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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Raymond-Prinsburg News

Viewpoints
The New Girl in Town
By Laura Prosser The shovel breaks the clay as Stan Barney turns the horseshoe pits in the middle of the park in Clara City. Hes been playing since he was a kid of age 10 in the backyard and continued on through his years of service where all he had to do was hop out the back window and he was at the pits. I was the only one that played. All my brothers played baseball or basketball. I had to be the one to pick something different, Barney said. At the age of 71 he refuses to take the handicap given to those that pass the age of 70. Instead of shrinking the distance to 30 ft. he still plays at full distance of 40 ft. When I do use the handicap I hit the bathroom door, Barney joked as he began throwing shoes as if to prove the point that he didnt need the handicap. Id just as soon stay back for many years yet. Barney has been playing with the league for 20 to 21 years and taking care of the Clara City pits for the same amount of time. His wife Donna Barney happily being exible enough with her schedule to let him go with the others. He likes the challenge, Donna said. It gets me out of the house, Barney said Away from my wife, Donna joked. Its something in my life besides sitting in front of a tv. I need exercise so I throw two shoes, Barney said as he walks to pick up the two shoes he tossed out of the clay. Then you walk to get them and the other guy throws his. The pits used to be full of granite sand. According to Barney that was no good because the shoes wouldnt stick so years ago he and the city diligently started about replacing them with blue clay, as well as his own pit in his backyard with the same clay. The exact clay that they use in state and world tournaments. This same diligence came forward when he started talking to Ole Hovey from Atwater about getting a horseshoe team started in Clara City. However, Barney wouldnt call himself a leader but maybe a starter. You just have to do some things, Barney said. If you want a league, if you want to play, somebody has to do it, to start it. The West Central Horseshoe League was started. Four teams: Atwater, Lake Lillian, Willmar and Clara City. The Clara City team meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. Tuesdays for a fun game with 10 of their friends. What I like most is that when you play against each other every one of us are wishing each other luck and giving pointers and visiting as we shoot, Barney said. Its that camaraderie that to Barney makes this inexpensive sport right up his alley. With him throwing a 43 percent average, he was just awarded the High Series trophy for the league on Saturday, September 22, at their end of the season banquet. Ive been higher and Ive been lower, Barney said. It usually takes me 20 throws to throw a ringer. He stops throwing. He hasnt hit a ringer yet. You want me to keep throwing then I can do it? But right now its like starting in the spring all over again. In preparation for a tournament Barney will throw for a half hour to 45 minutes a day two weeks prior to the tournament. There are ve ways to throw a shoe: 3/4 turn, 1 1/4
ESTABLISHED NOV. 23, 1900 Published every Wednesday at Raymond, MInnesota 56282. Periodicals postage paid at Raymond, MInnesota. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE NEWS, Box 157, Raymond, MN 56282. Phone/fax 320-967-4244 Email: rpnews@frontier.com Email rpnews@mvtvwireless.com

To The Residents of Raymond: We wish to express to our deepest gratitude for your participation in the Community Covered in Prayer. I must tell you as the Pastor how awesome and friendly you are. We came at supper time and knocked on your doors and were greeted with such graciousness and patience. Many were not sure what we were all about

T hRee Buns
for her body. I would recommend it. So here I sit, with 19-month old triplets and still a solid ten pounds above where I was before being pregnant. I understand that my body went through a lot, growing three babies at once, but honestly that doesnt make the postbaby fat any easier to accept. Id like to think that theres a ratio of one baby to one year for losing the weight, so Im just over half way through my timeframe of three years. I know I could be in a lot worse shape, and Ive done well to get this far back again, losing almost sixty pounds in that time, being a few years older and with no time to attend WW meetings. I am not shing for compliments. But it seems to be an innate feeling women have, to never be totally happy with their bodies no matter what shape theyre in. Obviously things could be worse, but Id love to be able to button all my pants, and condently wear dresses without having a little skin pouch on my lower abdomen. That lovely problem, the extra skin, came from having three babies at once. Ive heard of women having corrective surgery to remove said skin, and I cant say Im opposed to the idea. I hope to have a long life ahead of me, and the prospect of always being unhappy with my body is depressing. I think Im supposed to be proud of this, as tribute to what I accomplished (the baby growing), but theres still a scar and a noisy, messy house to remind me of that. No skin pouch needed. I looked into the tummy

but you listened with grace. If someone ever asked me if I was from Raymond Minnesota, I would have to tell them that I would call it a privilege to call it my home town. Please know that the Prayer Box is staying outside of the church, and if you have anything that you would like us to pray about, please drop your prayers in the box, knowing you have

connected into a network of people who will lift these concerns to the Lord God on a continuing basis. We consider it a sacred honor to pray for You and your family. With the deepest love for you, Gods blessings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sincerely First United Methodist Church

and a Hurricane
tuck, as its affectionately called, and theres a couple ways to do it. The mini version takes out the skin below the belly button and just tightens things up a bit. An all-out tuck takes a lot of skin, cuts a new belly button, and forces a person to walk hunched over for a few days while the skin and muscles get used to their new position. I do plan to keep my original belly button so I guess the mini would be for me. As it is I will not yet look to surgery but continue to work on my body the old fashioned way, through portion control and exercise. It helps that I have four kids running in four different directions, although the stress of that situation probably does have me reaching for the chocolate cake more than my body needs. I know some people use their children as an excuse to not worry about themselves anymore, claiming to be too busy to keep up on appearances. They stop wearing makeup, have a no-nonsense hairstyle, a practical wardrobe, etc. Thats not going to work for me, because if I dont feel good about myself, I wont be any good to my kids or my husband. If I can stay motivated for myself they will benet in return. That may be incentive enough to lose this last ten pounds, hopefully before the triplets second birthday. Or better yet, before six weeks from now when the weight loss challenge ends at work. If I make the goal my entry fee is returned, and I want that ten bucks back. Ive got some impractical heels to buy.

Stan Barney reveals the horseshoe pits and tosses some shoes around on Sept. 20 before showing off his horseshoe collection

turn, 1 3/4 turn, ip and 3/4 reverse. Barney throws a 3/4 turn with a set of Allen Francen shoes hes had for ve years. They are his second set. Though not his only set. Its easy to throw a shoe. Its hard to throw a ringer, Barney said. Lined in his garage he has he believes 55 pairs of horseshoes hanging from hooks on his wall. Each one different. I dont know what theyll do with them when Im done, Barney said. But I thought a lot would go into the landll so I thought Id collect them. His oldest pair is a pair of Black Diamond hookless from 1914. Eventually in the 1930s they introduced hooks to the shoes within the game of horseshoes and the hookless shoes were thrown to the wayside. Some people give them to me, Barney said If anybody has a pair I just like to know about it. Barneys mission, if you can call it a mission, is to get people more involved with the game of horseshoes. Whether its to buy or sell or play. Horseshoe is an easy game to play but it takes a lot of accuracy and the right turn. It takes practice, Barney said. Its easy to throw a shoe. Its not always easy to throw a ringer. But above all its cheaper than golf. Barney, while he may be many things, a golf man he is not.

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Ive read that if a woman hasnt lost her baby weight by the time her baby is one year old, theres a very big chance she will never lose it. This is a daunting statistic for new (and old) mothers, especially for those of us whose weight doesnt just fall off magically. Throughout my life I have never worked very hard at weight, so to maintain a healthy size has been sort of magical I guess. I havent paid too much attention to what I ate or kept a strict exercise routine, and I am thankful for that and the carefree lifestyle I have had with food. After the Hurricane was born I didnt think I would have much trouble losing that weight, but my even more carefree pregnancy eating (bring on the Cheetos!) helped me gain a little - okay, a lot - more than I needed to. I still thought it would be easier than it was, partly due to the load of crap I was fed about breastfeeding being a wonderful tool for weight loss. Not true, for me anyway. As a nursing mother I was much hungrier than I was as a pregnant woman, which was a huge disappointment when I expected it to help me shed pounds. Following the birth of my rst baby I tried for a few months to lose the weight myself, and had no idea what I was doing so it didnt work. I nally broke down and joined Weight Watchers, attended weekly meetings, and four months later was 25 pounds lighter. Success! Of course, different strokes for different folks, but the program seriously teaches a person how to eat healthily

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