To the Editor:
Is that the same Mark Theis at your Crow River Press that hung around with my brothers Greg, Dave, and Dan and the Arlt boys and Engelhardt boys?  If that's him, my guess is right.  I remember he had a motorcycle.  I was about 10.  He asked if I'd want a ride on it.  I thought it's no different than the kiddie motor-cycle at the Carver County Fair Midway.  NOT with the wind in your face, sand flying around, bugs hitting the wind-shield, your hair flying around like bed-sheets on the washline.  Ma didn't know where I was until I got back from a couple cruises around the block.  She asked how it was.  Dusty, I said.  The brothers laughed as did the hog driver.
Kay Meuwissen
Chaska, Minnesota
EDITOR'S NOTE:  Hi, Kay.  It's not the same Mark Theis.

To the Editor:
Thank you again for sending the Gazette to Arizona.  After five months in warm weather, I'm back home in Minne-sota and very glad to be home.  It was very nice to be with our grandchildren.  So please now send the Gazette to our home in St. Bonifacius.
Found the fishhook on page 33 in the C.H. Carpenter ad.
The Gazette is an awesome paper.  Please stay with it for another 25 years.
Carol Maas
St. Bonifacius, Minnesota

To the Editor:
On July 10th, Three Rivers Park Dis-trict will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Twin Cities Osprey Project with an "Osprey Babies" festival at Carver Park Reserve in Victoria.
Running from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., the program will feature visits to an osprey nesting tower with a wildlife biologist, bird-banding demonstrations, birding hikes, tram rides, a visit to a trumpeter swan nesting area, and many other activi-ties.
The Twin Cities Osprey Project is one of Three River Park District's greatest natural resources success stories.  Not long ago, ospreys, also known as fish hawks, had vanished from the Twin Cities' skies, victims of over hunting, loss of habitat, and the ravages of DDT.  The Park District began introducing the birds in 1984 with the hope of establishing 10 to 15 successful nests.  Last year there were 36 successful nests in the Twin Cities.
Thank you for helping us to share this wonderful story with the public.
Jennifer Cottew
Three Rivers Park District

To the Editor:
Thank you to all who made this year's 5th Annual Silent Auction and Dinner a success in every sense of the word for Southern Valley Alliance for Battered Women.
Total amount raised for the night was $38,554.  Major contributors were country music legends Sherwin and Pam Linton, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Communi-ty, Tom Goetzinger from TRG Produc-tions, and Carver-Hennepin County Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Chapter 30102. 
SVABW is the only state funded pro-gram that serves victims of domestic violence in Carver and Scott Counties.
Bobbi Holtberg
Belle Plaine, Minnesota

To the Editor:
In response to your email, Sue, no, we didn't see President Bush yesterday.  Kosovo is kind of ignored these days unless there are riots or ethnic violence.  We did see him on AFN (Armed Forces Network, the television channels we get here, other than two Albanian stations).  I will be back home (unless something dramatic happens) in September.  I'm not quite sure what the date will be.
My wife Barb came over to visit in early June.  We had a four-day "vacation" in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.  Former communist towns are not very pretty to look at, but Sofia is trying to recapture some of its more noteworthy past.  It wasn't as pretty as your spring trip to Europe but, all in all, it was better than working!
Take care and God bless.  Mary Hershberger-Thun sent me June's edition of the Gazette, which I read in one sitting devouring the news.  I always check it out on the internet, too.  Can't wait to see everyone back home.
Steve Sarvi
Victoria City Administrator in Kosovo

To the Editor:
Please send the Victoria Gazette to Herb's mother in law, Rosella Schmidt.  Rosella lived in Victoria for a brief time after moving back to the U.S. from Canada in 1940.  However, Victoria was her husband's home.
The Schmidt homestead is the site of the Deer Run Golf Course.  In fact, the club house was the home in which her husband was born. 
Although Rosella will be 98 years old in September, 2004, she still reads books as well as the daily newspaper and would like to keep up with the news and goings on in Victoria.
Just a thought ... Rosella has led a very interesting life.  Perhaps she would make a good subject for one of your wonderful cover stories.
Herb and Marilyn Schmieg
Plano, Texas

To the Editor:
Thanks for the history of the Victoria Gazette last month.  And thanks for another wonderful year of your paper.  Enclosed is payment.
Betty Werner
Delafield, Wisconsin

To the Editor:
Would you please send a subscription for the Gazette to Mr. and Mrs. Clair Kahl at Chaska and Mr. and Mrs. Gregg Davies at Chaska?  Thanks so much.  We so enjoy your paper.  It'll be a real treat to see it regularly.  Cheers.
Clair and Gay Kahl
Chaska, Minnesota
Click here for more letters.