On the minds of people out for coffee the morning of Monday, December 7, 2009 were hopes of being with family over Christmas, the joy of giving, and thankfulness for loved ones. Photos top to bottom: (L-R) Chuck Soderholm, John McElevey, and Leonard Goodell at Blue Water. Yvette Chenaux (left) and Alisa Berns working on Christmas secrets at Java Moose. (L-R) Sarah K. Bly holding Jeremiah Bly and Sarah E. Bly holding Josiah Bly at Blue Water. (L-R) Father Seamus Walsh, Pat Randall, Rita Randall, and Mary Langer at Blue Water. Paul Nelson (left) and Karl Hansen at Java Moose.
What was on the minds of the people sipping coffee at Blue Water and Java Moose on Monday morning, December 7? What did they want for Christmas? What were they looking forward to this Christmas season?
The guys at Blue Water were united. “I want more of the same,” Chuck Soderholm said. John McElevey and Leonard Goodell concurred. They didn’t say what “the same” was, but as they sipped their coffee, friends joined them and friends took off, they chatted about appliances and cars, and they laughed a lot.
Father Seamus Walsh was sitting with three women. “Their great Christmas joy is that they came to visit me from Brainerd,” he said, “…to see if I was happy here!”
“To see if he remembered us,” said Pat Randall, one of his companions. She and her daughter Rita and friend Mary Langer are former parishioners of Father Seamus. Rita and her husband Jeremy lived here from 1961 to 1973 when he was the Cook County High School librarian. Theyhad fivedaughters. The three women left in a bright red Volkswagen bug, what Pat calls her “Pattywagon.”
What did Sarah E. Bly (daughter of Blue Water owners Dan and Melodee Riddle) want for Christmas? “I already got my Christmas present,” she said, pointing to her new baby, Jeremiah.
Sarah E.’s sister-in-law, Sarah K. Bly, said, “I’m waiting to go into the Air Force. I’m sworn in and just waiting.” She has signed up for a four-year stint and hopes to start taking college courses while she is in the Air Force.
What does Dan Riddle want? “Snow!” For more business at the restaurant? “Yes!” he said, “No snow, no go! Maybe not quite as much as last year, though.” He recalled shoveling snow at the end of April.
Jamie Ryan, Bethlehem Lutheran Church youth pastor and Blue Water waiter, said he hopes for “some time outside and a little vacation.” He is planning to go to his family cabin. “It will be very nice – if it happens. I’ll have to make sure it happens.” Ryan thought about the question for a minute and came up with an even greater wish. “I want my mom to get out of the hospital,” he said. His mother, who lives in Olivia, Minnesota, fell and broke her hip, resulting in a second hip replacement and a long convalescence in the hospital. “That would be a great Christmas present,” he said, “—to see my mom run the 440!”
Over at Java Moose, Lee Stewart, Drury Lane Books manager, said, “I’m looking forward to seeing my new granddaughter, my other grandchildren, and my daughters. My granddaughter was born September 12 in New Jersey.”
Beth’s Fudge/Birchbark Gallery owner Beth Kennedy, having coffee with Stewart, said, “I’m looking forward to a winter of cross-country skiing. I’ve already been out.” She had skied Elbow Lake the day before and said Jean Cochrane had skied the Pine Mountain Road. Elbow Lake was good for skiing, Kennedy said, but would be a little rough for ice skating.
Staff photos/Jane Howard
“I’d like a bright red Ferrari about the color of your coat,” said Bob Pratt, quietly reading a book in the sunshine at Java Moose. He said he really hopes to see his kids and grandkids and hopes everyone has a safe holiday. He has two kids in Connecticut and one in Texas but wasn’t sure who was going where for Christmas yet.
Karl Hansen, Lee Stewart’s husband, was having a North Shore Health Care Foundation meeting at Java Moose with Paul Nelson. “We’re going to New Jersey to see a new grandbaby,” he said. He was looking forward to seeing Lee’s three daughters and six grandkids.
“What I’d like to have for Christmas,” said Nelson, “is all my family to be in the same place at the same time.” He has a married son in the Twin Cities and an engaged son in Lansing, Michigan, both of whom are quite busy. Paul said he and his wife and his sons and their daughter-in-law and future daughter-in-law are trying to figure out how they can all get together. “Everyone gets along fabulously,” he said.
Nelson and Hansen were pleased that a recent matching gift fundraiser by the new GiveMN.org website will be bringing in $2,900 to the North Shore Health Care Foundation. The campaign brought in a total of $14,000,000, they said, eclipsing similar campaigns in all the other states, including Texas, where all the big oil money is supposed to be.
Yvette Chenaux and Alisa Berns sat by a window at Java Moose knitting Christmas presents. Chenaux said she is looking forward to going home to Texas for Christmas. She moved here a little over a year ago and works for the U.S. Forest Service in the summer. How did she feel about the very long winter that lasted well into April? It was very pretty, she said.
Alisa Berns was excited about sending shoeboxes filled with gifts for children through Samaritan’s Purse, an opportunity she became aware of just this year. She liked the idea of helping her children learn the joy of giving at Christmas.
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