Some county and city workers took time off between Christmas and New Year’s, but many stayed behind to keep things running. Top left: David Eckel at the courthouse. Middle left: Office Manager Nancy Haarmeyer in the County Attorney’s Office. Lower left: Assistant County Attorney Molly Hicken. Top right: Bev Wolke (left) and Cheryl Walimaa at the courthouse. Lower right: Earl Anderson (left) and Dave Asproth at the Senior Center.
The sun returned after a Christmas weekend of tempestuous weather. City and county workers were back at work, and seniors showed up at the Senior Center for lunch.
Numerous citizens were happy to answer some Christmas and New Year’s questions for the Cook County News-
Herald:
What was your favorite Christmas present this year? What is one of your most fun or interesting New Year’s memories? What is one of your New Year’s resolutions?
Bev Wolke in the county auditor-treasurer’s office said, “My daughters bought me a picture coffee mug with their picture on it.” She said they knew she doesn’t drink coffee, but they said, “It’s for your tea!”
Wolke’s co-worker, Cheryl Walimaa, said, “My New Year’s resolution would be to make the best of the moments I have and to not take anything for granted.”
David Eckel of the county maintenance department said, “I don’t make New Year’s resolutions!” How about a favorite New Year’s memory? “I’m always working at Sven & Ole’s!” He did divulge what he got for Christmas: A tool for sanding and scraping, an inside-outside temperature gauge with built-in clock, and an antique replica of the car John F. Kennedy got shot in. Eckel spent Christmas Eve with his mother and went with her to the Betty Backlund home on Christmas day.
Assistant County Attorney Molly Hicken said, “My favorite Christmas gift was from my mom. It was the Wii game console. It was the first toy I’ve gotten for Christmas in a long time and my first video game ever!” She had asked for it for Christmas because it came with a fitness program that includes core balance- and strength-training and yoga. Hicken stayed in Cook County for Christmas because her parents are vacationing in Peru—on December 29 she thought they might be in Patagonia. Her siblings went to their respective in-laws’.
Over Christmas, Hicken made a turkey dinner for friends. The turkey turned out nice and moist thanks to a remote meat thermometer and the fact that she baked the turkey breast-side down, she said. An apple dessert with an exotic name turned out well, and the meringue on her lemon meringue pie turned out great – if only she had thought to bake the crust ahead of time so it wouldn’t have been so raw…. Hicken said it took her four hours to clean up the kitchen that day.
County Attorney Office Manager Nancy Haarmeyer and her partner Tom McCann enjoyed the wild Christmas weather. “We go cross-country skiing every Christmas,” she said, “so my favorite Christmas present was snow.”
Earl Anderson said he received money and gift cards for Christmas. He got two gift certificates for Blue Water: One was from his wife’s brother and the other was from an anonymous gift-giver in the amount of $20.
Anderson is adjusting to a major change in his life over this Christmas season. His friends Chuck and Shirley Soderholm helped him move from his home on Maple Hill to Sawtooth Ridges a week ago, he said. He does not know if he will return to his home in the spring or not, but for now he won’t have to worry about his septic system, keeping the house warm, or shoveling snow.
Dave Asproth went home to Mahtowa, 30 miles south of Duluth (near Black Bear Casino) for Christmas. “I got snowed in for five days,” he said. He stayed with his oldest brother Bob, who lives on their grandfather’s old homestead. None of the other relatives made it home because of the weather. “We stayed in the house and watched DVDs,” Asproth said. “I should have brought my fly-tying stuff!”
Tina Honeyager (an anonymous city employee who gave her maiden name and requested not to be photographed) said her favorite Christmas present was a weedwhacker from her significant other, David Johnson. “I needed a new one and I got it!” she said.
Honeyager couldn’t recall a favorite midnight-on-New-Year’s-Eve memory. “I have usually never made it that long,” she said. She does have a New Year’s resolution, however. She is resolving to get to Florida more often. Her son, Craig Georg, lives in Clearwater, Florida and works for WVSFNPR Radio in Tampa. Honeyager thinks things are a little mixed up, though— her son should be the one visiting her in Florida.
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