Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Aaron Schultz Column – 7/27/09



The weekend of July 17-19 was one of the best weekends of the summer for me, but it kind of ended on an embarrassing note.

Before I get to that, let me explain how it was such a good weekend to start with.

First off, Jody (my wife) and I closed on a house in Winsted Friday.

That got the weekend off to a great start, and it just kept getting better.

Following that, I dropped Jody off in Norwood Young America so that she could play her volleyball match, and I took off to drop off Crow River Reviews in Plato, Green Isle, and Hamburg.

I picked Jody up when volleyball was over and we headed to Lester Prairie for Prairie Days.

We had a burger, listened to some music, and then found our way back to our new place.

The plan was to wait to stay in the new digs until Sunday night, when we would be able to get an actual bed there.

Yeah, that lasted all of about five minutes. Jody had the great idea of just blowing up an air mattress and sleeping there right away.

I agreed, and that was the only real negative part of the entire weekend before late Sunday afternoon.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed staying at the place, but sleeping on an air mattress, which was on a hardwood floor, isn’t my idea of a great night of sleep.

We did that Saturday, as well, and I can tell you I was sure happy to finally get a bed in there by Sunday night.

If I had to sleep too many more nights on that thing, I would have been spending more than a few hours this past week at Sheehan Chiropractic getting my back looked at.

In the whole grand scheme of things, that is very minor.

The remainder of the weekend was outstanding.

I woke up Saturday morning, headed into work, and was able to finish everything up, except the Winsted Wildcat/New Germany Dutchmen game, which was taking place later that afternoon.

Once I had work wrapped up for the day, I headed home to relax for an hour prior to batting practice.

Well, the Wildcats beat the Dutchmen 8-6, locking up the Crow River Valley League North Division championship – sweet!

Following the win, we (the team) hung out at Dutchmen Field for a few hours, and then were back in Winsted to celebrate.

Then came Sunday, and the Wildcat fan appreciation day and raffle.

With the division title already wrapped up, we played the Red Devils knowing the outcome would have no effect on the standings.

It was a fun time – Tony Kley played eight of the nine positions, Gregg Kohler batted lead-off for the first time in many, many years, and the game was close.

In the end, Winsted pulled out a 3-2 win, with my cousin, Ben Machemehl, picking up his first career CRVL win on the mound.

Actually, this was the first Crow game Ben had ever pitched in, and he did a great job, not allowing a hit or a run in two innings of relief to get the win.

During the game, I won several door prizes, including a very nice Twins’ jacket.

Tracy Harnit donated the jacket, and the only issue was that it was a large, and I haven’t been able to fit into a large in more than a few years.

Well, Tracy was kind enough to exchange it for an extra large, which fit perfectly. Thanks again, Tracy.

But things just kept getting better after that.

The grand prize in the raffle was a processed hog, and – you know it – I won that!

I was pretty excited when I heard my name called, but I think Jody was even more excited than I was.

With the raffle now complete, everyone stuck around Denis M. Campbell Field for the picnic and some fun and games.

The biggest event following the game, besides all the great food that people brought, was the home run contest.

Unfortunately, it was a bust for the guys.

Not only did all the Wildcats attempt to hit a home run, with aluminum bats none-the-less, but several fans and retired Wildcats also stepped to the plate.

And not one guy hit one out of the park. The cat-calls from the crowd were harsh, but deserving.

That is when all of the women in attendance (wives, girl- friends, moms, etc.) decided they wanted a crack at it.

To be fair, we allowed them to hit from just past second base, and hit in towards home plate.

That is when there was finally a home run hit, and you could guess who it was – Jody.

I got to hear about that more than a few times this week. Fortunately for me, she doesn’t just rip on me, but our entire team, since she got one and none of us could.

The fact that it was about half the distance doesn’t seem to matter much in that conversation.

Yep, it was a fun weekend. Now I can only hope that the rest of the dwindling summer can be almost as good.

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