It was a 90 degree, sunny day on the patio of the General Store as we renewed our gathering of former retailers. Everybody looked great, especially Lee Hoestra who hasn’t changed a bit in years. We all had great remembrances of friend Bill Bates. Discussions so familiar over such topics asking when was the last time you saw or talked to him. What was the cause, how is family member holding up and he certainly was a man that left a mark on all that knew him. Lee passed on news that his daughter and son-in-law are expecting…cycle of life I guess. Brent talked about looking at real estate in Minnesota, but decided it was too expensive, especially for a place where weather had such a dramatic cycle. John Spellman said that his son was doing extremely well since the transplant and everyone couldn’t be more pleased. His sports catering business is seeing great increases and his son will soon be joining the business. Johns travels have been to Telluride, Florida and Maui with a trip very soon to the Caribbean. Tom Nielsen and family have been limited in travels as well, but I am sure they will soon start up the junkets. Finally, Stan and Deone have been focused on Ohio and Kansas and receiving guests from visiting family members. The group lingered in conversation, enjoyed minute after minute of trivial discussions about nothing and everything.