanch led a group that lobbied against this, thus preventing our comminity from possibly becoming a much different place than it is today. Also on the local front he took a turn at being President of the Clam Lake Comminity Club and donated the pigs that were cooked at the annual Hog Roasts. An event that he was especially proud of was when him and Ed Kropp would cook the St. Patrick’s Day corned beef dinner held at the Clam Lake Community Club. After taking over the Chippewa,from Ray and Evy Swaggerty, he kept up the tradition they had begun in hosting a lunch for the veterans after their traditional trek out to Clam Lake on Memorial Day to pay tribute to all those that served. We say thanks for all that he did for our community and bid him a heartfelt farewell. He will be missed. Ralph was 77.
Until next week…..
Pictured is Ralph Cornell playing a game of horseshoes at one of the Clam Lake Hog Roasts.
