There is something loveable about grumpy old men.  Maybe it's the way they button their jacket or how they wear their stocking hat.  Maybe it's the way they shuffle across the ice or how they stand up straighter when a camera is pointed in their direction.  Whatever it is, the loveable stuff is even more evident at Victoria's annual ice fishing contest, which was held this year on Sunday afternoon, February 20th, 2005.

Vic Schneider, left, and Dave Speltz are old Victoria friends who are also neighbors at Lake Bavaria, nearby, just to the south, where the fish also congregate but they're not half as good looking.

These retired Victoria firefighters are not grumpy volunteers.  They are (l-r) Marvin Storms, Roger Leuthner, Jim Schmieg, and Bullet Bill Schneider.

Flanked by a couple of chiefs, Victoria Mayor Jerry Bohn kept the peace pipe smoking all afternoon.  That's Victoria Fire Chief Tim Walsh on the left and previous Victoria Fire Chief Gary Sohns on the right.

Frosty the Snowman was one of many happy jolly souls out on Stieger Lake that afternoon.  The children say he could laugh and play just the same as you and me.  Hi, Stephanie and Chad Smith of Chaska.

Beatrice Mechtel of Victoria, also known as Beatsy and sometimes Toots, fished alone comfortably and peaceably in her director's chair ...

… some of her kids and grandkids descended upon her for a photo op.

Thank you, family, for the close-up.

Dalles Notermann of Victoria went down to the lake alone but wasn't lonely, as he became acquainted with some of the neighboring fishermen like Art Rohe of Waconia.

Dave Alpaugh's dad and Wayne Neubarth of Victoria have connections to the world of finance and

As Pat Olson of Victoria posed with his perch, a filleted sunny appeared on the scene along with a youngster's gleeful smile.  The two gentlemen without poles, in the lower left hand corner, are Allan and Nick Orsen, who are neither grumpy nor old.

This is another flanking, this one by the Schmieg brothers Tom, left, and Steve, right.  The guy in the middle is Bruce Osborn, Victoria's Public Works Director.  All three are Victoria firefighters an d sometimes cooks as well. 

Hi, Rick Plocher, lover of fish and owner of Floyd's.  Nice to see you out and about.  Hope you brought  a fish dinner home to Lois.

Keeping an eye on the situation, these members of the Carver County Sheriff's Department surveyed the situation and  reported all things cool on the home front.