Author: Staff

  • Nettie Skrade Gardening

    Nettie Skrade, An Angel in the Garden

    Although Spirit of Christ Lutheran Church in Novi, Michigan, no longer exists (now Holy Cross Episcopal Church), the memories and contributions of Nettie Skrade live on.  This is her story of the love of gardening.  Nettie is no longer with us.  She was born on February 3, 1907, and died on April 18, 2002, at the age of 95.

    Nettie Skrade
    Nettie Skrade designed, planted and tends the garden at Spirit of Christ Lutheran Church in Novi, “A plant can tell of your love, ” she says. – Photo by George Waldman/Detroit Free Press[1]
    Nettie Skrade
    At Spirit of Christ Lutheran Church, flowers share space with evergreens.[1]

    The Newspaper Article Made Her Day

    Ellen Creager, Free Press Staff Writer, “She tends the garden every day in summer, because the petunias grow fast and weeks even faster.

    “Some people say they’re gardeners, and they plant beds of begonias and then just leave them all summer,” Nettie Skrade says. “Know what? Pretty soon, those beds look like the back wheels of bad luck”

    She laughs, and her smile crinkles up brown eyes shaded by a sturdy sun hat over white hair.  Her hands are smooth and tan, with freckles making their way up her strong arms.  She walks down a curving path of circular stones in the memory garden at Spirit of Christ Lutheran Church in Novi, which she designed and planted.  She stops and touches a Bradford pear tree.  Her fingers caress the almond-shaped leaves of emerald green. …”[1]

    Detroit Free Press death notice, April 20, 2002

    Age 95. Died Thursday afternoon, April 18, 2002, in Midland. she was born February 3, 1907 in Baker, Florida. She is survived by a daughter, Jacquelyn (Frederick) Brenner of Midland; a daughter-in-law, Kathy L. Skrade of Northville; four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a son, Kurt Paul Skrade. In accordance with Nettie s wishes, cremation has taken place. Those planning an expression of sympathy are asked to consider MidMichigan Hospice, 3007 N. Saginaw Road, Midland, MI 48640-4555, or the Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Northville. Ware-Smith-Woolever Funeral Home, 1200 W. Wheeler Street, Midland 48640. [2]

    After this wonderful story was published by the Detroit Free Press, Nettie wrote a note to her friend, Terry Pochert, a few days afterwards.  She made copies and wrote…

    To my friend, Terry Pochert

    By now, dear Terry, I feel certain every person deserves “5 minutes of Fame” to know the experience of glowing in Glory and distantly feeling as one with real celebrities!  If it has not yet been your experience, may it come soon!  Ever, Nettie K Strade 6-23-91 [3]

    A personal letter to Terry Pochert really shows what an angel Nettie was.

    Late evening – Raining all afternoon but now snow nor ice – and you Dear Terry are basking in the sunshine at 75 degrees browning your complexion to prove it – and smilingly writing that picture in words…. [Read the entire letter as a PDF][4]

    She will be missed.

    References:

    1. The Detroit Free Press, June 14, 1991 (JPG Page 1, JPG Page 2)
    2. The Detroit Free Press, April 20, 2002
    3. Personal note to Terry Pochert (PDF)
    4. Personal letter to Terry Pochert (PDF) – February 11, 1998

  • Study Says Wind Power In Midwest May Be Losing Steam

    Wind power, a favorite source in the “green” movement, is facing a problem: there is less wind to harness. The cause, ironically, may be global warming – the very problem wind power seeks to address.

    A first-of-its-kind study suggests that average and peak wind speeds have been slowing noticeably since 1973, especially in the Midwest and the East.

    There’s been a jump in the number of low or no wind days in the Midwest, said the study’s lead author, Sara Pryor, an atmospheric scientist at Indiana University.

    Wind measurements plotted out on U.S. maps by Pryor show wind speeds falling, mostly along and east of the Mississippi River. Some areas that are banking on wind power, such as west Texas and parts of the Northern Plains, do not show winds slowing nearly as much. Yet states such as Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia, northern Maine and western Montana show some of the biggest drops in wind speeds.

    “The stations bordering the Great Lakes do seem to have experienced the greatest changes,” Pryor said last week. That’s probably because there’s less ice on the lakes and wind speeds faster across ice than it does over water, she said.

    The findings are preliminary. The full study will be published in August in the peer-reviewed Journal of Geophysical Research.[1]

    References:

    1. Journal of Geophysical Research

  • 100% Employee Engagement–Guaranteed! Revised Edition: Introducing a New Management Model

    100% Employee Engagement Guaranteed!
    100% Employee Engagement Guaranteed!
    Available from Amazon.com

    By Ross Reck, PhD

    Imagine a workplace where every employee is engaged with their work … where every employee shows up each day excited about giving every bit of energy, creativity and passion to performing their job. These employees don’t need to be motivated because they already are and they channel their motivation toward creating a competitive edge for their company that can’t be easily copied. They’re constantly making innovative changes to products, services and customer experiences while providing superior levels of customer service which results in loyal customers. This means higher levels of repeat and referral business which, in turn, translates into significant increases in market share. In addition, absenteeism and turnover rates for these fully engaged employees are far below industry averages because they absolutely love what they do. This book presents a new management model that guarantees an employee engagement level of 100%. If you implement this model in your organization, every one of your employees will become engaged with their work; all working at their full potential. Think of what it would mean to the success of your business or organization if you could get all of your employees engaged with their work.

  • Dog Company: A True Story of American Soldiers Abandoned by Their High Command by Lynn Vincent

    Dog Company
    Available from Amazon.com

    The Army does not want you to read this book. It does not want to advertise its detention system that coddles enemy fighters while putting American soldiers at risk. It does not want to reveal the new lawyered-up Pentagon war ethic that prosecutes U.S. soldiers and Marines while setting free spies who kill Americans.

    This very system ambushed Captain Roger Hill and his men. Hill, a West Point grad and decorated combat veteran, was a rising young officer who had always followed the letter of the military law. In 2007, Hill got his dream job: infantry commander in the storied 101st Airborne. His new unit, Dog Company, 1-506th, had just returned stateside from the hell of Ramadi. The men were brilliant in combat but unpolished at home, where paperwork and inspections filled their days.

    With tough love, Hill and his First Sergeant, an old-school former drill instructor named Tommy Scott, turned the company into the top performers in the battalion. Hill and Scott then led Dog Company into combat in Afghanistan, where a third of their men became battlefield casualties after just six months. Meanwhile, Hill found himself at war with his own battalion commander, a charismatic but difficult man who threatened to relieve Hill at every turn. After two of his men died on a routine patrol, Hill and a counterintelligence team busted a dozen enemy infiltrators on their base in the violent province of Wardak. Abandoned by his high command, Hill suddenly faced an excruciating choice: follow Army rules the way he always had, or damn the rules to his own destruction and protect the men he’d grown to love.

    About the Author:

    LYNN VINCENT is a New York Times bestselling author and investigative journalist. She lives in San Diego, California. ROGER HILL is an advocate for military veterans and first responders, and is active in the fight against human trafficking. Roger lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he works in the security industry as a systems engineer.

  • How a 98-Year-Old Man Created Meaning for His Life and Others [by Ross Reck]

    Home-made Apple Pie
    Photo by Pixabay

    I saw this story on the PBS NEWSHOUR the other night and was overwhelmed by the amount of goodness that was shared by this man. Leo Kellner lives in Hastings, Nebraska and retired from his job at age 92. Shortly after, his wife of 72 years passed away. Four months later, he was sitting in his house wondering what to do with the rest of his life. Then it came to him, he said, “I can bake.” According to the program transcript, “He made 144 apple pies that first year, and hasn’t stopped since. You might think it provides a great retirement income for Leo, but the thing is, he doesn’t charge a cent. He gives every one of his pies and cakes away for free to friends, those who are sick, or to hospice volunteers, to those attending a funeral, to an elderly woman or a man who just can’t afford a good meal.” He says that baking and giving these cakes and pies away makes him happy because it puts smiles on people’s faces. When asked about any secret ingredients, he responded with, “I make it with love. I don’t just make it just to be making it. I make it with love. That’s my secret ingredient.” Mr. Kellner also admits that if he weren’t doing this, he probably wouldn’t be alive. If you would like to read the entire transcript about Mr. Kellner’s fascinating story, just click on this link.