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State Representative Paul Anderson

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Posted: 2012-06-04 00:00:00
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GUEST COLUMN

Stories from a veteran; stormy ride; ag update and more

By Rep. Paul Anderson

My wife and I attended Memorial Day services in Albany last week. After an ecumenical worship service at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, I gave the address during ceremonies at the downtown park.

Met a wonderful gentleman afterward, Virgil Gruenke, who’s currently the oldest member of the Albany Legion Post. Just a few days shy of his 88th birthday, Virgil recounted being on the escort ship that led the battleship Missouri into Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender that ended World War II. It was a pleasure visiting as he re-counted stories of his service days. Virgil also mentioned that he still visits school groups and shares his life experiences. Special thanks to Virgil and all of our other veterans who sacrificed for the freedoms we enjoy in this great country.

This must be the summer of hail storms in central Minnesota! After being in Albany last Monday morning, we visited our son and his wife, who live just down the freeway at St. Augusta. I recall leaving their place around mid-afternoon and noticing the sun shining brightly in the deep blue sky overhead. As we got back on the freeway and headed home, clouds were forming on the western horizon. And, sure enough, as we came to the area of St. John’s University, we drove into a fairly heavy hail storm.

We pulled onto the exit ramp and stopped as cars ahead of us appeared to huddle under the overpass in an attempt to escape the hail. As we sat there, I called my son to tell of our ill-timed ride home, and he said he could barely hear me because of the hail stones rattling off the roof of our car. A couple of times I thought our windshield was going to break as the stones got larger.

All told, the storm probably lasted about ten minutes as our car got peppered with hail dimples. To illustrate just how narrow the storm was, as we continued west the roadway was dry again between Albany and Freeport.

I will be in St. Paul later this week to take part in the Agri-Growth Council’s Legislative wrap-up event. The panel of legislators will give those in attendance an overview of what happened during the past session and an update on what’s ahead in agriculture. The event is expected to attract a good crowd from Minnesota’s food/agriculture industry as well as several out-of-state guests. Later that same day Thursday, a get-together will honor retiring Senate Ag Committee chairman Doug Magnus.

The last piece of legislation to be acted on by Gov. Dayton from the recently completed session pertained to shared parenting rights in divorce cases. He used what’s known as a “pocket veto,” where he took no action to either sign or actually veto the bill so, as a result the bill was, in effect, vetoed. The legislation (H.F. 322) would have raised the presumed parenting rights of both parties from 25 to 35 percent.

This month of June is Dairy Month. Thanks to our dairy producers for the nutritious products they provide for our tables. We in this country have an abundant and safe food supply, and our dairy production and processing industry is a big reason for that. Thanks again for the job you do … seven days a week, 365 days a year.

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