Larry Wolfe As a young man, Mark Durben admits that he got in with the “wrong crowd” back in his hometown of Racine, Wis. He worked at jobs in a foundry and snowblower plant after graduating from Horlick High in Racine before deciding at age 23 that he needed to escape. As a self-professed “hippie,”…
Larry Wolfe Going into the final day of the Sun Division’s fall season, Manager Randy Neumann’s Spooner Physical Therapy squad held a one-game lead over the second-place Redeemed Team, sponsored by Realtor Suzy Steinmann, and managed by Dave Platt. The Redeemed Team needed to sweep a scheduled doubleheader from Spooner to capture the title. They…
Larry Wolfe Susan Rodke (nee Griffin) was born in Billings, Mont., and then lived briefly in California as a young child, before her family settled in Minnesota. She spent most of her childhood in Fergus Falls before the family moved to Barnesville when she was in high school. She was a four-sport athlete for the…
Larry Wolfe The Core Photography team, managed by Tom Erpelding, captured the Fall Softball Season pennant in the Lakes Division with a record of 10 wins and 4 losses. They easily outpaced the second-place team, Wolfe & Associates, managed by Gary Hillabolt, which finished at .500 with an 8-8 ledger. Wild Bill McCoy’s A-1 Golf…
Larry Wolfe Our Lady Sluggers senior softball team was scheduled to open their season on Jan. 18, at the Field of Dreams. They play against other area teams in the Valley of the Sun League. This year, the league was reduced to five teams due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. The Lady Sluggers were…
Larry Wolfe Our Lady Sluggers senior softball team is scheduled to open its season the first week of January. As of press time, the Sluggers were slated to play every Monday in January and February at the Field of Dreams. Games start at noon. The Sluggers play in the Valley of the Sun League. Given…
Larry Wolfe Isn’t it great to live in a place where you can use “winter” and “softball” in the same sentence? While our northern brethren are shoveling snow, here in Sun Lakes, it’s business as usual at the Field of Dreams. At the press deadline, we still had a week to go in the Fall…
Larry Wolfe Remember the Beach Boys’ 1964 classic, number one hit song “I Get Around”? Well, that phrase could also describe Vern Rodgers’ work career. A native of Quincy, Mich., Vern attended Glen Oaks Community College and Western Michigan University before beginning his vocational odyssey. Vern first joined the Kroger Company in Coldwater, Mich., and…
Larry Wolfe Ask any of the guys at the Field of Dreams to describe Thom Stephens, and the most likely responses are, “really good player” and “really nice guy.” Thom’s probably prouder of the latter. A Santa Clara, Calif., native, Thom graduated from Buchser High where he played both varsity baseball and basketball for the…
Larry Wolfe At press time, we’d just finished the first two weeks of the Fall Season. In the Lakes Division, the Core Photography and Wolfe & Associates-sponsored teams were both at 4-2. The A-1 Golf Carts team had a .500 record at 3-3, while the Young Realty Team lagged at 1-5. Steve Schaider got off…