Before we review the week, it is important to note some attendance changes again this year.  Jim and Nola Gordon returned for our 35th Anniversary celebration and it was wonderful to have them with us again.  We also had a couple of "Newbies" move into Cottage No. 3, Steve and Bette-Ann Patkus and their lab, Bo.  This was made possible by the loss of Brian and Patti Baier, who decided to move on to another resort.  As a result of their decision, there was a general cottage shift.  Scott and Val moved to Cottage No. 10, which opened up Cottage No. 1.  Tom and Bern moved to Cottage No. 1, which opened up Cottage No. 8.  The Durante clan moved from Cottage 3 to Cottage 8, thus opening up a cottage for Steve and Bette-Ann.  Confused yet?  B.O.B. and Gail decided to jump in with Tom and Bern, which opened up Cottage No. 4 for Jim and Nola this year.  Luckily everyone remembered where they belonged and there were no after-lodge drop-ins at the wrong cottage.

Marv and Judy joined us on Tuesday for the 35th Anniversary celebration.  It was wonderful to have them with us and we hope they come back next year.  Also joining us was Kenny Jackson and his mom, Janet.  We were honored to have them both with us and wearing our 35th Anniversary Tee-shirts, especially Janet!

Lumpy was also able to spend some time with us during our visit.  Considering his new job in Eagle River, we were all pleased that he could break away for a night in the lodge and a trip to the Twilight.

With the flurry of e-mails flying back and forth, one could say that our 2009 vacation again started the week before our arrival at Jackson's.  With ominous weather forecasts, vacationers were getting nervous and reminding Bean she better not forget Mary.  There were also some threats made against Mary and her new home if the weather didn't turn.  Mary was not happy.  Bean issued a "think positive" edict on Thursday and told the vacationers to shape up and shut up.  Sadly, it turned out to be way too little and way too late.

2009 Vacationers were met with partly sunny skies and a cold wind coming straight at them across the lake.  Despite the wind,  it wasn't long before the beach was a hum with activity.  The kids hit the water and the adults hit the beer and complained about the wind.  Usually, the group hangs on the beach until sun set.  Not this year.  As the sun got lower in the sky, it got colder, so some headed back to their cottages and others over to Spang's for a pizza to put in a little base for later lodge activity.  

Lodge activities on the first night included Bean handing out Cottage Survival Kits, that included really nice Jackson can cozies, and 35th Anniversary  Shirts to all vacationers.  Jude then presented Bean with a new home for Mary.  Tom built the new wooden box, complete with handle for easy carrying; and, Jude painted the Little Saint shoreline around the sides of it.  Bean seemed very pleased with Mary's new home, but as the week went on, obviously Mary could have cared less.  

I think everyone will agree that the highlight of the first night was the look on Bean's face when Tom presented her with her very own Marquette University shot-ski.  Tom did an excellent job building the ski (complete with curved tip) and painting it.  Jude helped out by taping some pin-striping on it and also the words "Bean's True Blue Shot Crew" on the underside of the ski.  It was truly a masterpiece and the look of pure joy on Bean's face was heart warming.

I think the guys would all agree that the biggest bummer of the night was the discovery that the dice box was MIA.  Some even went into shock.  They tried substituting a plastic cup, but being the animals that they are, the cup barely lasted one round. 

On Sunday, we awoke to some sun and clouds, the same gale-force wind and cool temperatures.   While it reminded some of our week last year, we all tried to remain positive.  Most of the women even went golfing in the morning.  Pat and Jude joined them at the 19th Tee for lunch, after which they set out in pursuit of a new dice box.  No luck!  On a whim, Jude asked Pat to stop at the Thunderbird Pass.  Jude went in and tried to buy the bar's dice box.  That failed and so looking very sad, Jude turned to leave.  The bartender felt so bad, she gave Jude an old rubber dice box to keep.  Hooray!   Jude and Pat retuned to camp triumphant... only to learn that the lodge dice box had been found in the Grandview. Oh, well.

Sunday's highlights included the Bo and Buddy Retrieval Show down at the lake; watching the kids' lips turn blue as they swam; for some, finding a warm spot out of the wind to read a good book.  Later in the lodge, we were entertained by our own "Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers," Pat and Jim Laasch.  The usual Sunday night lodge activities ensued... most of the men snuck off early to prepare for Monday golf, with the exception of Kevin and John who were sleeping with their eyes open by the end of the night.  Lumpy joined the group for a while, as did Kenny.  Rumor spread through the lodge that the Twilight had an electrical fire the night before and would not be open on Monday.  Bummer!

A cloudless sky returned on Monday and while still windy, it felt a bit warmer, or maybe it was just our wishing it so. Everybody was outside.  The guys golfed and headed to the Twilight only to learn that the "rumor" was true.  Ever resourceful, they doubled back to the Tiki Bar and made the best of it.  While their Tiki Bar hosts, couldn't have been nicer, they missed Steve tremendously and hoped that the Twilight would be back in operation by Wednesday.  For the rest of us, there was bike riding in the morning and swimming, skiing and patriot rides in the afternoon.  (Speaking of Patriot rides, this was the first year that the kids came up with hand signals to direct the driver.)  Everybody hung out at the beach until sunset as the weather man said that this would be our best weather day of the week.  And, boy, he was not kidding!  Kudos to Steve Patkus for rescuing the Patriot as it was blowing across the lake.  Did someone forget to tether it?  Later after most everyone had left the beach Bette-Ann and Steve took  their dog, Bo, for a canoe ride.  Now there's a drowning waiting to happen!  Amazingly, Bo sat still and they had a very nice ride... until they returned to the beach and Bo's owners rolled the canoe as they were trying to get out of it.  

Tuesday was cloudy, but warmer.  It misted off and on all morning, but that didn't stop the bike riders, Washer Toss tourney or dog grooming from taking place.  Thanks, Val, for furminating all the pooches!  There was also a lot of cooking going on in the cottages that morning... very unusual!  Today was the big day!  Our 35th Anniversary Celebration and everyone took it seriously.  The group was to report to the Lodge for first, a photo shoot in our matching shirts, and then dinner and a movie.  Cottages outdid themselves with side dishes.  From deviled eggs to chocolate covered strawberries, there was much to choose from.  Sean grilled homemade Italians that were hauled up from Tinley Park, hamburgers and hot dogs.  B.O.B. pulled pork that he had been smoking since mid-night and offered a variety of BBQ sauces as toppings.  Dinner was delicious and we were pleased to have Ken, Janet and Hobby join us.  We all ate so much that we didn't have room for the "Thank You Jacksons" sheet cakes provided by the Grandview.  So dessert was served later that evening.

Now on to the movie...  Julie Berry and Jude hung a sheet over the barroom archway and that served nicely as a screen.  Steve Patkus managed the projector and B.O.B. the sound.  What can one say?  It was truly the highlight of the entire week.  There were fifty people in the lodge, facing the screen theater style, totally mesmerized and enjoying every minute of the movie.  The retrospective was as moving as it was funny and it brought a tear to a few eyes.  It was obvious that Julie and Katie put their hearts and souls into the production and their efforts were not lost on the crowd.  Most families wanted copies of the film as well as the "out takes."

The weather took a turn for the worse on Tuesday night when big storms moved through the area.  While Wednesday started out o.k. and the guys were able to golf, the clouds moved back in, the wind picked up speed as it crossed the lake and long pants and sweatshirts replaced bathing suits on the beach.  By late afternoon, some of the cottages started a campfire and brought down leftovers from the preceding night.  Others headed back up to their cottages to clean up before going out to dinner.  Later, as more storms raged outside, the lodge was pretty quiet.  Julie showed the "out takes" on her PC to eager viewers.  Everybody wants a copy!  And, the "Newbies" never even made it to the lodge... they needed a recharge.  Nobody said it would be easy!  The regular dice players were surprised and thrilled to have Tom join them for a couple of rounds.  The fact that on several occasions, his call added up to six dice, was overlooked on award night.

Thursday was windy and cold, cold, cold!  It was a very quiet day in camp.  Kristy headed back to Waukesha in the morning as she had to work that afternoon, a first!  Another first... Dave and Tom trailered the Crownline.  Mary was smiling.  Steve and Bette-Ann took a motorcycle ride to Lake Superior, which turned out to be a lot colder than they bargained for.  It took hours for Steve's legs to thaw out.  Vacationers cooked in or ate out and eventually wandered down to the lodge.  There were "outsiders" in the lodge on Thursday.  Some o.k. and some apparently not, given the wacky tobaccy cloud left in the ladies room.  The three guys from Hiller's were o.k. and asked a lot of questions about the resort and our group.  They were hoping we would have cottages available during our week and were disappointed to learn that we are full-up.  Apparently, we are a fun group!  Lodge Olympics took place after midnight, and Jude, who had made an effort to hang instead of going to bed, was rewarded by winning the gold... or so she was told.  After the Olympics conclusion, some partied on in Cottage No. 3, where Steve finally got up and joined them.  They partied on until 4:30 a.m.

Friday was again windy, rainy and cold.  The only golfers were Dave and Steve and they golfed in the rain.  The other golfers who showed up, left to open up the Twilight a little earlier than normal.  Truthfully, if it had not been "Award Night" several of the cottages would have pulled out at noon.  The weather was so bad that some in the group took it out on Mary.  Not smart!

Let's move on to the Awards...

2009 again saw the children winning awards.  We will start with them... youngest to oldest.  (Please note the Fond Du Lac Baiers once again headed south on Friday at noon and missed out on the awards.)

Luciana Emmerson -- First Time St. Germainer

Matthew Berry -- Smiley Guy

Katelyn Emmerson -- Raging Rafter

Johnny Berry -- First Time Skier and Tooth Loser

Sarah Fosbinder -- Gambling Gal

Aidan Ryan -- Lodge Game Guru

Lauren Berry -- Patriot Perfectionist

Nathan Ryan -- First Time Go Kart Driver

Sam Fosbinder -- Pool Shark

Kyle Berry -- Go-Go Gadget Arm Quick Spoon Grabber

Skyler Durante -- Fantastic Foosball Player

Nicole Birschbach -- Happy Hair Stylist

Jordan Birshcbach -- Tree Traveler

Rebecca Birschbach -- Marvelous Manicurist

Congratulations go out to all the kids.  Way to go!

After the Kids' Awards were given out, Gail interrupted the proceedings to surprise Julie Berry with a faux-Oscar for her work on the 35 Year Retrospective.  Good job keeping a secret Cottage No. 1!!!  

So, now on to the adult awards... There is really no point in itemizing them this year as Jude won Mary by a landslide; as did Patsy, the dice.  

Jude was admittedly a bit hurt and upset at winning Mary.  With all of the other contenders, staying in the lodge seemed lame compared to some of the other antics.  There were even omissions (Has anybody seen my I-Pod?) and the kids were allowed to vote for the adult awards.  Since when?  And Patsy's "innocent comment" hardly seemed a contender either.  It was after Jim Laasch congratulated Jude and said it was nice to have the awards back in Wisconsin that Jude thought about what had happened and became bitter.  Until...

Back at the cottage, Mary told Jude that she had been praying for Jude to win her for the past four years.  Mary felt used and abused.  She was tired of being shoved in the back of someone's closet or stuck in a basement for fifty-one weeks of the year only to be lashed to a railing to brave the North Woods elements for her one week of freedom.  These past several years have been rough and to be so disrespected by being hung upside down and then dropped on her head this year was just too much.  

Mary wanted out.  She had had enough.  She even pointed out that she felt her presence was killing all the fun.  People were so concerned about winning her that they weren't relaxing and cutting loose like they used to.  In other words, her presence had become counter productive.  

So Mary asked Jude for her freedom.  Jude didn't see how she could grant that... as it was a group thing.  So, Mary suggested that Jude go to the Web Page and refresh her memory by reading "Something About Mary."  Mary was sure that Jude would see that she was the only one who could grant Mary her freedom as she was the one who duck taped her to the boathouse and started the tradition in the first place.  So, after much soul searching, Jude granted Mary her wish.  

Jude shipped Mary to Key West, Florida, where the sun is warm and the breezes gentle... where the bars stay open all night and hanging until the wee hours is considered the norm, hardly award worthy... where the locals will appreciate her and give her the respect she deserves... where she can even earn some extra cash by just standing and looking beautiful at the Sunset Ceremony each night.  (She's sure to draw a bigger crowd than the guy who paints himself white and stands on a pail.)  Having left her "Up North" box back in Wisconsin, Mary will live out her days in her brand new Hemmingway Gingerbread House.  Before vacation 2010, a new use will be identified for the "Up North" box.  Suggestions welcome.

So Congratulations, Mary, your retirement is well deserved!!!

The Dice will revert back to their original intent, a daily or even hourly award, with the person in possession of the dice at 6 PM on Friday night responsible for bringing them back next year.

Continuation of the Kids' Awards would be nice, but is totally up to and the responsibility of their parents.