QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We isolate ourselves so that when we get back together no one is missing.”

ELECTION UPDATE

U.S. Senate: In last week’s Midweek Update we listed the candidates whom the secretary of state’s website had listed as having filed their nominating petitions as of last Wednesday afternoon. Sen. Mike Rounds (R) may have appeared to be unopposed, but now he has not only primary opposition, but if he wins there, he has general election opposition as well. The Republican primary in June will pit Rounds against Scyller Borglum. That winner will face Dan Ahlers (D) in the general election.

U.S. House of Representatives: Incumbent Dusty Johnson (R) now is listed as a candidate for re-election, and he will have opposition in the Republican primary in June in the person of Liz Marty May, a rancher from the Kyle area. The winner will be elected unless an independent candidate materializes this summer because expected Democratic candidate, Whitney Raver, did not achieve enough signatures to file her candidate petitions.

Fort Pierre city election: The election for an alderman from Ward II was scheduled to take place next Tuesday, but that election has been postponed to June 30. The only contest there is the alderman race between Carl Rathbun and Scott Deal. The current alderman in that seat, David LaRoche, is not seeking re-election.

NOTE TO ALL VOTERS: Don’t let the coronavirus pandemic situation keep you from voting. Do not wait until June 2 to figure out how you’re going to get hold of a ballot. Absentee voting starts next week on April 17. Call your county auditor to learn how to obtain an absentee ballot that you can mail back without ever going to a polling place.
Or go to the secretary of state’s website to locate how to download an application form that will get you an absentee ballot. You have to send in that application form, and the ballot will be sent back to you, and then you can mail it in in time for it to be counted in the election. Don’t wait till June 1 to figure out how to vote on June 2!

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ROUNDUP

Spring sports: The closing of schools for the rest of this year by the governor takes care of the track, golf and tennis seasons. High school baseball, which is governed by its own association rather than the SDHSAA, has also now been called off for the year.

Basketball: Pierre athletes who earned recognition on the Academic All-State teams include Paul Adam, Justin Houlette, Grey Zabel, Grant Judson, Layni Stevens, Kodi Severyn, Kylee Thorpe, Carlee Natvig and managers Janaina Zanin and Taeler Regynski.

Class “B” All-State basketball: Nick Wittler of Sully Buttes this week was named a first-team All-State player for the second straight season.

FACT OF LIFE

“If your son visits his girlfriend and you later sneak over for coffee with a neighbor, your neighbor is now connected to the infected office worker that your son’s girlfriend’s mother shook hands with.”

— Dr. Paul Carson, Sanford Health

COUNTDOWN

8 days: Absentee voting for primary/city/school June 2 elections begins (April 17).
39 days: Voter registration deadline for June 2 elections (May 18).
54 days: Primary/city/school elections (June 2).
70 days: Oahe Days (June 18-20).

MIDWEEK UPDATE CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Directions: Draw a 4×4 square of boxes. Number the boxes in the top row from left to right 1, 2, 3 and 4. Number the boxes in the left-hand row from top to bottom 1, 5, 6 and 7.

Clues:
ACROSS—(1) World Series champs. (5) Popular cookie. (6) Nevada city. (7) “Friends” actor LeBlanc.
DOWN—(1) One of the “Cheers” regulars. (2) Region. (3) Camping home. (4) Chimney excess.
Answers at the bottom of this Update.

ZESTO SHERBET SCHEDULE

Thursday: peach.
Friday-Sunday: cherry.
Monday-Tuesday: coconut.
Wednesday-Thursday: watermelon.

BASEBALL UPDATE

Pierre Trappers: Michael Herrera has signed to be back with the Trappers for the third season. He is a senior shortstop from Trinity University and Phoenix, Ariz. Joining the Trappers for the first time is junior pitcher Andrew Ciandro of Cal State-Bakersfield and Seaside, Calif. Another first-timer is senior catcher Alex Gonzales of Metro State from Fort Collins, Colo. Joining the Trappers, too, will be freshman pitcher Ryuya Kato of West Hills Community College in Lemoore, Calif., from Tokyo, Japan. A teammate of his, sophomore pitcher Subaru Oshima from Chiba City, Japan, is also joining the Trappers. The question remains, of course, if there will be an Expedition League season at all. Opening night for the Trappers against the Sioux Falls Sunfish is scheduled for May 26, only 47 days from now.

American Legion baseball: We haven’t heard anything about Legion baseball inside South Dakota. This was to be the year that a seeding process begins to determine postseason pairings. But the national Legion has canceled its regional tournaments (including the Central Plains regional in Sioux Falls) and the Legion World Series, so it would seem that a Legion season in the state is also in jeopardy.

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

Thursday, April 9:
Kai Segrud, Matt Brakke, Kellie (Sutton) Yackley, Kellie Weinheimer, Rob Nill, Aaron Comer, Spencer Eich, Arthur Olson, Wesley Joy.
— Anniversary, Shaun/Sara (Sperry) Thomas.

Friday, April 10:
Katherine (Van Gerpen) Cedeno Torres, Brady Smith, Brandon Louder, Lucas Oehlerking, Ken Fanger, Kory McKay, Nolan Nielsen, John Jordre, Jason Livermont.
— 10th anniversary, Tyson/Jenny (Miller) Goehring.

Saturday, April 11:
James Bobby, Austin Lucas, Eric Hillestad, Lillian Campbell, Teresa (Sprinkel) Gillaspie, Mike Haas, Mason Fisher, Amy Burger, Jessica Kost, Terry Barber, Chase DeJong, Sheena Carlisle, Amber LeFaive.

Sunday, April 12:
Darby (Warne) Boyd, April (Thompson) Schroeder, Nathan Bishop, Austin Neilan, Amanda (Stewart) Shindle, Stacie Suedkamp, Terry Nelson, Luke Nelson, Frank Turner, Mike Eaton, Colton Carter, Brandt Becker, Trent Withers, Cheri Bartlett, Lee Fosheim, McKenna Yach, David Volk, Meleta DeJong, Brian Grunewaldt.
— 17th anniversary, Aaron/Laura Scheibe.

Monday, April 13:
Wynne (Nafus) Sayer, Maggie Brindza, Tanner Pruess, Austin Van Houten, Derek Schiefelbein, Clara Miller, Josh Hove, Michala Huse, Brenna Mikkelsen, Emily (Bloomberg) Meier, Sarah (Adam) Axtman, Rita Linn, Sara (Sperry) Thomas, Raina Christenson, Carol Garry.
— 8th anniversary, Justin/Theresa (Frick) Jones.

Tuesday, April 14:
Matt Bump, Mark Menning, Sadie (Fitzke) Goodman, Evan Zuercher, Carolyn Elwood, Lola Schreiber, Dee Lundeen.
— 2nd anniversary, Kai/Kayla Hanson.
— 8th anniversary, Eric/Niki (Cowan) JKaworski.

Wednesday, April 15:
Matt Christie, Brian Deal, Rachel (LeBeau) Hachem, Spencer Safe, Kassi (Schuetzle) Wilson, Dusty Beringer, Shannon (Dykstra) Herbert, Kelly Gerber, Jason Wulf, Nevaeh Hight, RyLee Fischer, Jacob Wagner.

Thursday, April 16:
Geoff Simon, Tyler Bonnett, Nina Jordre, Mia Feyereisen, Sherri Zeller, Brett Wheelhouse.
— 4th anniversary, Kevin/Kaitlyn (Forman) Stiles.

PARKER’S PERSONAL NOTES

• On Easter Sunday at 2 p.m. CDT on South Dakota Public Broadcasting, you can watch the world premiere of “Heaven to Heaven,” a cantata of 21 original songs detailing the life of Jesus as performed at the University of Sioux Falls last November.
• The live production of “Jesus Christ, Superstar,” which NBC broadcast two Easters ago, will be rebroadcast this Sunday night on NBC. I believe the start time is 6 p.m. CDT, extending to 8:30 p.m., on KDLT-TV, but check your listings or the TV Guide option on your remote control to be sure.
• All four of the Minnesota Twins’ wins in the 1991 World Series against the Atlanta Braves will be shown on Fox Sports North in the next 10 days:
  Game 1, 7 p.m., Friday, April 10
  Game 2, 7 p.m., Friday, April 11
  Game 6, 7 p.m., Thursday, April 16 (the Kirby Puckett home-run game . . . “And we’ll see you tomorrow night!”)
  Game 7, 6 p.m., Sunday, April 19 (the 0-0 game into the 10th pitched by Jack Morris)
• There’s not any baseball more exciting than last fall’s Washington Nationals playoff run. The Nats-St. Louis NLCS games 3 and 4 can be found on the Facebook page entitled Washington Nationals tonight (Thursday) at 6 p.m. and Friday at the same time. Then will come the four Nats wins in the World Series vs. Houston—Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 6 p.m., Monday at 6 p.m., and Tuesday at 6 p.m.
• Most of us have a great deal of extra time on our hands since we can’t go anywhere (at least we’re advised not to, a fact which is hard for some to understand). Somebody revised a list of Broadway shows to fit the current situation. For example: “Dear Evan Hand Sanitizer.” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Lab Coat.” “An American Quarantine in Paris.” “Don’t Kiss Me, Kate.” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Pharmacy.” “Don’t Come From Away.” “Little Shop of Hoarders.” “Damn Hankies.” “How to Succeed in Business Without Leaving the Couch.” “Two Gentlemen With Corona.” “The Sound of Mucus.” “9 to 5, But 7 to 9 for Seniors.”

THOUGHT FOR THESE TIMES

“Nothing should go back to normal. Normal wasn’t working. If we go back to the way things were, we will have lost the lesson. May we rise up and do better.”

— Jean Wolf

NEWS OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Helen Zander flew home to Pierre last Thursday and said on Facebook she was the only passenger on the flight from Denver. “Now for 14 days of self-quarantine,” she concluded. I asked Helen if she received excellent service on her flight. She said that every time the captain spoke over the intercom, he called her by name!

Maryanne Berger, 68, Fort Pierre, died at home March 30. A memorial service will be held later. She is survived by her husband, David Berger; her children, Kimberly Herrman of Pierre, Michael Brende Jr. of Leesman, Va., and Dawn Brende of Kansas City, Mo.; 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Pierre native Kelsey Trimble teaches at East Middle School in Rapid City. Last week she hand-wrote a separate note for each of her 29 students and mailed them. “I miss them terribly and hope they know I’m thinking of them daily,” Kelsey said on her Facebook page.

Musestorytelling.com offered an invitation for filmmakers to come together and show how people all over the world are coming together during the coronavirus crisis. Cole Cruse at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, is one of 250 who are contributing film segments for this collaboration.

The Blunt all-school reunion scheduled for this June has been postponed until June of 2021.

Derrick and Kelbie (Frederick) Miller revealed they are expecting their first child in August. They live at Emery.

Meghan Buscher, who will graduate from the University of Wyoming this spring, has been accepted into the graduate school at the University of Maryland where she will enroll in the master of science program in applied mathematics beginning this fall.

A distinguished Pierre musician and former high school teacher, Nancy Thomas, passed away at the age of 93 on April 4 after a short battle with a bone marrow disease. Friends and former students can view a service at www.feigumfh.com at 10:30 a.m. this morning (Thursday). Born in Wessington Springs, Nancy spent her childhood at Tyndall and graduated from high school at Elk Point in 1945 and from Yankton College in 1949. She followed her parents to Pierre where her father became state secretary of agriculture. Nancy taught history at Pierre High School. She married Jordan Thomas in 1955. They lived at Mitchell where he worked for the Soil Conservation Service before returning to Pierre. After her sons were grown, Nancy worked as head teller at BankWest. She was active at First Congregational United Church of Christ for more than 70 years, especially as a vocalist with the choir and at funerals and weddings. She lived the last few years of her life at ParkWood Apartments. She is survived by a sister, Betty Waller of St. Joseph, Mo.; two brothers-in-law; her sons, Philip Thomas and his wife Betsy of Dallas, Texas; Alan Thomas and his wife Yvette of Pierre, and Blake Thomas and his wife Kellie of Sturgis; 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Tom Grabinski, a native of Wessington Springs who was a student of mine when I taught there in 1960-62, lives now in the Seattle area. He said last Friday he was on his 22nd day of self-imposed isolation. Their governor there closed all non-essential businesses two weeks earlier and made a stay-at-home order take effect.

Sandy Peterson in Rapid City said she had to go to Walmart the other day. “It was nuts! It looked like Black Friday. I hope I just picked a hard time and it was an anomaly, but there was even a line at the entrance.”

Among those who earned Academic All-State recognition in basketball who have Pierre area connections were Colton Hartford and Blake Weaver of Rapid City Stevens, Max Burchill of Sioux Falls Lincoln and Ryder Kirsch of Rapid City St. Thomas More.

Kelly Neiles-Brindza was supposed to run her first and last marathon at Salisbury, Md., last Saturday, but the event was canceled, of course. Registration has been extended until next year, but Kelly says she likely won’t participate. So two Saturdays ago, her husband Mike took their kids in tow and told her to “go run.” Kelly did, alone on a road near their house, for 5 hours, 50 minutes. The Brindzas live at Leonardtown, Md., southeast of Washington, D.C. Kelly is an associate professor at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Larissa FastHorse in southern California said last week “people are letting up too soon. I went for my once-a-day walk, and the mood is so different than a week ago when folks were scared into obeying the order near the beach. Today people were hanging out together again. A group of adults on blankets together, listening to music and throwing a ball around. Kids running right up to random people. I saw from a distance a dog-training class that ended with everyone hanging together in a tight-knit group.”

Lynne (Bonrud) Guthrie is one of many teachers retiring at the end of this school year. Little did she know that day in March when she had her students in her classroom that that would be the last time. “Definitely didn’t plan on retiring without seeing my kids,” she posted this week. “I was hoping against hope that we could have one last day. I do understand the need to protect all of us.” This was Lynne’s 36th year of teaching.

Rory Blair, 68, Fort Pierre, died April 3 at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital. He grew up in Huron and Pierre. From 1965 to 1972 he lived in Prescott, Ariz., but came back to Pierre in 1972. He married Sharon Anderson in 1979. Rory was self-employed much of his life and also worked as a bellman at Ramkota Best Western. He is survived by his wife, Sharon; his children, Wendy Blair, Christopher Blair, Jory Blair, Kael Blair, Joel Blair, Aurora Blair, Shane Artz and Seth Artz; his brothers, Randall Blair, Todd Nelson and Kerry Nelson; his sisters, Connie Blair, Colleen Dryden, Carla Blair and Angie Knigge, and his stepmother, Judy Blair.

We reported last week that Sully Buttes senior Nick Wittler had chosen Dakota Wesleyan as his destination to attend college and play basketball. A news story later said Nick had also been considering Morningside in Sioux City and Mary in Bismarck.

The South Dakota Board of Regents elected officers April 1. Pam Roberts of Pierre was elected secretary. The Regents president will be John Bastian of Belle Fourche, who is also a part-time circuit court judge.

Shirley Wieseler, 79, Pierre, died April 1 at Avera Maryhouse. Private burial took place at Calvary Cemetery. She graduated from high school at Tyndall in 1959. She and Martin Wieseler made their home in Pierre in 1974. She worked at Buhl’s Laundry for many years. She is survived by two sisters, Nancy Carroll of Pierre and Joni White of Edmond, Okla.

Former Pierre resident Janice Russell wrote on March 27: “I am also self-imprisoned n Elkhorn, Neb. It is interesting that a city the size of Omaha is virtually incapacitated. I ventured out to the local Walmart this morning, complete with mask and gloves, for the first time since March 10. Very few people were in the store at 8 a.m. The shelves were the emptiest I’ve ever seen them. Since I am considered old and liable to catch this virus, I have stayed home faithfully, watched church via computer hookup, baked, sewn (made 60 masks this week), talked to all my friends on the phone, cleaned the apartment and watched TV way too much. I am impressed by the number of people who just step up and help others at a time like this without regard to their own health and welfare. It’s going to take a long time to recover from this, but with all the good will handed out here, we will recover.”

Dr. Todd Peterson (Riggs High ’87 and Rhodes Scholar ’91) was one of 156 new members elected into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineerng’s (AIMBE) College of Fellows in recognition of their contributions to the field. Todd was to be inducted during a ceremony March 30 at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Washington, D.C., but due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, his induction will occur during the 2021 AIMBE annual meeting. Dr. Peterson, son of the Wilfrid Petersons of Pierre, is the director of nuclear imaging and radiochemistry in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science in Nashville.

Wayne “Flo” Tibbs, 78, Mission Ridge, died suddenly while working cattle April 3. He attended Orton School and graduated from high school in Fort Pierre in 1960. He ranched with his father, Ancel Tibbs. He married Loretta in 1967, and they became parents of four children. He was a full-time rancher. He is survived by his wife of nearly 53 years, Loretta Tibbs; his children, Tawn Nelson and her husband Wade of Faith, Kyle Tibbs and Levi Tibbs of Mission Ridge, and Tether Lundberg and her husband Todd of Meadow; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren, and two sisters, Jill Strunk of Minneapolis and Dayle Angyal of Pierre. No services are planned. His ashes will be scattered over his ranch.

Shawn and Whitney (Stoeser) Schnabel will be leaving the Sturgis-Spearfish area to move to the St. Louis area soon. Shawn has been one of the assistant football coaches at Black Hills State University, but there has been a head coaching change there, so he has accepted a football coaching position at Missouri Baptist University in Creve Coeur, Mo. Whitney, who has been teaching at the elementary school in Sturgis, is searching for a teaching job in their new location.

Long-time Pierre businessman Terry Barge died April 2 in Sturgis at the age of 94. He will receive full military honors at Black Hills National Cemetery at a later date. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a machinist’s mate in 1944. After boot camp his first assignment was aboard the USS South Dakota battleship. He served the last two years of World War II in the Pacific, including at the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay. After his military service he moved to Pierre. He worked on the Oahe Dam, then was in business for many years. In 1950 he married Vivian Marso, and in 1975 he married Carol Todd. In 2016 he moved to Sturgis to live with his daughter. Since August of last year he has been a resident of a nursing facility. Terry is survived by his daughter, Kayleen Williams of Sturgis; three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; his former wife, Carol Barge, and a special friend, Mary Davidson, both of Pierre. Among those who preceded him in death were his parents, sister Ramona Perfect, son-in-law Steve Williams and granddaughter Sara Williams.

Tammy (Sutton) Withers suffered a stroke on Feb. 18 and was transported to Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. On March 6 she was brought back to Pierre and has been at Avera Maryhouse where she has been undergoing physical, occupational and speech therapy each weekday. Because the facility is on lockdown, she has had to visit with her family by telephone. (News courtesy of The Onida Watchman)

Bill Englehart retired Wednesday after 37 years with the state Department of Transportation.

Tyler Bonnett, who is stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in western Arizona, had mild symptoms of the coronavirus, but they lasted only about 24 hours, he reported. An air show in which he was to fly was canceled, and that was a good thing. Take some advice from a smart young man who has been around: “I would have had direct contact with so many people i love,” he said. “This global pandemic is a call for everyone to act. This virus knows no borders. You put people at risk, most likely those closest to you, when you don’t abide by CDC guidelines. Act now. Live later.”

WORDS OF WISDOM

“Staying home is the only vaccine we have right now. . . . You are protecting your neighbors; you are giving hospitals time to prepare for the many who will fall ill; you are making a difference; you are saving lives.”

— Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota

DAY BY DAY

THURSDAY, APRIL 2
We were cracking jokes with our third grader this morning that he could have a “snow day,” free from his online meeting with his teacher and his assigned projects. No such luck for him! The wind howled all night, and this morning when I first ventured out to do some shoveling, it was as bitterly cold as I could remember its being all winter long. Just a year ago our schools were closed for three days just ahead of Easter, so these April snowstorms are anything but unusual. I gave up the shoveling idea till afternoon to see if the wind would finally subside. It did not, but a one-lane sidewalk path is open to the neighbors’ driveway. Anybody who was out joy-walking this afternoon must have been really desperate to get out of his house.

FRIDAY, APRIL 3
One of the Facebook posts on which I became hooked today was one which listed a number of jobs with the person asking which one he has never worked in his life. OK, play along. Which one of the following jobs have I personally never done?

(1) Elementary music teacher (2) Drive-in restaurant order-taker (3) Grain-bin moisture sampler (4) Newspaper reporter (5) Income tax returns typist (6) Radio play-by-play sports announcer (7) School athletic director (8) Meals on Wheels deliverer (9) Church organist (10) Bank teller (11) Theater house manager (12) Tourist guide (13) Senior center chorus director (14) Sports P.A. announcer (15) Piano teacher (16) University music department piano accompanist (17) Newspaper owner (18) School library director (19) Community theater pianist (20) Supermarket cashier (21) Arena usher. Take your guess and send it to me at parkerhome16@hotmail.com or respond in the comment section of this Midweek Update.

SATURDAY, APRIL 4
This would have been opening day of the high school baseball season had it not been suspended. But with snow from Thursday’s storm on the field, there would not have been any baseball played anyway. This also would have been Final Four day in men’s Division I basketball, and of course Duke and Gonzaga would have won to advance to Monday’s championship game. Personally speaking, this would have been the weekend of grandson Parker’s Cherry Street Players plays, and his grandpa and grandma had made plans to come down from Dickinson to see him and them. Instead it’s another stay-at-home day, take-a-few-walks day, watch-some-more-TV day, try-not-to-check-Facebook-much day. It’s the absolute pits, but you already know that. I did, however, call ahead to have daughter Holly and her girls go out on their front deck and visit with me while I remained at my car down below. Then I visited with Heather and her boys from carside while they stayed in their driveway. At least I got to see them for the first time in more than a week.

SUNDAY, APRIL 5
Since our isolated lives began suddenly three weeks ago, my Sunday mornings have become much more of a ritual than even in the past. First, it’s “Sunday Morning” on CBS from 7 to 8:30, then a glimpse of the early service at our church downtown at 9 (online, of course), then the service from a church in Lincoln at 9:45, then our church’s 11:00 service online. And suddenly it’s noon. Now what?!!! While I see some churches insisted on parades and lots of semi-gatherings, we did what we are supposed to do—JUST STAY HOME. Why is that such a difficult concept for some people to comprehend. I can only imagine what some of them will try next week on Easter Sunday. Egg hunts, anyone? Picnics in the park? Everybody hang out in a parking lot somewhere? Thankfully the weather forecast calls for cold temps and even a winter storm here in the west, which may keep some of the stupids closer to home than usual. So perhaps you think me too judgmental? Well, fine. That’s my self-therapy.

MONDAY, APRIL 6
Seventy-degree days are ideal for walks, even out here in our neck of the woods. Yesterday Parker (age 9 in one more month!) on his scooter and I on foot walked our Walking Routes #1 and #2. This kind of weather clears the sidewalks of those who didn’t have the time (oh really?) or the gumption to shovel their own as they’re supposed to do. Today we ducked our heads into the wind and traveled our longest path, Route #4. I may be getting too old for that one.

TUESDAY, APRIL 7
We have a high school senior in our family. There were so many events to which we had been looking forward—prom, spring musical, final concerts, fine arts awards night, graduation itself. As of yesterday’s direction from the governor, all of that is done for Olivia and all of this state’s seniors. Heartbreaking! Understandable, but heartbreaking nevertheless. Maybe her school will figure out some way to note the end of the Class of 2020’s high school careers later in the summer. If not, the rest of us will. In Olivia’s case, the virus pandemic also took care of her trip with 40 other theater students to Spain, France and Italy that was to have taken place in June. They at least have the option of still making the trip next June 2021 if they desire. So now we have no spring sports. I’m suspecting that baseball seasons are in jeopardy as well. And if you think we’ll be doing football this fall, don’t be too sure quite yet. Did you hear what Governor Ricketts said to his Nebraska people last week? “If you want to see football this fall, you’d better comply with social distancing measures.” I can imagine the state of South Dakota without football, but Nebraska?

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8
“Stop complaining. You’re not stuck at home. You’re safe at home.” Those aren’t my words although I would claim them. They are the words of Terry Waite, who spent 1,763 days as a hostage in appalling conditions, four years of them in solitary confinement. As an assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Waite traveled to the nation of Lebanon to seek the release of four hostages. He himself was captured there and held by Lebanon Shiite Muslim kidnappers. Finally he was released in November 1991. Waite had this advice the other day for those among us who are restricted a bit from our daily outside-world experiences: (1) Keep your own dignity. Get out of your pajamas. (2) Form a structure for each day. (3) Be grateful for what you have—shelter, home, possessions. (4) Read and be creative. And I would add one more suggestion—avoid the daily press conferences from our state and national “leaders.” Nothing but frustration and anger come from those “briefings.” Happy Easter to all. While you can’t spend it at church unless you go to one of those churches still insisting on getting together, you need not spend it at Walmart either. And you can’t go to Lowe’s because they are smart enough to be closing for the day!

CROSSWORD ANSWERS

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