Above is one of our family trips this Summer to Door County, WI. We are riding on a trolley train on Washington Island. From left to right is Brendan (15), Caden (7), Me, Ella (4), and my wife Jenny.
The Younger years
I was born in Fridley, MN and moved to what I consider my "hometown" of Bemidji, MN when I was 2. My father was a shop teacher in Columbia Heights until we moved to Bemidji when he purchased a small engines business. My mother was also a teacher and now has been writing mystery novel's full time. By the way, this is a picture of the original home of Paul and Babe. It's not that amusement park in Brainerd!
High School
In High School at Bemidji, We still had somewhat of a small town atmosphere that I feel is very similar to Pine City, which is why I enjoy making my home here. Although my senior class was about 250 compared to about 120 here. I enjoyed taking classes like Volleyball/Pickleball, and Small Engines. I lettered in hockey and soccer. I also enjoyed going deer hunting and fishing with my father and brother. My favorite sport was hockey where I played goalie. I went to many goalie camps in the summer including the one at BSU and UND. It was great because whenever they were short a goalie, coach Peters would call me up and I'd get to play for little or no cost. My claim to fame was when we played the infamous Warroad Warriors at the John Glas Field House and beat the defending state champions 3-2. The game was televised and the announcer, who's daughter was in my class, told her how to pronounce my name correctly between periods. There is nothing like seeing yourself play on tv and hearing your name being called out after making save after save.
College
I knew I wanted to go to college, but wasn't ready to move out of the area so I enrolled at Bemidji State University. Unfortunately when I asked about try-outs for the hockey team, they had already been practicing. So I played in an intramural league there along with city league hockey, and again was asked to join the league for free because they needed a goaltender. I started out taking my general ed courses like most. Eventually I ended up in Bridgeman Hall in the Industrial Technology department interested in their Model Making program. I then had to take 3 quarters off when I signed up for the Army National Guard to help pay for college. When I came back I decided that I wanted to go in to teaching. I am glad I made that decision. In the guards, I was an 11M which was mechanized infantry. I enjoyed it for the most part, but was happy when my enlistment was over. I ended my military career if you call it that as a Sergeant E-5. 2 months after I was Honorably Discharged, my unit was deployed to Bosnia.
Pine City High School
I student taught in Deer River, MN and finished off the school year with my first real job. The position for the next year had already filled and so I sent out applications to schools that were hiring and also a few of my dream schools like Duluth East and St. Cloud Cathedral who have excellent hockey programs. Pine City was my second interview and I was hired early in the summer of 2001. I liked Pine City because it was a small town which had similar outdoor attractions like Bemidji, the courses I was assigned to I enjoyed teaching, and there was an opening for a hockey coach. I had many different courses to prepare for including 7th grade, 8th grade, welding, small engines, photography, and know your car so I was and still am very busy. Later we added publications, work link, and introduction to engineering and design because of declining enrollment in the industrial technology department. Which is sad.
I coached for 4 seasons of JV hockey and then became the head varsity coach which I did for 5 years. I also did numerous other things such as being the robotics club adviser, crowd control, taking tickets, refereeing football and volleyball, and many odd jobs for staff members which usually involved fixing stuff.
I coached for 4 seasons of JV hockey and then became the head varsity coach which I did for 5 years. I also did numerous other things such as being the robotics club adviser, crowd control, taking tickets, refereeing football and volleyball, and many odd jobs for staff members which usually involved fixing stuff.
Currently...
I met the prettiest gal in Pine City, my wife Jenny. We got married in 2004 and built a house in Beroun where we currently reside. I fix small engines at home on the side and enjoy doing many activities outside including deer hunting, fishing, and working in the garage and around the yard. I still like to play hockey and play every year in the Beau Berglund Holiday tournament and there is a picture of me below playing in 2012. Our family takes several small trips a year together. Some of our recent destinations have been Door County, WI Dells, Duluth, Bemidji, and Warrens, WI. We always celebrate birthdays by going out to eat at different restaurants in the area. I recently bought a pop-up camper and we plan on using it several times next summer. I go to Big Sandy for several days to catch some walleye's with my Dad and father-in-law, fishing opener with my college buddies on Round lake near Palisade, and also to the Boundary waters with my brother, his son, my son Brendan, and soon to come, Caden. I've also filled in on two trips with Mr. Wicktor. Pictured here to the left is my 11 inch sunfish I caught in 2010 on Aitken Lake which I had mounted. I'm still waiting to get that 12 pointer! I also have a passion for classic country music and my goal is to see as many as I can before they all pass away. When I say classic country I mean anything from 1950 - 1986 when Garth Brooks came along and ruined country music and turned it into pop music.