MOM’S MEMOIRS – IRENE LOUISE (NEE KUCKKAN) MUELLER
(Continued)

Mom’s Autobiography – Chapter 80 – In Book, Page 193

Tropical Shower for Holly Weiss. ROC Grand Opening, St. Mark’s Worship Service and Jerry Kasten’s Memorial Golf Outing, Article By Tim in Watertown Daily Times, Installation of Jeff Mahnke at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schofield, Wisconsin, Trip to Milwaukee Museum – Titanic Exhibit and Dinner Out

JULY 26, 2010 – TROPICAL WEDDING SHOWER FOR HOLLY WEISS

The “Tropical” wedding shower was on Saturday, July 26th at Jenny and Kevin’s home at 405 Dewey Avenue, Watertown, Wisconsin. It was given for Holly Weiss, Matthew Mueller’s fiancée by Jenny Poston, Julia Pasch, and Megan Mueller. There were a lot of wonderful ladies there, all dressed in tropical clothes. I wondered what to wear, and settled on a beautiful fiesta-like white dress trimmed with satin ribbon and lace. Also I wore a Mexican hat and huaraches (shoes) from Mexico. Dick’s last fulltime ministry was in Weslaco, Texas. Mexico was only five miles south. We would park our car on the U.S. side, walk over the bridge over the Rio Grande River, go through a turnstile (paying a quarter), and there we were in a little town called Progreso. We loved going there because we could shop for blankets, purses, jewelry, etc. for our relatives and friends for Christmas, and they were not real expensive.

Anyway, back to the wedding shower. There were lots of fun games played, and delicious food served. I had a little mishap. I had gotten a plate of food, went back to my chair, but quickly got out my camera because I wanted to take a picture of something. When I came back to my chair, I had forgotten that I put the plate of food on my chair AND PROMPTLY SAT ON IT!!!! Yes, it felt cold and wet! I knew right away what had happened, and so did Susie, our daughter, sitting next to me. She was so kind as to come with me to the bathroom and clean up my beautiful dress. She did such a good job of it that it hardly showed ————.

JULY 26, 2010 – ROC GRAND OPENING

It was a good thing, too, because from the wedding shower, we tropical-clad ladies headed for the ROC GRAND OPENING at its new location at 213 N. 3rd Street, Watertown, Wisconsin. When we got there, there were still many people there although the doors had opened already at 1:00 p.m. What a blessing the ROC is for everyone! We know how hard our Tim, the teens, and many volunteers worked. The people were treated to great refreshments. We were pleased that our daughter, Sue, their daughter, Laura, and Laura’s friend, Cortney, came from Merrill, Wisconsin. There were many other relatives and friends there. Of course, Sue, Tim’s wife, and their family were there. The attendance at the Grand Opening was over four hundred people – thanks be to God!

JULY 27, 2010 – ST. MARK’S CHURCH SERVICE AND THE JERRY KASTENS MEMORIAL GOLF OUTING

On Sunday, the 27th, Susie, Laura, her friend, Cortney, and we went to the worship service at St. Mark’s. Pastor Michael Jensen preached a wonderful sermon based on 2 Chronicles 36:15-26 – “Never Saw It Coming. Really!?!” 1. Destruction with the forecast. 2. Rescue was the forecast. The children of Israel were warned by God over and over again, but didn’t listen and mocked God. The wrath of the Lord was aroused and God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. He destroyed the temple of God and carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, and also the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to the temple, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value in them. He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. Are we like the children of Israel who don’t listen to God and mock Him? Are we immune to the wrath of God? Are we listening? As Galatians 6:7 in the Bible says: “Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

After the worship service, we went home to eat our lunch, had a little nap, and then Susie, Laura, and Cortney left. At 7:00 p.m. we went to the old Country Club on the north side of Watertown (below the hill where Grandpa Koplin’s farm was). The golfers of the JERRY KASTENS GOLF OUTING came into the clubhouse, and then we were directed to a table where Tim, Sue, their family, Jerry and Joanne Brandt, our Steve, and we sat. After the prayer all of us indulged in the wonderful delicious meal. There were Mexican, Italian, and American stations. Every year I look forward to the mouth-watering barbecue ribs. Mmmm, they are soooo good! There were speeches, prizes, etc. It was a very enjoyable evening.
Whew! What a weekend!

JULY 29, 2010 – NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WHICH APPEARED IN THE “VOICE OF THE PEOPLE” IN THE WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES

Editor, Daily Times:

The Watertown Recreation and Outreach Center (The ROC) for youth has made the move (June 12) to its permanent home at 213 N. Third St. in Watertown, and has enjoyed a grand opening (June 26) with hundreds of people attending. What a joy it was to have so many attend and also help with the remodeling, move, and grand opening.
We thank our gracious Savior God for His blessings and for all of you. We can’t even begin to name people as so many were involved. The amount of volunteers who were involved in the remodeling of the building and other events is staggering. We are also very thankful for the gifts given at the grand opening for the ROC Building/Remodeling Fund which came to $1,123. Our goal is to pay off the building and remodeling by the end of the year. We only have $29,000 left to pay of the total amount of $171,000. Thanks also for all the help as $1,334 was raised through the Pick ‘n Save brat stand, $8.646 through the golf outing, $375.35 from teens working hard as the trash detail at the tractor pull, and over $10,000 through the recent ROC rummage sale.

The next time you will see the teens at work will be at Riverfest, volunteering with serving refreshments, and at Glenn’s Brat Stand on Friday and Saturday, August 27 and 28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., both days. Please plan to stop by for lunch at the brat stand. Thanks again to everyone.

Pastor Tim Mueller

BACK TO THE PAST –

JANUARY 18, 2009 – INSTALLATION SERVICE OF PASTOR JEFFREY P. MAHNKE AT ST. PETER EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, SCHOFIELD, WISCONSIN

Our son, Tim, was asked to preach at the Installation Service of Jeff. He and Jeff had served together as Associate Pastors in Medford, Wisconsin, from 1999-2001. We got to know Jeff, his wife, Stacy, and their children, Brianna, and twins, Alissa, and Cierra, when we were members of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Medford after Dick retired from the full-time ministry in Weslaco, Texas. We went to the Installation, and were privileged to hear Tim preach a very wonderful sermon, and enjoy visiting with him, Sue, the Mahnkes, and also members of Immanuel who had also come to the Installation.

FEBRUARY 2, 2009 – OUR TRIP TO THE MILWAUKEE MUSEUM TO THE TITANIC EXHIBIT AND DINNER OUT

How excited we were to go to the TITANIC EXHIBIT! No one ever dreamed that the “unsinkable” Titanic’s first voyage would also be her last. On the night of April 14, 1912, the passenger liner R.M.S. Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Within minutes water began pouring into her lower decks. Less than three hours later her propellers started to rise out of the water. For the more than 1,500 people left on board there was little hope of escape. Soon the biggest ship the world had ever seen would plunge to the bottom of the ocean. In 1985 Robert D. Ballard located the wreck of the Titanic, and in 1986 he and two members of his team descended two and a half miles to the ocean floor in their tiny submarine. They photographed the entire wreck. In 1987 the U.S. Congress moved to make the Titanic an international memorial. A French expedition recovered many artifacts from the Titanic wreck.

Coming back to our visit – before we saw the exhibit, our picture was taken, and each of us was given a card on which there was the name of a passenger, where they lived, and if they survived the Titanic disaster or not. The names on my card were: Mr. George Dunton, Mrs. Eleanor (Elkin), and their son, Barry, Widener. Eleanor was the only survivor. The names on Dick’s card were: Mr. Frederick Joseph, Mrs. Augusta, and their six children. None of them survived. How sad!

We watched a movie of the sinking of the Titanic, and then entered a room in which there was a huge wall slab of real ice. Brrrr, it was cold in that room! There were many glass cases of artifacts retrieved from the wreck of the Titanic – dishes, pieces of clothing, shoes, etc. It was not only the very cold room which gave us the chills. We were thankful that we had worn jackets. As we left that room, there was a book in which visitors could write their comments. I wrote, JESUS SAYS IN MATTHEW 28:18: “ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME.” It was too late for us to obtain the picture of all of us which was taken at the entrance, but Dick managed to get in touch with the Titanic’s exhibit office and obtained the picture. We were happy about that, although a nice lady at the exit had taken one of us, with one of our cameras, next to a Titanic Exhibit sign.

All of us went to the Red Lobster to have our “Dinner Out” to have a delicious seafood meal. Thank you, Sue, Tim, and family from the bottom of our hearts for the wonderful surprise gift you gave us for Christmas of 2008. The Exhibit and dinner were awesome! All in the family know how I love history – family history, too!!!!!